Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal.
Cutting thick sheet metal.
The lower the number the thicker the metal is.
Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal.
For a cleaner cut put a strip of masking tape on the top and bottom of the sheet to keep chips from scratching the material.
Making detailed cuts with.
Choose between red blue or yellow snips based on the cut direction.
There are some cuts that you can do with decent tin snips.
Straight cutting compound snips work best for cutting thick or doubled up sheet metal.
Set your saw to straight rather than oscillating if there s a choice.
First if you want to cut a duct near the middle and use both ends mark and cut the duct before snapping it together.
To prolong blade life rub wax along the length of the blade.
Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal.
Most sheet metal cutting tools are limited to 16 gauge and thinner 14 gauge is still sheet metal but in common forms 11 gauge while technically sheet metal is 1 8 thick and not really sheet metal for the purposes of this article so we will focus on 16 gauge and thinner.
Such as straight cut snips left cut the right cut etc.
Extend blade life by keeping the saw s speed slow.
There are two ways to cut round ducts.
Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer.
Cutting straight lines with an electric saw.
Choose a blade with 20 to 24 tpi teeth per inch for thin metal 10 to 18 tpi for medium thickness metal and about 8.
Tin snips or aviation snips are one of the most widely used tools to cut sheet metals.
A hacksaw can cut sheet metal but its shape limits its turning radius and depth of cut.
A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet.
How to cut sheet metal method 1 of 4.
They look like scissors and work fine with sheet metals like brass aluminum tin steel etc.
Here are a few tips for cutting metal with a recip saw.
