How to cut steel siding?

[chadman]

How are you guys cutting your steel barn siding? The eave sides I will order sheared to length but I will still need to cut around windows and doors and the angles on the gable ends. I don't want to use a circular saw for warranty sake.

 

[PAToyota]

Used a circular saw with an abrasive blade. Warranty on the saw or the siding?

 

[csp]

Circular saw with a carbide blade. It's the same blade I cut wood with. Works great but is loud and sends tiny steel chips everywhere.

Not sure what warranty you're talking about. A cut is a cut.

 

[dladcock]

I use a cheap saw dedicated to the abrasive blade. That way my good wood saw stays in top shape.

dla

 

[Zeke]

Freud metal cutting tooth blade. Abrasive takes too long. OK if you don't have an lot of cuts. +1 on the chips.

 

[racer7x]

Electric shear I bought at TSC store for $50.

 

[kert]

For vertical cuts, you can't beat an electric shear which you can pick up for under $50 from HF. For crosscuts and diagonal cuts, I used a good sharp pair of duckbill snips.

I bought a good pair of straight-cut aviation snips for this and didn't like them. I just couldn't get a good clean line with the short cut from the aviation snips.

 

[Keithinsc]

Do not use an abrasive disc. It heats up the panel and will melt the coating, whether it is enamel or polyester based. This is what the steel mfg. warns against and will void the panel warranty.

I used a circular saw with a carbide tipped metal blade. Earplugs, googles AND a faceshield. Loud as heck and the chips go everywhere. Make sure you sweep off the panel when done, some of the hot chips can embed and will look like chickenpox in a few months as they rust on the painted finish.

For long rips you cant beat the HF nibbler. For small crosscuts I used handheld tinsnips.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I just use an assortment of tin snips for windows and smaller cuts. Large cuts, I use my pneumatic nibbler. Circular saws do over heat the finish not to mention that they can be somewhat dangerous...

 

[shopnut]

I don't want to use a circular saw for warranty sake.

For those wondering about the warranty...

My metal mfr made this statement in their manual:

"A portable profile shear is especially recommended for
across-the-profile cutting of metal panels. ABC also
recommends the use of power shears, nibblers or hand
snips that can follow the contour of the panel's profile.
Never cut the exposed end of a metal panel with a metal or
abrasive saw. This will melt the Galvalume® coating,
causing premature rusting at the cut ridge."

I've read elsewhere that the shearing action "pinches" the coating back together on the edge.

I use an electric shear like the auto body guys use. For cutting across the ribs, I have to switch from one side to the other to cross over the rib hump.

 

[c_mccann]

Electric Shears, less warpage around the cut if you aren't too skilled with a pair of tin snips. Sometimws tin snips if they aren't used properly or they are dull can bend around the cut.

 

[Gradyhd]

I use Malco Turbo Shear that fits on a cordless drill.

http://www.toolbarn.com/malco-tshd.html

It made every cut I needed on my building metal.

 

[ryaninmichigan]

Carbide blade on backwords. Loud as **** but work just fine. Did it that way on 20+ buildings

 

[Highbeam]

I also used a cheap framing blade, they're all carbide tipped, put on backwards with my circular saw. It doesn't get hot like an abrasive and is very controllable.

To make long cuts parallel to the ribs I used an air nibbler. Those things are also noisy.

 

[Falcon67]

Carbide blade on backwords. Loud as **** but work just fine. Did it that way on 20+ buildings

This. When I skirted our mobile home lo those many years ago (early 80s) and old farmer showed me that trick since I was using galvanized corrugated steel for the skirt. Only I used just an scrap blade, backwards. Cut the metal like sawing wood and you could hear it 3 miles away. Wear eye AND ear protection. The saw I used I'd had for a while (Skil 7 1/2") and lasted until around 2000 when a bearing went out - so it didn't hurt the saw at all.

 

[5lima30]

I have cut alot of metal roofing with a cheap carbide blade installed backwards for cross cuts. For linear cuts we always used a sharp utility knife to score it multiple times then "snap" it for a clean linear cut. The guy who showed me did metal building installs for years. YMMV.

 

[jonahbones]

excalibur shears from excalibur tools also do a fibre cement shear

 

[oldtractors]

Duck billed tin snips. I just cut at around 50 sheets that way this summer. It will give you hand cramps after awhile. For narrowing the sheets, I used an air powered shear from harbor freight.

 

[BDAZSVT]

I use Malco Turbo Shear that fits on a cordless drill.

http://www.toolbarn.com/malco-tshd.html

It made every cut I needed on my building metal.

I used these when I did my interior walls and they worked really good. Menards had them in stock.

 

[LSU]

Plywood blade, mounted backwards. More teeth the finer the cut. Safety glasses and ear muffs. I also used gloves and long sleeves. I cut some coated roof siding like this about 15 years ago and have seen no rust issues.

I'd be open to discussion about using the power tin snips but i'm not sure how a saw (I'd like to say used properly but if the words "mounted backwards" are in the instructions - I'm not sure anything is proper) - like I was saying - how do power tin snips not affect the coating and a saw blade does? Is it the heat?

Last time we did this I used my DeWalt compound sliding miter saw with a plywood blade in it backwards. Best straight cuts I've ever gotten.

Good luck with your project.

 

[cyamaha2007]

My steel supplier went out of his way to call me to warn me since it was my first metal siding experience. He told me not to use any type of saw. Only shears, nibblers or tin nips. My panels have a 50yr warranty that i didnt want to void. I was able to do the entire 36x56x14h building that way.

 

[LSU]

My steel supplier went out of his way to call me to warn me since it was my first metal siding experience. He told me not to use any type of saw. Only shears, nibblers or tin nips. My panels have a 50yr warranty that i didnt want to void. I was able to do the entire 36x56x14h building that way.

I get it that the supplier doesn't want folks to use the saw but "why"? Is it a heat build up issue?

I've use the shears, nibblers and tin snips and I find that I managle the siding more with these than I do with the saw.

Just wondering? I'm hoping I'm not cutting and siding soon but I'm just wondering why the saw is a bad idea?

 

[shopnut]

Is it a heat build up issue?

Melting of the coating can occur. Refer back to Reply #10 for a direct quote out of one manufacturer's instructions.

 

[cyamaha2007]

He told me that heat was the main issue also on a microscopic level the sheared edge resists corrosion better

 

[mattdwelder]

I just finished a building and the instructions said nothing about how to cut anything and neither did the warranty. I cut it all with an abrasive blade ,there was hardly any heat.A little warm to the touch maybe .I would think a backwards saw blade would create just as much if not more.

 

[Zeppe807]

Carbide blade on backwords. Loud as **** but work just fine. Did it that way on 20+ buildings

I also used a cheap framing blade, they're all carbide tipped, put on backwards with my circular saw. It doesn't get hot like an abrasive and is very controllable.

To make long cuts parallel to the ribs I used an air nibbler. Those things are also noisy.

This. When I skirted our mobile home lo those many years ago (early 80s) and old farmer showed me that trick since I was using galvanized corrugated steel for the skirt. Only I used just an scrap blade, backwards. Cut the metal like sawing wood and you could hear it 3 miles away. Wear eye AND ear protection. The saw I used I'd had for a while (Skil 7 1/2") and lasted until around 2000 when a bearing went out - so it didn't hurt the saw at all.

I have cut alot of metal roofing with a cheap carbide blade installed backwards for cross cuts. For linear cuts we always used a sharp utility knife to score it multiple times then "snap" it for a clean linear cut. The guy who showed me did metal building installs for years. YMMV.

Plywood blade, mounted backwards. More teeth the finer the cut. Safety glasses and ear muffs. I also used gloves and long sleeves. I cut some coated roof siding like this about 15 years ago and have seen no rust issues.

I'd be open to discussion about using the power tin snips but i'm not sure how a saw (I'd like to say used properly but if the words "mounted backwards" are in the instructions - I'm not sure anything is proper) - like I was saying - how do power tin snips not affect the coating and a saw blade does? Is it the heat?

Last time we did this I used my DeWalt compound sliding miter saw with a plywood blade in it backwards. Best straight cuts I've ever gotten.

Good luck with your project.

^^^This is how I have done it, and have always been told to but I like to use thr thinest blade I can find, not necessarily a carbide tip. Works great for what I want need.

Melting of the coating can occur. Refer back to Reply #10 for a direct quote out of one manufacturer's instructions.

That is what I would worry about.



Joe Zeppe

 

[Norcal]

Kett Shears, found one in the iron pile at a scrapyard & replaced the blades, cord & the switch which was my fault, robbed on off a old drill to fix it.

http://www.kett-tool.com/product_details.php?product_model=KD-400

 

[Big Bad Dad]

I have built several metal skinned buildings and I just use aviation snips for details and large layout snips for long cuts. But I did HVAC sheet metal work for several years and am quite used to my snips.