Cutting Thin Sheet Metal Straight

Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal.

Cutting thin sheet metal straight.

The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot long pieces using this method. These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife. Making detailed cuts with. Cutting straight lines with an electric saw.

Using tin snips for thin sheets. Nice tight blade contact. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough. Lift the cutoff strip and roll it to the side to prevent it from binding on the tin snips handle.

Open the cutters as wide as you can at the start of each stroke and make long smooth strokes. How to cut sheet metal method 1 of 4. Right cutting left cutting and straight cutting snips. Make long strokes for long straight cuts.

Here are a few tips for cutting metal with a recip saw. Right and left cutting snips are used for making curved cuts while straight cutting snips make straight cuts. If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly. 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.

Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal. Longer blade was nice for long straight cuts 148 see all buying options. Worked well to cut thin steel. Extend blade life by keeping the saw s speed slow.

There are many different types of tin snips but for cutting sheet metal you only need to work with three basic types. Choose between red blue or yellow snips based on the cut direction.