What do you use for cutting sheetmetal. were going to soon be embarking on the task of making a shortbed, and want to know what to use to cut the bed pannels, what will cut the straightest line?
zip disk on a 5 inch grinder works the best for me, the zip disks are expensive but well worth the price
Bring your metal to a sheetmetal shop and have them cut it on a stomp shear. I imagine they will charge you x-amount per cut. Much straighter than a cut off wheel or shears.
If your looking to cut straight lines it will depend on the gage of the metal.On 20-24 gage you can cut a nice long line with a air chisel and the sheet metal tip. Use angle iron as a edge to ride the tip on and you will cut a perfect line ever time. You can do much the same thing with heavier gage steel with a cutting wheel on a grinder.Ride the blade along a flat edge of the angle iron.This will guide you blade.Air shears are great as well but most people only have grinders and air chisels.
Are you making a 6 foot bed out of an 8 ft bed? 4 1/2 " cut off wheel on an electric grinder. Mark your cut with masking tape.
that is exactly what were gonna do. if we can use a 4 1/2 grinder, it would be great. thanks for the great answers. your saving us from using a die grinder or pnumonic snips.
One thing that helps me immensely when using a cutoff wheel- I don't try to cut all the way through in one pass. I carefully follow the line cutting a groove, but not all the way through. I then follow with another pass or two to get all the way through. I have found that it's a lot easier to keep it from wandering off my desired cut line that way. Food for thought. It works really well for me.
If you happen to be good with a sawzall, that will do it too though it is not my first choice. If you are using an abrasive wheel, leave a little tab about every 6 inches as you work your way around. That way the gap won't pinch shut on your wheel or flip-flap around.
I always use my little air saw wiyh the best blades u can find! Dont skimp here, you wont save any money in yhe long run! And use 3/4" mask tape for a guide it helps and nice steady and slow!
If you use a grinder and a cut off wheel, be careful. Seen some accidents and some close calls with them over the years while working in the trades. Just a heads up.
I've used the 4 1/2 " grinder, but for the long straight cuts; Quicker, in my opinion safer, is a regular skill saw with abrasive disc.
cut the opening to 1/4" of your final cut line with what ever you want, cut the last 1/4" off with tin snips. Use a cut off wheel on the doubled and or structural parts. Snips give you much better control on your final cuts for sure. Before any nay sayers come up with smart remarks,,, That bent up strip is the remains of the last cut.
I don't know about Da Tinman, but i use some good Bluepoint(snap-on) snips. I use the red and green handled ones the most. (left or right doesn't necessarily mean you're doing a left or right curved cut, though it does make these operations easier) Mine are also the Offset style, i don't like the ones with the blades going straight out. Weiss is a decent brand you can pick up at most hardware stores. I'd get the offset or upright style. it gets your hand a little further away from the path of the metal. I've even been known to get taskforce brand. not the best, but with constant use they lasted me at least 2.5 years
not sure who makes them but any of the normal tool truck guys all sell them, aviation offset handle snips. I have used these snips exclusively for years, less clumsy than Weiss and last a long time. I get 2-3 years of daily abuse out of a pair. this includes cutting 14 gauge and on occasion notching moly tubing eek Get reds and greens, never saw the need for yellows. 25-30 bucks a pair but you will get what you pay for! LOL, BTB Rocco probably uses same ones.
its not me,, I got a magic hammer that with the proper profanity stream will get you great results. Thanks though!
cool, I ask because I want to get better ones, I have/use the offset snips they sell at home depot, I have a pair of the offset green ones that I bought there a long time ago and still work really good, then I recently bought the opposite side orange ones and they are not so good, almost like the quality has dropped; wouldn't surprise me. By the way, love what you are doing with that truck bed.
If you use any kind of abrasive, use some sort of facial protection. I worked in a welding shop for a couple years. I have had them come apart and seen others that were too macho to wear a shield. Man that was a lot of stitches.
midwest offset snips. I get them at sears. I am a tinner by trade and its all I use. The snips in the picture looks like midwest snips...
sure do! thanks for the tip, they are lots cheaper there than off the trucks. btw these have a somewhat smaller frame, I have small hands and thats a big reason why I love em.
just did, still doing a shortbed, used a 4 and a half inch cutoff wheel, the marking part is the most important....find a good spot to cut and mark carefully and follow your mark......i took 6 inches out of the front and 11 out of the back to make a 8 foot bed to a 6 and a half foot bed.....give or take......also took 6 inches out of the frame...
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