Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal.
Cutting thick sheet metal.
How to cut sheet metal method 1 of 4.
Using tin snips for thin sheets.
A hacksaw can cut sheet metal but its shape limits its turning radius and depth of cut.
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.
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.
Cutting straight lines with an electric saw.
A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet.
Set your saw to straight rather than oscillating if there s a choice.
If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough.
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.
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.
Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal.
Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal.
They look like scissors and work fine with sheet metals like brass aluminum tin steel etc.
Such as straight cut snips left cut the right cut etc.
The lower the number the thicker the metal is.
Making detailed cuts with.
First if you want to cut a duct near the middle and use both ends mark and cut the duct before snapping it together.
Here are a few tips for cutting metal with a recip saw.
They don t cut curves well.
Extend blade life by keeping the saw s speed slow.
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.
