Cutting Expanded Sheet Metal

The following equipment is crucial.

Cutting expanded sheet metal.

Then choose a grinder drill saw or laser tool. They don t cut curves well. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in. Metal is difficult for saws to cut and rubbing wax along the blade helps prolong its sharpness.

It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool. There are two ways to cut round ducts. In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter. The first step toward correctly cutting expanded metal is finding the right tools that will aid the process.

I would say you have to be kidding the shear is the the fastest cleanest and best way every other way is second if you go to a large sheetmetal shop that cuts stainless expanded metal that and a cnc plasma burn table for curves or old shapes is the way they mostly do it i like the shear because you can set it up where you trim the killer little sharp edges off or at least most of them. Straight cutting compound snips work best for cutting thick or doubled up sheet metal. Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal. Expanded metal cutting tools.

Apply a thin layer of paraffin or saw wax to the blade just enough to cover the surface before making any cuts in the metal. Consider the size and nature of the expanded metal you need to cut. Hot metal chips will fly everywhere. Cut metal with your circular saw.

First if you want to cut a duct near the middle and use both ends mark and cut the duct before snapping it together.