Cutting Sheet metal

Adirondack case guy

Well-known Member
Over the years I have used several tools to cut steel. Tin snips, to nibblers, to wood cutting blade backwards in a 7.25 circle saw for light gauge steel (20 gauge and lighter.
Years back when I was building steel freespan buildings, I bought a Frued Diablo metal cutting blade for my Porter Cable circle saw. I have no idea how much steel this blade has cut, but it is still going strong as I fab up my new trailer. I use it on sheet steel up to 1/8" thick and it works great. You do need a good full coverage face shield though, as hot chips fly everywhere.
I also have a 20 year old 14" Ryobi chop saw, a 7" grinder that I use up the blades warn down from the chop saw with, and a 4.5 " grinder with cutoff blades for more precision cuts. (Yea-Yea, the big angle grinder can be dangerous with a 10" blade in it, but I respect it's power and what could happen) Been useing it for 10 yrs now with no mishaps, cutting steel peices that I can't get on the chopsaw. When the wheels are too small for the 7" grinder, they fit onto the 4.5 grinder with an arbor bushing to use them up.
Loren
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It's pretty obvious that you do know what you are doing Loren .

I really just want to let you and others know of this accident that happened recently to a work mate of my neighbour's, a boilermaker with 30 odd years of experience .

The fellow was dealt with his 9,1/4'' grinder with respect , he had a tricky cut to make and took the disc guard off .
The cut was tight as well as tricky , the disc jammed and broke , pieces hit his chest and he died from cardiac arrest.
I've taken the guard off in the past , I won't ever again .
 
I'll agree with the poster below. I use a 4.5-5" zip cut blade without a guard quite often, but respect it. It's a lot smaller with a lot less energy stored up. 10" coming apart is flat out scary. The worst I've ever seen is using the top half of a 14" chop saw as a hand held cut off saw. Can't help but back up a few more feet.
 
That angle grinder is extremely dangerous and should never be used. A year ago I cut the back of my hand open with one to the bone , severed tendons, had surgery to re-attach tendons, was one handed for three months and have permanent loss of motion in my hand. Do not use a grinder like that no matter how careful you think you are .
 
I had the stone wheel on my bench grinder blow apart a couple of weeks ago. The guard was in place the caught the pieces. It basically broke in half right down the middle. Good thing the guard was in place. Half a grinding stone wheel flying at me would not be fun.
 
I'll agree with the poster below. I use a 4.5-5" zip cut blade without a guard quite often, but respect it. It's a lot smaller with a lot less energy stored up. 10" coming apart is flat out scary. The worst I've ever seen is using the top half of a 14" chop saw as a hand held cut off saw. Can't help but back up a few more feet.
 
A man that went to our church a few years ago worked at a weld shop.

He picked up a 4" grinder, probably no guard on it, turned it on and the wheel broke. He said he felt some pieces hit him in the face and chest, didn't think he was hurt.

Then he bent forward and here came the blood! It had cut an artery in his neck! Had there not been other people there to hold pressure on it until the ambulance got there, he would have died!

How many times do we work with simple power tools alone at home? Sometimes I lock the door if I'm at work by myself. Something to think about!
 
My neighbor had a bull that he respected too. One day the bull got him down and killed him. Don't seem like it made any difference if he respected him or not, he was still dead. I was a safety manager on construction for quite a few years and could tell you a lot of stories about those discs flying apart. You.re a darned good person on here and we'd sure hate to loose you. Then again, it's you and your choice. By the way, the trailer looks good. Keith
 

My helper had a cut off wheel explode on him, I had told him to not use it in a air tool (10K RPM) but he did anyway. Up until then I thought it was the chit but after hauling him to the ER I did not. Next day he made a guard for it and did a nice job but I told him to never bring it back on my property.

Suit up well and play as safe as you can, I am guilty also.
 
I bought an 18v Milwaukee metal cutting saw. I am really impressed with this little saw. Cut some 1/4 plate just fine but it sure is loud.
 
I agree with others and would not use that bigger grinder w/o a guard. I've used my 4.5" w/o a guard once or twice to make a cut I couldn't get to any other way. Guard went right back on. I bought some cheapo cutoff disks some time ago and had a few come apart. Didn't like pieces flying off and hitting my gloved hands. :( I've had good success with Diablo but don't trust them so much that I'm not careful on any cutting operation.
 
Been using grinders shieldless for 30 years. Most of them have never had the guard attatched. You do have to be careful. I wouldn't tell anyone else to do it tho. Common sense will get you through a lot of things in life.
 
Same here, almost useless with the shield. Without it you can cut just about anything. Need to respect the tool. I wear heavy lined leather gloves and treat it like a loaded weapon. I also try to cut so that the direction of the disc is pulling the grinder away from me. Cut 400 sq ft of flagstone with no problems for a patio a few years back.
 
I went to a plasma this year, should've did that 10 yrs ago. I rarely used the chopsaw or 4,5,7" cut offs now , the chopsaw rarely gets used as well. The bandsaw does see a fair amount of use , especially for miter cuts. I haven't changed tanks on the torch for 6 months.
 
1 cut a good bit of 1/8 steel a while back. I tried a cutoff wheel with air and a 4 1/2 inch grinder. What worked best for me was a metal cutting blade in a reciprocating saw. Most cuts were straight cut 3 to 4 feet long. They looked pretty good for a jack leg.
 

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