How To Cut 14 Gauge Sheet Metal

In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter.

How to cut 14 gauge sheet metal. Cut metal with your circular saw. Put on a pair of safety glasses leather gloves and earplugs. Hot metal chips will fly everywhere. Line the blade up with the edge of the steel sheet and activate the electric saw blade.

Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal. Bench shears come in two general types. Use a bench shear to easily cut most gauges of sheet metal. Whenever it comes to cutting any sheet metal the first and foremost concern is how thick the cut will be.

Throatless sheers can cut inside curves and other complicated shapes in addition to outside curves and straight lines. For instance your cutting 14 gauge metal the chart recommends a 6 blade however if you have a great amount of detail i personally would use a 5 or even a 4 blade sacrificing time to achieve accuracy. Straight shears make cuts that are straight lines. Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer.

Fit your metal cutting blade into your hacksaw or jigsaw. It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool. Straight shears and throatless shears. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough.

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. Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade. It can cut sheet metals both in gauge and inches fractions. And just like wires the answer is derived in the unit of the gauge.

Align the tin snips with the sheet metal. A soft wood backer will allow for the chisel to pass through more easily by providing support for the metal. About sheet metal gauge. The chart describes what size blade works best for the gauge of metal to be cut and which drill bit is best suited for piercing work.

Also referred to as aviator snips these scissor like hand tools cut sheet metal materials up to 18 gauge in thickness accurately without leaving a ragged bent edge as the finished product. Clamp the sheet metal in place on your work table to hold it in place while you work. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in.