The Tools to Cut Steel Sheets

Snips

• Snips are multi-purpose construction scissors. Unlike household scissors, snips' sharp-edged blades are lined with serrations. Also, advanced snips, called compound snips, have a leverage-increasing mechanism that reduces the effort required to slice through metal materials. Despite compound cutting action, snips cut through only thin steel sheets. However, snips allow metalworkers to manually create both straight and curved cuts through appropriate sheet metal materials.

Band Saw

• Band saws are stationary, bench-mounted metal and wood cutting tools. The tool's name refers to a thin, flexible blade that forms a complete circle. The toothed band saw blade loops onto the machine's track and the exposed portion of the blade runs from an elevated arm to a flat, table-like base. To cut steel sheets, metalworkers place the sheet on the band saw's table and manually push the sheet through the rotating blade. Essentially a stationary jigsaw or saber saw, the band saw creates thin cuts, both straight and curved, through thicker metal sheets.

Torches

• Metalworkers, fabricators and welders use several types of torch to cut and join metal sheets. Oxyacetylene, or oxy torches, and plasma cutters are among the most common types. Plasma cutters are easy to use and create clean-edged cuts. Oxy torches are more difficult to operate and create a less precise cut. However, oxy torches cut through steel sheets up to 2-feet thick, and plasma torches are generally suitable for materials less than 2-inches thick.

Grinders and Circular Saws

• Grinders and circular saws are portable power tools that spin disc-shaped attachments. Applied to metalworking, grinders and circular saws accept abrasive blades rather than the familiar toothed blades. While circular saw blades protrude from the bottom of a flat, rigid plate, grinder discs protrude from the nose of the tool's long, narrow body. Grinders and circular saws are capable of cutting through thinner steel sheets, usually less than 1 inch.