Cutting Thin Sheet Metal With Jigsaw

How to cut metal with a jigsaw is mainly down to the correct choice of machine and your choice of blade.

Cutting thin sheet metal with jigsaw.

A word of advice if you are attempting to cut thick pieces of metal. When cutting sheet metal or pipes with a jigsaw i have found bosch hss jigsaw blades to be the best combination of value and performance. To reduce the heat buildup you need to use the proper jigsaw blade with minimal pressure and set your jigsaw to a slow cutting speed. For pattern cutting drill blade starter holes instead of making plunge cuts.

I also clamp the metal down whenever possible to stop it rattling up and down and use a medium speed at first but speed up as much as possible provided the tool is cutting well and the blade isn t trying to. First things first if you re going to cut any sort of metal using a jigsaw you need to make sure you re using the correct blade. Horusdy 40 piece metal woodworking jig saw blade set with storage case t shank blades hss hcs blades assorted for wood thin sheet metal steel aluminum cutting 4 6 out of 5 stars 161 12 99 12. Some of the most common cutting tools are metal shears circular metal saws or even a cutting torch depending on the thickness of the sheet metal but the most recommended cutting tool for sheet metal is a jigsaw.

Have extra blades on hand because cutting solid heavy metal tends to wear blades out a lot faster than thin sheets. Stainless steel builds up heat quickly when you are cutting. 10 tpi to 21 tpi md 77 bi metal t shank premium jig saw blade for cutting thin to thick metal 5 pack model 2150143 17 88 17 88. This isn t hard to do and we ve produced a guide to choosing the correct type of jigsaw blade.

The cut can produce enough heat to melt the teeth from the edge of a jigsaw blade. Set your store to see local availability add to cart. For cutting sheet metal choose a finer blade with 21 to 24 teeth per inch. To avoid shredding sheet metal or raising a lot of edge burrs tightly sandwich the metal between two layers of thin plywood.

With a quality jigsaw and a few metal cutting blades you can easily expand the versatility of this great power tool allowing it to replace the use of circular.