Cutting metal with BS

[Keye]

My wife wants me to cut some old metal barn roofing with my 14' BS. Will cutting metal cause any negative issues for my BS? If not I would appreciate any input on blades for cutting metal barn roofing..

Edit to say I will be cutting out patterns for some artistic type stuff she is doing.

 

[thebroofmoses]

Hey Keye,

If it is corrugated metal roofing, I find that flipping the blade of an old circular saw works best for me. Built a pole barn a couple years back and this worked best for me without having to buy a blade for cutting metal. Rudimentary but got the job done.

 

[bob vaughan]

Short answer: find another way.
A saber saw at low speed with a fine tooth blade intended for metal cutting would be a better bet.
Cutting sheet metal with a saw is very loud, slow, and produces metal chips that get embedded in the tires. Little metal chips will be constantly be dropping out of the saw long after the metal cutting job is finished.
Wood cutting speeds and metal cutting speeds vary significantly. For wood, 3000 surface feet per minuted is good. For metal, 300 is good. For sheet metal, a 24 tooth blade would give the best cut.

 

[Mike Davis]

Yes, but no. The saw is relegated to metal from then on unless you want to strip it, clean every part and buy new tires.

I found just like the reverse blade in a circular saw reversing the blade in a band saw works well for sheet metal.
I like a 3 tooth per inch skip tooth blade (same effect as slowing the speed). Maybe 1/4 inch or 3/8.

Ear plugs and headphone style ear protectors together cut down the noise a little.

If she really really wants it you just gotta do it, right?

 

[Keye]

Thanks guys!! Not using the BS. I have a good vs saber saw and also metal cutting blades. If this does not work she is out of luck.

Aaron, thanks for your tip. I will need to cut smaller pieces to start with and I have plenty of old blades.

 

[Berta]

Jig saw is what I have used.

 

[Oka]

I do tons of metal cutting. Get a decent 7 1/4 metal cutting toothed blade. All of them will cut to 1/8 " metal no problem. Use that for larger cuts. Especially, when you are ripping metal long wise.

For precision small cuts I usually use a grinder. The risk using a bandsaw is the small metal filings will get into the rubber tires and potentially cause issues. The new circular metal cutting blades are really good now. Also, like Mike said, wear protection. Me ? I use ear plugs and ear muffs both. Wear a smock or coat and leather shoes and gloves. If you do not care about your running shoes getting micro melt holes then I guess you could wear them. ALWAYS wear eye protection with any metal work.

 

[Keye]

I do tons of metal cutting. Get a decent 7 1/4 metal cutting toothed blade. All of them will cut to 1/8 " metal no problem. Use that for larger cuts. Especially, when you are ripping metal long wise.

For precision small cuts I usually use a grinder. The risk using a bandsaw is the small metal filings will get into the rubber tires and potentially cause issues. The new circular metal cutting blades are really good now. Also, like Mike said, wear protection. Me ? I use ear plugs and ear muffs both. Wear a smock or coat and leather shoes and gloves. If you do not care about your running shoes getting micro melt holes then I guess you could wear them. ALWAYS wear eye protection with any metal work.

Thanks, a lot of good advice!

 

[drw]

While I have not had that much experience cutting metal, the little that I have done I have used my angle grinder...it is slow, not very precise but it gets the job done.

 

[Ecr1]

These work good for sheet metal they can cut metal roofing just have to take your time at the ribs. Easy to do circles and scribes.

 

[Oka]

I have a couple of these. Different brands basically they are really only good to 18 ga. I also have one of these, the one I have will do 14 ga not expensive but they are a little slow, but useful when making cuts in the center of metal.

While I have not had that much experience cutting metal, the little that I have done I have used my angle grinder...it is slow, not very precise but it gets the job done.

 

[tvrgeek]

Metal band saws go much slower. As it is steel, one can use a jig saw/saws-all etc. or pneumatic sheers.