Cutting copper with a Festool Jigsaw

[Dan Mages]

Here is a question for all of you Festool junkies. I need to cut a 2'x8' sheet of copper flashing into 6"x8' strips. I am not sure on what gauge it is, but I doubt that is more than a couple mils thick. The two tools that come to mind are a pair of tin snips, which is a ton of work, or my festool jigsaw. Does anyone have any experience cutting metal with their jig saw? Which blade is best for this job?

Thanks!

Dan

[Don Abele]

Dan, I do a lot of metal work as well as wood. For cutting thin gage metals I used to use tin snips, but my hands don't hold up that well for long pieces. So I bought an air powered set of shears and a nibbler. These guys whip right through. As for using a jig saw, I've cut a lot of metal with it (using a standard metal cutting blade) without problems. With thin sheet metal though, you have to really support it or it'll vibrate like crazy and make cutting it difficult.

For what you are describing, using a bandsaw would be perfect. I prefer not to use the tablesaw as it wastes too much of the metal and even with my overhead guard, throws a fair amount of the shavings around. I do not use the dust collector when cutting metal. I wait about an hour and then clean everything up. I don't want a piece of hot metal winding up in my dust bag.

Be well,

Doc

[Jim Becker]

Dan, I've cut duct work with mine. A fine-toothed blade made for the purpose will work fine. But...you need to insure that you stablize the stuff so that it will not vibrate you to death. That was the one thing that was "not fun" when I was cutting the duct...holding things steady so that the tool didn't jump out of the kerf. It should be easier with flat material and made better by using the guide and/or clamped down boards. This really isn't a Festool unique problem...it's a jigsaw on a thin, flimsy material situation!

[Perry Holbrook]

I cut a lot of roofing copper sheet stock into fairly small pieces. Snips work OK but can be difficult on long straight cuts. The jigsaw will do it of course with the problems already mentioned. It'll do much better if you sandwich the copper between 2 thin strips of plywood.

All of these methods will leave a ragged edge on the copper. If that is going to be a problem the best solution is to shear the strips. I bought a small shear last year just for that reason. A local sheet metal shop could shear it for you if you need those good edges.

Perry

[Dan Mages]

Thanks for the info. I will check with local metal shops and see if they can cut it down for me.

Dan

[Norman Hitt]

Dan, I never tried this on copper, but when I was a kid my dad taught me to make long straight cuts on metal roofing and siding with a long piece of "Bailing Wire" and two long 2" x 4" s, a 2" x 8", and a short piece of broom handle to wrap the wire around and pull. This was the method everyone used in my part of the country back then, because it was fast, clean and easy.

You lay the 2 x 8 on the ground and drive a large nail into one end in the center of the board and fasten the wire around the nail, then stretch the wire down to the center of the other end of the 2 x 8. Lay the metal to be cut on top of the 2 x 8 with the cut marks aligned over the wire at each end and then lay the two 2 x 4's on top of the metal with their inner edged aligned with the cut marks and barely touching each other. Stand on the 2 x 4's and wrap the wire around the broom handle and pull the wire straight up between the 2 x 4's, cutting about 1 ft, then step back a foot and rewrap the wire around the broomhandle and pull up again making another cut about 1 foot, and repeat the process til the cut is made. If you rip a little off the edge of the 2 xs 4's so they will have a nice crisp corner, it will make a very clean cut with only very tiny curl on the edge, and the harder the wood is the less curl there will be.

Of course, all this was done when we got really good strong "Bailing wire that wasn't made in China or somewhere, so I don't know what's available now. It really is simple and actually takes less time to make the cut than it took me to write this explanation. One other good thing about this procedure is that it doesn't leave a ragged edge like snips or a saw does.

Just thought I'd throw this out in case your other options don't work. Note: If you want to give this a try some time and can't find any good Bailing Wire at the farm store, stop by one of the aircraft maintenance shops at your local airport and buy a spool of aircraft Safety Wire of about the same guage as bailing wire would be, and I know it would be strong enough.

[Dan Mages]

I found a drill attachment that turns the drill into a pair of shears. I tested it on a cheap piece of metal and it did an okay job. I will have to see how it works on the copper

This is not a gloat yet. I still don't know if the tool is worth the metal it is made out of.

Dan

[Steve Stube]

Dan, if it is really less than 2 mil then I think a straight edge, Stanley knife and a hardwood backer would do the job nicely.

[Chris Padilla]

Wow, I missed the fact that it might be "only a couple mil thick". A dollar bill is thicker than that if true. Can you just cut it by looking at if funny? ;) Seriously, I think Steve has it.