Cutting Thin Sheet Metal Straight

There are many different types of tin snips but for cutting sheet metal you only need to work with three basic types.

Cutting thin sheet metal straight.

Choose between red blue or yellow snips based on the cut direction. Here are a few tips for cutting metal with a recip saw. Making detailed cuts with. Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal.

Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal. How to cut sheet metal method 1 of 4. Cutting straight lines with an electric saw. These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife.

Longer blade was nice for long straight cuts 148 see all buying options. Long straight cuts are easier to make with large tin snips. Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer. Right and left cutting snips are used for making curved cuts while straight cutting snips make straight cuts.

Open the cutters as wide as you can at the start of each stroke and make long smooth strokes. 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. Lift the cutoff strip and roll it to the side to prevent it from binding on the tin snips handle.

If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough. Extend blade life by keeping the saw s speed slow. The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot long pieces using this method. Set your saw to straight rather than oscillating if there s a choice.

Make long strokes for long straight cuts. Nice tight blade contact.