Cut metal tin

[Badboybuggy]

I just had a metal 30x50 barn put up.. the contractor used a 12" concrete saw to cut all the metal. There has to be a cleaner way to cut. Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[dutchgray]

I use a circular saw with a metal cutting blade, but would use a shear if I had one.

 

[TractorJeff]

If he is a full time metal installer, then he would have a guillotine(?) sheet steel cutter. There is nothing wrong with various methods used to cut it provided the cut surface is re-painted to provide the warranty protection.

 

[readhead]

Angle grinder with cut off wheel, tin snips, double cut shears, nibbler or what we use often when we cut a stack, a 14" demo saw with a steel cut off blade.

Most of the time the cut will be in a piece of trim. We try to keep the factory cuts at the bottom if exposed.

 

[djjsr]

I've used a DualSaw. It cuts very easily but requires a little practice to control. Eye protection required.

 

[Streetbu]

I used a plain circular saw with a wood blade on it. Clean cut, obviously kills the blade fairly quick but I only had a few cuts to make for the panels on my lean to extension. Eye protection is a MUST no matter which method you use!

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have cut a lot of tin for skirting on mobile homes with a carbide tipped blade put into the saw backwards. But you must you hearing and eye protection. Yes it destroys the blade so start with a cheap-o blade to start with....

 

[rlitman]

Bosch 1500C is what I'd use.

 

[MagKarl]

I bought a fine tooth plywood blade, but haven't tried it yet.

When you guys say a metal blade, were you able to find one with fine enough teeth?

 

[BADSIX]

i have cut a lot of tin for skirting on mobile homes with a carbide tipped blade put into the saw backwards. But you must you hearing and eye protection. Yes it destroys the blade so start with a cheap-o blade to start with....

this ^^^

 

[MBfreak]

Hi.
My $0,02s worth
I prefer to use a method which do not create lots of fine iron particles when cutting corrugated steel panels. The ferrous dust stick in the most unfortunate places and starts rust pockets which just widens over time. A nibbler or a large shear if the job is big.

In Sweden zinc plated steel corrugated roof and wall panels which are painted at the factory to the spec you want are popular and seem to last a lot longer than their 25 year warranty, provided you install correctly.

The product sheet specifically prohibits cutting with a metal saw or chop off wheel due to accelerated corrosion.

Best regards

Ola

 

[boobag]

shears is the proper way to cut. using abrasives like cutting wheels, heats up the paint and will more than likely cause the cut edge to rust faster.

 

[Jason280]

I've cut it with skil saws, hand shears, 4.5" grinders, and various abrasive blades and all of them ****...better use protective equipment, because you can seriously injure yourself. I have some 7.5" abrasive blades to use wi a skil saw, I'll try them the next time I need to cut some tin.

 

[racingtadpole]

If I need to do a long straight cut:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CZAT0S/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Everything else is done with a Metabo Power Shear, which is really just a set of electric tin-snips

 

[cactiki]

I used a jigsaw with a metal blade. It was somewhat slow, but since I only used that I have nothing to compare it to. I cut about 14 feet in ten minutes, one blade. Also cut twenty sheets crosswise, total of 60 feet, used about five blades but mostly because of breakage. I don't know how long that part took. . The good thing is that there is no sparks, no smoke, not much flying debris, just a lot of noise. But I did use a good quality variable speed jigsaw, it seems to cut faster at slower speeds!
I will continue to use this method, it works for me.

 

[cowboy73]

This is the best thing for cutting metal for pole buildings. A rotary cutter like these guys sell. http://www.pandppower.net/
It's pretty pricey. Black and Decker made a very similar device in the early 80s. They stopped making it because kids were playing with it and losing fingers....

 

[dfiler2]

I used one of these blades a couple of weeks ago, worked great and the blade still looks like new.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LFCLUWY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Cougar67]

I used one of these blades a couple of weeks ago, worked great and the blade still looks like new.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LFCLUWY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Do the metal blade/ circular saws throw sparks? My son needed to cut some metal roof yesterday and the grinder with cutting blade threw a lot of sparks. We finally hand cut it all with hand shears. No fun and impractical for a large project.

 

[racingtadpole]

Do the metal blade/ circular saws throw sparks? My son needed to cut some metal roof yesterday and the grinder with cutting blade threw a lot of sparks. We finally hand cut it all with hand shears. No fun and impractical for a large project.

No, but they do throw a lot of tiny chips. Long sleeves, ear and eye protection is a must