"HotRod" wrote in message
...
I want to cut some thin stainless that I have in my shop to create so door
sill protectors for my car. BUT how can I cut it without leaving tool
marks
or stretching the material? My chocies.

1) Band Saw
2) Grinder
3) Die Cutter
4) Hand Held metal shears
5)???


Any grinding process will introduce considerable heat, so that's not a great
choice. Shearing the material will leave a rolled edge, often curling the
piece in question, so that's not a good choice.

You mentioned a band saw. If you use a base piece that has a slot the
same size as the blade, and use a very fine toothed blade in the saw, you
can usually saw parts in thin stainless without distorting them. The key is
to use the narrow slot support, and not push hard, for stainless is
notorious for stripping teeth from the blade. If the blade starts
shucking teeth, you have nothing to lose, so you can usually run the speed
up considerably and get the job finished, although it will continue to shuck
teeth. Time your feed rate in keeping with the missing teeth to minimize
losing more----

To avoid scratching the material on the bottom side, from sliding in chips,
tape some heavy paper on the bottom side of the part, while you're sawing
the profile, or a couple layers of masking tape. Or, keep the bottom side
the bottom, so when they're installed the scratches won't show. It's
hard to avoid scratching the bottom face when using a band saw.

Harold