How To Cut Sheet Metal Straight At Home

Cutting straight lines with an electric saw 1.

How to cut sheet metal straight at home. A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet. Apply masking tape to both sides of the sheet metal directly over the. Situate the metal under the blade and line the blade up with the cut line. Using your power tool ensure you re up against the straight edge and can follow along the.

Mark the center of the hole on the metal then clamp the sheet down over a thick piece of scrap wood such as a 2 x 4. Place the metal on a hard surface to score it and on long pieces do the bending with the score place along a sharp edge of a bench and if necessary clamp the fixed piece with a long piece of flat wood to prevent buckling the metal while bending it back and forth. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in. Work the jaw of your snips into the gash to begin the cutout.

I hope this reads sensibly. It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough. Hot metal chips will fly everywhere.

Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade. Using a straight edge clamped to the edge of the bench is also a good tip to cut thin metal precisely. A lever fitted with a blade is pulled down over the place you want to cut. In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter.

Metal is difficult for saws to cut and rubbing wax along the blade. Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal. Cut metal with your circular saw. Cut small holes up to about 2 inches in diameter with a hole saw and a portable drill.

Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal. To operate mark the cut line on the piece of sheet metal. Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer. A soft wood backer will allow for the chisel to pass through more easily by providing support for the metal.

Align the tool s blade with your pattern line the.