How do you cut sheet metal?

JohnR · « **on:** 8 Jun 2003, 05:06 pm »

[The background to this post: I've been aghast at the cost of decent-looking furniture.... so, in keeping with the Scottish blood in me (yeah I have some!) I'm not to going to buy any! Instead I'm going to spend the money on nice power tools

I can make my own furniture later, right?]

Ok, so how do you cut sheet metal? I'd like to be able to cut up to 3/8" Aluminium cleanly enough that not too much finishing work (a file...) is needed. Obviously this is for making panels for amplifier chassis.

bob82274 · « **Reply #1 on:** 8 Jun 2003, 08:37 pm »

We use a jigsaw at work... aluminum will be real easy to cut. You can use one blade all day before it dulls too much. At work we have been cutting stainless steel.... now that stuff is a bitch to work with and we will go through several packs of blades a day just for one person. Really all you need to use a file for will to debur the edges and thats really easy to do. If you need to make smaller cuts I would suggest a dremel tool.

bubba966 · « **Reply #2 on:** 8 Jun 2003, 09:15 pm »

A tablesaw with a good blade will cut aluminum just fine as well.

bob82274 · « **Reply #3 on:** 8 Jun 2003, 09:24 pm »

umm.... does anyone else see what CD i am "playing" I didn't type that in and am just curious as to how that got there....

bubba966 · « **Reply #4 on:** 8 Jun 2003, 09:26 pm »

Sure you didn't....

Woodsea · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 Jun 2003, 09:30 pm »

Nice choice of music, you big stud!

mgalusha · « **Reply #6 on:** 8 Jun 2003, 10:23 pm »

A suggestion, pick up a pair of hearing protectors when you're shopping for the tools. Cutting sheet metal with a high speed saw is painfully loud and you do want to be able to hear the new amplifiers you're building.

mike

bob82274 · « **Reply #7 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 12:00 am »

Seriously how did that get there?! Borg?

Coding error or something?

And mgalusha is right. You need eye and ear protection. I really need to get some small nice ear plugs for work.

JoshK · « **Reply #8 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 01:17 am »

is 3/8" aluminum expensive? Now you guys are giving me the itch to build my own cases.

JoshK · « **Reply #9 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 02:02 am »

is 3/8" aluminum expensive? Now you guys are giving me the itch to build my own cases.

JohnR · « **Reply #10 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 04:28 am »

OK, a jigsaw or table saw! bob-with-many-digits, I've always thought jigsaw's don't cut straight, even on a straight-edge cuz the blade flexes. No? Maybe I just need to get a good quality one

bubba, I'm thinking of not getting a tablesaw. I've been ogling this saw from Festool, it comes with a straight guide that it latches onto. Kinda like how I used to cut panels but way better. What do you think of http://212.172.181.83/festool.us/cat_mediando/index.cfm?module=display_single_product.cfm&iproduct=2007&iTemplateVersion=2002&bDisplay=y&title=&CFID=2136042&CFTOKEN=177b94a-00093d0d-ffd8-1ee1-8447-b553d4ace066" target="fes">this? (http://benchmark.20m.com/reviews/FestoolATF55/festoolatf55review.html" target="fes">Review, http://www.cjohnhebert.com/Festool.htm" target="fes">another).

I'm just not sure that a cheaper tablesaw will work well enough in the long term, and a good one would be $$$$ (and heavy and takes up too much space in my little workshop

)

JohnR · « **Reply #11 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 04:49 am »

Quote from: bob82274

Seriously how did that get there?! Borg? Coding error or something?

Uh.... dunno

Josh, 3/8 Al is not cheap, but you don't need much. In theory I suppose I could get pieces precut, but since I'm thinking about tools now anyway it would be *real* nice to be able to do some reasonable metalwork.

bubba966 · « **Reply #12 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 05:18 am »

John,

That Festool doesn't sound too bad. I can see some slight problems with the blade size. But as you probably won't be using it on a daily basis, it probably won't matter much to you.

And you're right that a quality table saw costs big time $. I got used to using a tablesaw setup that was almost $6K.

Which makes everything else just be annoying in comparison...

cmscott6 · « **Reply #13 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 01:14 pm »

I recently built two hybrid wood/Al cases for my amp and preamp (AKSA). I had real good luck looking in the yellow pages for sheet metal (yeah, yeah the obvious). One fabrication shop had a huge pile of offcuts from large jobs. Got a nice piece of 3/16 Al (almost 4 x 6) for $12. Cutting with a jigsaw was fairly quick, but hard to keep a straight edge - even with a very fine-toothed blade. A cut-off wheel on the dremel was worthless - definitely not what it's for! The diamond grinding wheel for the dremel was real helpful for deburring, etc. I'm curious to hear how anyone's experience was with the table saw...

JoshK · « **Reply #14 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 01:20 pm »

Yeah I am going to need an alternative to the table saw scheme as well. I think my coop board would ouist me for cutting aluminum on a tablesaw after work.

mgalusha · « **Reply #15 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 02:26 pm »

Quote from: bob82274

Seriously how did that get there?! Borg? Coding error or something?

Bob, not sure how that happend. The way the code works is that when your post is saved the database generates a new post id number. The new post id number is saved along with the text in the now playing field to another table. We can edit it if you like, for that matter you can edit it yourself if you wish.

Mike

JohnR · « **Reply #16 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 03:06 pm »

Quote from: JoshK

Yeah I am going to need an alternative to the table saw scheme as well. I think my coop board would ouist me for cutting aluminum on a tablesaw after work.

Heh.

I'm going to see if I can get a look first-hand at the Festool saw later this week and maybe next. Apparently they have a very good dust collection system. They are expensive though, and even more so here than there

I think I read somewhere that the saw is best kept for wood use tho. Also the blades cost a bloody arm and a leg as well. So for the metal cutting I think I might try getting a good quality jigsaw on EBay and give it a go.

nathanm · « **Reply #17 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 05:37 pm »

I would recommend a Bosch jigsaw. I spent the extra cash on mine and what a difference it makes over the cheapie models! The thing is solid and cuts as smooth as the operator can guide it. Of course, cutting straight lines with a jigsaw is more futzy than a tablesaw as you have to clamp a straight edge to the workpiece, but it's a heckuva lot cheaper!

Might wanna look at Online Metals great for small-quantity project-type stuff. You can have them cut it for you if you want. I must say the customer service is great. I ordered a bunch of strips of stainless steel for a project awhile ago and a guy called me up on a saturday to ask which direction I wanted the brush strokes to go! Nice!

eric the red · « **Reply #18 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 08:20 pm »

John-Go to any sheet metal shop with a good shear (a metal cutting machine that works like a giant powered paper cutter) and have them cut it for you as the cost will be next to nothing because it takes @ 1 second to make a perfectly straight cut on a shear. You'll get better edges and straighter cuts than using a jig saw, and don't even try to cut metal with a circular saw if you've never done it before. Any sheet metal shop will also be able to break (bend) your metal for you for cheap, plus while you're there, ask if you can dig through their scrap piles. A lot of shops will have leftover metal from completed jobs that they have no use for and will a lot of times almost give it away. I'm a journeyman sheet metal worker by trade.

beat · « **Reply #19 on:** 9 Jun 2003, 08:57 pm »

John,
I once had the guys at walter mork sheet metal (on hollis north of ashby) make a couple cuts for me once..I think that is the name. 3/8 might be a little much for their shears but it is worth a shot... I used to live in emeryville. I'm with nathan on the bosch jig, it makes all the difference. If you are feeling brave you could even put a nonferrous metal blade on a skil saw but my advice would be to only use the worm drive type because the other is really hard to keep a straight line. Another option would be to call up alco in oaktown..see if they could suggest a source. Or jam on over to CCAC on broadway and college and see if you could convince a starving student to do a favor for a six pack.