Clean edge on thin steel?
 

I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge like
from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?

Other?

Thanks
Jordan

Jordan wrote:
I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge like
from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?

I've wondered the same thing. I assume roofers use a special guillotine
with a wavy blades (so as not to flatten the corrugations), but I've
never seen one. I'd be interested to know if you find the answer.

Chris

One thing you can do is to preserve the factory edge for the down side.

A second option is to use a carbide blade in a skill saw (I hope they use
this term in OZ) and sandwich the material between the corrugated wood to
minimize deflection. This will still leave a burr, but that can be removed
by careful scraping.

Other options you may wish to consider are a different roofing material such
as a plastic material or using asphalt shingles. What are you putting a
roof on?

--
Roger Shoaf

If knowledge is power, and power corrupts, what does this say about the
Congress?


"Jordan" wrote in message
u...
I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge like
from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?

Other?

Thanks
Jordan

Christopher Tidy wrote:
Jordan wrote:

I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge
like from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?


I've wondered the same thing. I assume roofers use a special guillotine
with a wavy blades (so as not to flatten the corrugations), but I've
never seen one. I'd be interested to know if you find the answer.

The guys I know who work with this stuff just use one of those power shears that
looks sort of like a drill motor. Seems to work fine for them.

GWE

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 09:36:16 +1000, Jordan
wrote:

I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge like
from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?


Sure if you've got the money it can. Look here.

http://www.swensonshear.com/model42.html

While I've not seen one of these in the standard corrugated pattern
I've seen several in the more modern patterns. Just be sitting down
when you price it.


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm

Don't laugh, but a traditional hand crosscut saw working backwards cuts
thin sheet roofing metal relatively fast and smooth.

We did this on my families farm in IL for many years rebuilding the chicken
coop, the garage, the smoke house and the outhouse. (Yup, a real
outhouse --- no indoor plumbing in the house that was built in the early
1860's and lived in continuously until 1974 when my Grampa died..)

Steve
"Jordan" wrote in message
u...
I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge like
from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?

Other?

Thanks
Jordan

The job calls for corrugated sheets, so no avoiding that.

Not sure what a skill saw is, but I might try a carbide blade in a
circular saw.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks.

Jordan

PS: I knew someone who said he cut car bodies in half with a circular
saw, using only ordinary blades. Bluntness didn't matter, brute force
reportedly did the job.


Roger Shoaf wrote:
One thing you can do is to preserve the factory edge for the down side.

A second option is to use a carbide blade in a skill saw (I hope they use
this term in OZ) and sandwich the material between the corrugated wood to
minimize deflection. This will still leave a burr, but that can be removed
by careful scraping.

Other options you may wish to consider are a different roofing material such
as a plastic material or using asphalt shingles. What are you putting a
roof on?

There is a blade called a friction saw that goes on an ordinary
carpenter's saw that will do a good job of cutting corrugated.
It is just a plain steel blade with no teeth and some slots to absorb
heat expansion.
I used it to cut insulated steel clad panels for a building back in the
60's. Don't know if they are still available.
Bugs

"Jordan" wrote in message
u...
I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge like
from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?


First of all, I'm not sure why you cannot get a clean cut with snips. A
good pair of compound-action snips handled well will cut the material
cleanly. A bit of manipulation is necessary when going up and down the
corregations. But...YMMV

I know of some roofing manufacturers who won't guarantee the corrosion
resistance of their product unless it is cut with bypass tooling of some
type -- something about "wiping" the zinc across the cut, or some such. It
sounds like mouse milk to me, because the amount of zinc you'd transfer must
be only a couple of atoms thick!

I've seen production roofing cutters. They are of the guillotine style with
contours to match the corregations. I never saw an angle cut being done in
the factory, though. For obvious reasons, it would take a different cutter
for each specific angle they'd have to cut.

The guy who built my barn used a diamond blade in a circular saw. The cuts
were nice, and barely burred.

LLoyd

That sounds worth trying, thanks.

J.


The guy who built my barn used a diamond blade in a circular saw. The cuts
were nice, and barely burred.

LLoyd

Some reference to them, but can't find any around here.

Thanks
J.

Bugs wrote:
There is a blade called a friction saw that goes on an ordinary
carpenter's saw that will do a good job of cutting corrugated.
It is just a plain steel blade with no teeth and some slots to absorb
heat expansion.

Normally those sheets are cut with a sheet metal blade in a curcular
saw. They make blades for this but I just use a cheap plywood blade run
BACKWARDS. This is a friction cut, goes very fast. WEAR EAR PROTECTION.
WEAR EYE PROTECTION! The burr can be cleaned up with a 60 grit sanding
disk in a 4" grinder held at a 45 degree angle. Be sure to hold the
grinder so the cutting surface spinss away from the cut and to not take
off too much material. Leaving a faint trace of burr is preferable to
going too deep.

Jordan wrote:
I'd like to cut corrugated roofing steel, and get a nice clean edge like
from the factory.
All I can manage is a nasty jagged edge, either with snips or angle
grinder. The roof is low, and I don't want the hazardous edge.

Q: Can corrugated sheet be neatly cut by shears/guillotine?

Other?

Thanks
Jordan

"Jordan" wrote in message
u...
The job calls for corrugated sheets, so no avoiding that.

Not sure what a skill saw is, but I might try a carbide blade in a
circular saw.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks.

Jordan

PS: I knew someone who said he cut car bodies in half with a circular
saw, using only ordinary blades. Bluntness didn't matter, brute force
reportedly did the job.

Bluntness does matter or rather sharpness. Skill saw = circular saw (hand
held) A table say might also work. Be sure to consider the sharp nasties
that will be flying off when you cut. Face shield and skin protection are
in order.

--
Roger Shoaf

If knowledge is power, and power corrupts, what does this say about the
Congress?

Skill saw = hand cirular saw. Do NOT use a carbide blade, you will
have either teeth or saw flying all over the place

Ordinary saw blades work fine running BACKWARDS, you are just friction
cutting.

Jordan wrote:

The job calls for corrugated sheets, so no avoiding that.

Not sure what a skill saw is, but I might try a carbide blade in a
circular saw.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks.

Jordan

PS: I knew someone who said he cut car bodies in half with a circular
saw, using only ordinary blades. Bluntness didn't matter, brute force
reportedly did the job.


Roger Shoaf wrote:

One thing you can do is to preserve the factory edge for the down side.

A second option is to use a carbide blade in a skill saw (I hope they use
this term in OZ) and sandwich the material between the corrugated wood to
minimize deflection. This will still leave a burr, but that can be
removed
by careful scraping.

Other options you may wish to consider are a different roofing
material such
as a plastic material or using asphalt shingles. What are you putting a
roof on?

I like this suggestion - nice and cheap.
Safety tips are noted!

J.

RoyJ wrote:
Skill saw = hand cirular saw. Do NOT use a carbide blade, you will
have either teeth or saw flying all over the place

Ordinary saw blades work fine running BACKWARDS, you are just friction
cutting.

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in message
...

snip-----

The guy who built my barn used a diamond blade in a circular saw. The
cuts
were nice, and barely burred.

LLoyd


I don't doubt that, but the diamond played a small role in the cut.
Diamond at high temperatures dissolves into steel readily-so in fact they
were more likely friction sawing than anything. You can accomplish the
same task with a fine toothed blade running backwards.

Harold

Today I tried a coarse-pitched blade running backwards (haven't got a
fine one yet). Result is similar to using an abrasive disc and angle
grinder.
With circular saw, it gets a straighter cut though.

Jordan

You need the fine teeth to get enough friction. Set up a guide so you
can go as fast as possible, just shove it through. 3" to 6" per SECOND
is not unusual! It will leave a nasty burr, the blade does not cut at
all, it just wipes the metal away. Figure out some nice way to deal with
the burr, die grinder or disk sander held at 45 degrees. You noted other
comments on eye and ear protection, this is a serious menace to both!

Jordan wrote:
Today I tried a coarse-pitched blade running backwards (haven't got a
fine one yet). Result is similar to using an abrasive disc and angle
grinder.
With circular saw, it gets a straighter cut though.

Jordan