Cutting stainless with plywood inside?

[isaac338]

I went to an auction the other day and bought a whole bunch of stainless ****. One of the items was a workbench with a stainless top - I junked the bench (no room for it) and I'd like to cut a wedge out of the top and assemble it into a corner kind of thing on a bench I already have.

When I bought it I didn't know the top was formed around a plywood core and had planned to cut it with a grinder or something, but now that I realize the plywood is there, what's the best way to cut through the whole assembly? A jigsaw with a metal blade?

Any ideas? Cheers

 

[911mike]

I had to cut a sink hole on my top and used a jig was. It took 5 blades !! My advice is cut slow to keep the heat down. You need a fine tooth blade and this heats up the plywood pretty quickly. Tape the top surface of the stainless other wise it will scratch like crazy.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Cut it from the wood side; that will leave a much neater finish on the SS. Also, depending on the thickness of the SS, you can use a metal blade in a circular saw, it will help you make a straighter cut. I have terrible luck with a jig saw and very straight lines.

Jim

 

[ddawg16]

Like Jim said, cutting it from the wood side will leave a cleaner cut.

If you don't have a metal cutting blade for your cirular saw, I would try the sawzal with a really wide blade. I have a couple of blades that are really wide....makes it easier to make straigter cuts.

 

[Joe Reed]

Assuming the stainless is only on the top and not the bottom, how about cutting *almost* through the plywood on the bottom with a normal wood cutting blade on the circular saw...then do the final cut with whatever method you want to use on the steel.

 

[bazzateer]

If you can cut the s/s then that blade should cope easily with the ply.

 

[jkruger54]

Carbide blade in a circular saw will be fine.

 

[Lippyp]

Run a grinder with a thin cutting disk through the stainless, if needs be make two cuts and remove a small strip and then just cut the plywood core with a wood saw, not really rocket science and easy enough to do with the tools you've got!

 

[Kevin54]

Depending on the thickness of the stainless, you may have to cut the stainless with a cutoff wheel then go back and cut the rest of the way through with a circular saw. Sand it all to finish.

 

[volvo]

..
Would one of those fancy budget dual rotating saws cut it all at one time, one slow pass?