cutting 1/4" plate steal?

[jason lambert]

I know this is a woodworking board.... I figured someone might know. I knwo the answer is a band saw but I don't want another full size bandsaw. Anyhow I need to cut 1/4 plate steal for a project, not alot but through about 35" or so enought that I don't want to di it by hand. Every one in a while I need to cut metal like this. Is there any good tools to do this with like a table top bandsaw or something?

[Anthony Whitesell]

Not to sound outrageous, but plasma cutters have come way done in price.

What about the hand-held porta-saw bandsaws? You might be able to borrow one of those.

[Greg Cole]

DIY: Jig saw and straight edge, clamp it to a bench so as to save your arms n ears.
BEST BET: Bring it to a local sheet metal shop and 2 seconds on a shear will be cheap, straight. Anything over 1/4" and "most sheet metal shops" can't shear it.
I've managed to do some fairly straight cuts with an angle grinder and cutting disc too, but that takes some practice to get the cut to be straight.
Plamsa cutter & straight edge here at the day job is nice for such things too.:D

Greg

[James Suzda]

If you have a reciprocating saw like a Sawzall you can get some metal cutting blades and have at it.
Otherwise haul it over to someone who has a nice cutting torch.

[Matthew Poeller]

Jig saw or pnuematic high speed cutter. Do you need he cut ultra accurate?

If you live near a univeristy the engineering department should have a shop and they may have that capability, mine did. Just walk in, the guys in the shop are usually pretty nice.

[Matt Meiser]

You could do it with a good jigsaw and a couple good blades.
If you need straight edges, a shear will work.
Plasma cutter will cut it "like butter" and leave a pretty good edge. On something like that I can have a clean edge with about 30 seconds with the grinder after plasma cutting and I'm a rank amateur.

[jason lambert]

Perfect My Festool jig saw will do it? I do have metal blades didn't even think of that usally with metal I don't look at the little green and white boxes. It doesn't need to be perfect.

[Tom Veatch]

http://hawksawblades.com/sawblades-morse-metaldevil.htm

[Bruce Page]

For the occasional cut, the jigsaw and a straight edge would be my recommendation too. If your Festool is variable speed, run it at the slower speed. Though a little messy, I would apply some motor oil on the cut line also.

Wood cutting bandsaws typically run too fast for cutting steel.

[John Thompson]

I do it a lot.. sawzall if you can handle it rough.. I use the Bosch barrel grip if you want it smoother. Ditto everyone on guide aand Bruce on lube for that lengh. I use thinner machine oil when lubing.

Sarge..

[Anthony Whitesell]

Though a jig saw would work, it'd be afraid of any cutting lube getting stuck to the jig saw, especially if its a Festool. If you were going the jig saw route, I'd grab a cheap BORG special.

[Peter Quinn]

My local metal fabricator/welder has a plasma cutting table and several other good ways to reduce bigger pieces of steel to smaller pieces. I'd farm that out at almost any price. I learned a long time ago that I was a wood worker, not a metal worker.

That said I'm pretty sure my PC tiger saw with a diamond crusted blade would take on that 1/4" plate and win! I'm comin over and we're gonna try it! Or maybe the mini-grinder, I'll bring that too. Works good for lolly columns!

PS...please wear glasses in any event.

[Bruce Page]

Though a jig saw would work, it'd be afraid of any cutting lube getting stuck to the jig saw, especially if its a Festool. If you were going the jig saw route, I'd grab a cheap BORG special.

That's a good point. I would have second thoughts on using my MUCH cheaper PC jigsaw.

[Kevin Groenke]

If you have a circular saw you're not too attached to, you could also use an abrasive blade in it. It might take a couple of the blades to get that far.

If you're using a jig saw, limit the cutting speed to prevent overheating of the blade. Stick wax will lubricate just as effectively as oil with less mess.

A good metal shop would have many ways to make such a cut (just like we do in wood) Plasma (maybe cnc), laser, cutting torch, roll in bandsaw, vertical bandsaw, plate shear, laser, water-jet. All depends on what they have and what you're willing to pay. The place where I buy steel charges $5/cut for shearing and cutting torch. The metal shop that does work for us has shears that will cut 1/2" plate, their laser will cut 3/4"...very slowly.

kg

[Joe Chritz]

A 55 grain .223 rifle will leave a nice hole right through.

35" / .223 = 156

Bring it over I'll grab my ear plugs.

I have an old import bandsaw I converted to run slow with an extra pulley that I had cut a lot of tool steel on for grinding knives. For you occasional use the jigsaw will be the best most likely.

Joe

[Bill Spievak]

Taking to a shop with a plasma cutter or even an old fashion torch cutter are good ideas. But, if I couldn't do that, I'd use my 5 inch grinder with a cutting wheel to rough it out, then a grindering disk to smooth it out.