Cutting Thick Sheet Metal

There are some cuts that you can do with decent tin snips.

Cutting thick sheet metal.

Using tin snips for thin sheets. Tin snips or aviation snips are one of the most widely used tools to cut sheet metals. Extend blade life by keeping the saw s speed slow. A hacksaw can cut sheet metal but its shape limits its turning radius and depth of cut.

How to cut sheet metal method 1 of 4. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough. 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. 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.

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. Straight cutting compound snips work best for cutting thick or doubled up sheet metal. Choose between red blue or yellow snips based on the cut direction. A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet.

There are two ways to cut round ducts. Such as straight cut snips left cut the right cut etc. 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.

Set your saw to straight rather than oscillating if there s a choice. Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer. Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal. They look like scissors and work fine with sheet metals like brass aluminum tin steel etc.

The lower the number the thicker the metal is. Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal. Here are a few tips for cutting metal with a recip saw. Cutting straight lines with an electric saw.