OT— Can I cut corrugated tin with a circular saw?

641Dave

Member
I was just wondering if I could put a special blade on my circular saw and some eye protection and get after it.

...or should I invest in a nibbler?
 
Yes. Just turn the existing blade around backwards. Place both hands over your ears and let someone else push the saw through the tin. 'Cause it is LOUD!
 
For aluminum soffit and fascia, just reverse a regular cabide blade. For steel metal, get a actual metal-cutting blade, (looks similar to a masonry-cutting blade, but different) and be SURE to wear eye / ear /skin protection.
 
Husband does it like these guys... he also uses a couple of large c-style Vise Grips to secure it to the sawhorse. And yep, wear ear protection... it is one ear-splitting screech.

He has a nibbler attachment that goes on his hand drill too, for trimming out little pieces where needed. But that does seem to kind of make the cut edges "wave" a little bit.
 
BTDT many times. I use a metal cutting abrasive blade like you can get at Wal-Mart and have at it. Best to wear ear and eye protection and also make sure that where your at is not so dry as to start 10 fires in 5 minutes. I know where I am at right now I would water an area 100 feet around before cutting 1/2 and inch
 
I was always cautioned to never turn a carbide tipped blade
to run backwards. Cutting backwards places great stress on
the carbide tips, this stress may be enough to cause the tips
to come off and become high speed projectiles. Have
reversed many non-carbide blades and cut metal roofing.
Old worn out blade is preferable.


,
 
When my neighbor built his shed, he used a carbide blade the right way. Not reversed. Just make sure the saw is up to full speed before starting the cut.
 
i went to lowes and bought a blade that was made like a metal cutoff saw blade when i built the kids's chicken house. it worked good.
 
Years ago when I put up my shop I found out a regular plywood blade worked very well to cut roofing tin. Yes, it's loud and makes sparks. But it works and the blades seem to last pretty well. They are also inexpensive. Mike
 
I was always cautioned to never turn a carbide tipped blade
to run backwards. Cutting backwards places great stress on
the carbide tips, this stress may be enough to cause the tips
to come off and become high speed projectiles. Have
reversed many non-carbide blades and cut metal roofing.
Old worn out blade is preferable.


,
 
(quoted from post at 11:09:24 07/26/12) The carbide tips do come off. But, whats a few more projectiles in a storm of hot metal chips? : )

Exactly!!

For what it's worth, I've found it much easier to just lay the tin on the dirt or the grass. The saw blade is already being abused. Running it in the dirt just won't make a whole of difference.
 
Either way works. Either way is "correct."

However, I feel the reversed carbide blade cuts faster than the abrasive and leaves a cleaner cut.
 
Personally, I'd rather use air shears; for limited use, an inexpensive pair can be had for 30-35 bucks and work great. Never done it myself, but I've seen the old timers use baling wire with a handle wired on; iirc, they 'clamped' the tin between 2 boards and pulled the wire easily through the tin.
 
(quoted from post at 11:51:26 07/26/12) Personally, I'd rather use air shears; for limited use, an inexpensive pair can be had for 30-35 bucks and work great. Never done it myself, but I've seen the old timers use baling wire with a handle wired on; iirc, they 'clamped' the tin between 2 boards and pulled the wire easily through the tin.

I've tried that method also. Couldn't make it work consistently.
 
That's what they used when they built my pole barn.

Wear ear protection. The noise is extraordinary.

Dean
 
Go to an industrial supply house and buy a good pair of 14 inch Wiss inlaid snips. Fast straight quiet and safe. Far better for cutting to length than any saw. Quality is more critical for snips than any other tool I know of. Retired shetmetal worker
 
I have an old cheap plywood blade that didn"t cut plywood very well anymore. So when I needed to cut some sheet metal, I used that, put in backwards. It worked just fine, extremely loud though. I made a lot of cuts with that blade, which is now just about toothless--worn almost smooth.

The only problem I ever had was that since the blade melts the sheet metal, it leaves a small amount of burned edge. That isn"t much of a problem if that burned edge is covered up with other metal, but it doesn"t look as good as an edge cut by a shear and it might be a place that could rust.

As far as using tinsnips goes, I could never get a decently straight edge. Maybe I needed higher quality snips though. Using tinsnips is also WAY slower than using a blade in a power saw.
 
I'm not sure why everyone turns the blade around, works just fine
with the blade on the right way. Doesn't burn the paint back and
I've done right at 210 linear ft of steel cuts on my current carbide
blade with no noticable loss of performance in wood.

You want to have a good guide though as it steers realllllly easy. I
have strip of plywood with another strip tacked to it I use.
 
Nots to the saw. I did it once. 2nd time I went and bought some electric shears from HF. Much better.
 
As said it can and is done. The theory goes that it is better to shear it because the shearing process bends the galvanizing over the cut edge thus protecting the cut edge from rust. It is your tin, do what you want.
 
40 years in construction. plywood blade in
backwards, so it won't grab the metal, use eye,ear
and skin protection.have also used a shear, have one
now, but it is a little slower.good luck.bill
 
If you have the help, use a table saw. One guy on each end and one in the middle steering. Works real good but you can"t do it by your self.
 
I've cut a lot of corrugated and R-Panel sheet metal with a circular saw. The easiest blade to use is a metal cutting carborundom blade. It eats up a lot of blades however it doesn't throw so much bits of steel, just sparks. I've put a old carbide tip saw blade on backwards. It cuts good but it throws a lot of shrapnel so heavier clothing is in order. Not very good for this hot weather. All methods are very loud so hearing and eye protection are a must.
 

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