A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet.
Cutting thick 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.
Using tin snips for thin sheets.
There are two ways to cut round ducts.
Cutting straight lines with an electric saw.
Tin snips or aviation snips are one of the most widely used tools to cut sheet metals.
Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal.
There are some cuts that you can do with decent tin snips.
They look like scissors and work fine with sheet metals like brass aluminum tin steel etc.
How to cut sheet metal method 1 of 4.
Set your saw to straight rather than oscillating if there s a choice.
Choose between red blue or yellow snips based on the cut direction.
Straight cutting compound snips work best for cutting thick or doubled up sheet metal.
First if you want to cut a duct near the middle and use both ends mark and cut the duct before snapping it together.
A hacksaw can cut sheet metal but its shape limits its turning radius and depth of cut.
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.
Such as straight cut snips left cut the right cut etc.
If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough.
Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal.
Extend blade life by keeping the saw s speed slow.
Making detailed cuts with.
Here are a few tips for cutting metal with a recip saw.
Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal.
To prolong blade life rub wax along the length of the blade.
Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer.
