Cutting Expanded Sheet Metal

[xtreme cartz]

I own a small manufacturing company and originally bought my PP50 to cut 13g x 1/2" expanded sheet metal as cut off wheels were very inefficient. I've seen you tube videos of plasma cutters slicing through exp metal but I haven't had the same success with mine. I had to revert to using cut off wheels. I hope there is a way to use the PP50 for this though as I do a LARGE amount of exp cutting for the products we manufacture and the cut off wheels are getting expensive.

[fdcmiami]

what shapes; i always sheared it; round shapes i used a beverly shear or a power notcher. made hundreds of machine guards this way. saying that you are doing a LARGE amount does not say much. in a job shop i have sheared a couple of tons in a day. the fact that you are using cut off wheels leads me to believe you aren't cutting that much.

[xtreme cartz]

what shapes; i always sheared it; round shapes i used a beverly shear or a power notcher. made hundreds of machine guards this way. saying that you are doing a LARGE amount does not say much. in a job shop i have sheared a couple of tons in a day. the fact that you are using cut off wheels leads me to believe you aren't cutting that much.

At the time of purchase the website advertised it as being able to cut expanded metal. There was no way I would know it to be this inefficient.

I cut enough expanded metal to leave my face entirely black by the end of the day!!! Is that enough for you? The parts are mostly square or rectangle, some have curved corners and notches for round tubing. I go through 15: 4' x 10' sheets on a busy day. The parts I get out of those 15 sheets = 4,380" of metal cut in one day. It SUCKS @!# to do it like this but I have just sucked it up and done it until I can find something better.

I would define this as a LARGE amount for a 4.5" angle grinder, yes.

[fdcmiami]

At the time of purchase the website advertised it as being able to cut expanded metal. There was no way I would know it to be this inefficient.

I cut enough expanded metal to leave my face entirely black by the end of the day!!! Is that enough for you? The parts are mostly square or rectangle, some have curved corners and notches for round tubing. I go through 15: 4' x 10' sheets on a busy day. The parts I get out of those 15 sheets = 4,380" of metal cut in one day. It SUCKS @!# to do it like this but I have just sucked it up and done it until I can find something better.

I would define this as a LARGE amount for a 4.5" angle grinder, yes.

only a fool would do what you are doing. sorry to be so blunt.

[xtreme cartz]

only a fool would do what you are doing. sorry to be so blunt.

I would have to agree! Lol I hate doing it with a grinder but honestly its been the only thing to get the job done while holding a tight tolerance. If you dont cut precisely within the V's it will leave a difficult time welding up to the round tubing. I cant leave any overlap or people would be cut by the metal. It's hard, our cusotmers love our products though. I really need to find a good way to cut the exp metal before my lungs go!

[fdcmiami]

yes, i am very familiar with that situation. it is hard to split that vee. are you using flattened material? those points are a mother and if you hook on to one they can really gouge you.

i would cut to the vee and keep that as my good side. the piece of drop i would put back in the shear and trim sharp points, flip it and do the same thing to the other side.

you can also take a tig welder and knock off the sharp points. only takes a couple of minutes.

the last thing i would ever do is what you are doing. the edge left by a grinder is lousy quality.

[JBnID]

You need a power shear for the straight cuts and a hand notcher for the corners and odd angles. Or contract with a CNC plasma outfit to supply your blanks.

[Rodsmachineshop]

I cut my expanded metal with my skill saw with a abrasive blade . my brother inlaw bought one of these i used it it cuts nice http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200313572_200313572?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Power%20Tools-_-Circular%20Saws-_-399984&ci_sku=399984&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword} think i will buy one myself

[fdcmiami]

I cut my expanded metal with my skill saw with a abrasive blade

i was just about to throw that out there. that works also.

[Rodsmachineshop]

I like the worm gear drive skill saw since turns slower works great for cutting aluminum with a carbide blade. Just wear goggle aluminum fly's every were lol

[Rambozo]

Something like this?



Maybe you need a unit with HF start, and pilot arc...

[fdcmiami]

i do all my cutting with a hitachi 7 1/4 circular saw and 10 dollar blades. i'll bet you could use some electric double cuts. i own some but they are for up to 16 ga; they do make more powerful ones though.

those worm drives will cut a lot of aluminum before they give it up.

to the OP, if people know how much material is a large amount they can make better suggestions. if you are doing fifty sheets of 4 by 8 a day you will take one path. if you are doing three then you will probably take another. thirteen gage is pretty light and if it's flattened that makes it even easier.

[xtreme cartz]

Actually the quality of cut from the angle grinder is relatively good... why? Because after cutting all 4,000", then I have to turn around and sand both sides 8,000" with a 60 grit flap wheel! Lol My life sucks right now. I am thankful we are busy but there isn't enough profit margin to be farming out the work. We do 100% of it and jump around like jack rabbits.

[fdcmiami]

I like the worm gear drive skill saw since turns slower works great for cutting aluminum with a carbide blade. Just wear goggle aluminum fly's every were lol

hate to hijack a thread but it never hurts to let people know what they can do with a cheap saw. here's some pics of a doubler plate i made to mount a horn on an aluminum workboat. it is 1/2 by 6 AL/FB.

to the OP; 15 sheets is a good amount of expando to be cutting daily. volume frequently drives tooling choice, to me it sounds like you're a little under tooled.

a shear's cost is dependent on a number of factors but if i was doing 60 sheets of exp metal a week i'd be looking at alternatives. if you search google , cutting exp metal with plasma you will pull up a number of threads dealing with this. some of the poster's use it successfully. i worked for some very big, high end job shops so i am, or have been accustomed to some serious metal working machinery.

good luck, skip it, if it's working for you then that's good enough.

[xtreme cartz]

I tried cutting a piece of exp metal again to refresh my memory of what happens. The arc shuts off after every V in the metal and has to restart. It's slow going and I can do it faster with a grinder. I was also worried this arc action might wear the electrodes quickly. The videos I have seen the arc remains constant and you can move the torch at a steady pace just like cutting solid metal. I have to wait a second for each and every arc to restart. Just takes way too much time.

[xtreme cartz]

I've tried a 7 1/4" metal circular saw with a carbide blade before and its great for solid sheet metal and tread plate (although I prefer the plasma for this), but when it comes to the expanded metal the saw pulls up the edges of the metal too much and gets bound up. I had a 52" hydraulic shear but it was rated for only up to 16ga.

Mine will cut almost like the one in that video where the guy is going through the expanded metal, its just slower for the arc to restart. I dont know maybe I am doing something wrong or just to impatient! Lol

[fdcmiami]

ok, have you considered contacting a sheet metal shop and paying the shop rate for the use of the shear? if you are cutting that much material (it seems, working the numbers quickly, that there is quite a bit of waste) you would be far better off having your rectangles cut and doing the details yourself. what is it about plasma that new guys think it is the holy grail.

[xtreme cartz]

Probably the way the plasma cutters are advertised.

Yes I have contacted our metal supplier about this because they do metal shearing. They actually told me that trying to shear 1/2" x 13ga sheet metal would bend the ends. They also have a $500,000 CNC laser cutter which I've had metal cut on years before. I asked about them cutting the exp metal on it and they said it might work but they would have to put a thin solid sheet metal on top of the exp to keep a constant arc and this sheet would be wasted.

[fdcmiami]

Probably the way the plasma cutters are advertised.

Yes I have contacted our metal supplier about this because they do metal shearing. They actually told me that trying to shear 1/2" x 13ga sheet metal would bend the ends. They also have a $500,000 CNC laser cutter which I've had metal cut on years before. I asked about them cutting the exp metal on it and they said it might work but they would have to put a thin solid sheet metal on top of the exp to keep a constant arc and this sheet would be wasted.

what do they mean, "bend the ends"? shear blades have settings, generally done with a feeler gage. if you shear is set up to cut 1/4 plate you are going to have one setting. if it is set up to cut 22 ga. then you will have another, much tighter setting. your material could be cut no problem, you are probably talking to the wrong outfit.

the bigger problem is if the hold downs; either hydraulic or pneumatic are not working well enough to keep the material locked in place.

on the other hand; you could always try a table saw with a thin blade. no matter what though it seems to keep that material in place you are going to have to cut twice. the thing to work out is the most efficient way to do it. sorry, but plasma is not the way to go, IMHO.

[xtreme cartz]

what do they mean, "bend the ends"? shear blades have settings, generally done with a feeler gage. if you shear is set up to cut 1/4 plate you are going to have one setting. if it is set up to cut 22 ga. then you will have another, much tighter setting. your material could be cut no problem, you are probably talking to the wrong outfit.

the bigger problem is if the hold downs; either hydraulic or pneumatic are not working well enough to keep the material locked in place.

on the other hand; you could always try a table saw with a thin blade. no matter what though it seems to keep that material in place you are going to have to cut twice. the thing to work out is the most efficient way to do it. sorry, but plasma is not the way to go, IMHO.

I have no idea. I did not expect them to say that. Have you actually sheared this type of sheet metal though? I might check with another place that has done some shear and brake work for me before.