The Armour Archive

How do you cut metal (16 guage steel, brass, etc.) without a beverly shears and without hurting yourself?

Mord.

Get a good jig saw and some nice metal cutting blades. Cut slow, not fast, and use slight pressure, let the blade and the machine do the cutting. Forcing both the afore mentioned will bend the blade. Make sure you wear goggles, not glasses, and wear a glove on the hand that will be holding the metal down. Clamping the metal down is a great idea and give the metal as much support as you can, in other words clamp the area that is to be cut slightly over the edge of a table, give your blade room to work, if you just suspend the metal over two saw horses you will be unimpressed when the metal jumps around and blade catches and breaks.

Lubricants can be employed but its up to you on what how much mess you wish to clean up

Kelson

Sir Mord wrote:How do you cut metal (16 guage steel, brass, etc.) without a beverly shears and without hurting yourself?

I do not yet have a beverly shear *sniffle* so I have to get by with alternate means.

For some things I use cold chisel and hammer, I need to work on my technique with this a bit, maybe use a heavier hammer, for it seems to be a bit more time consuming than it used to be. I have been hampered since I do not have a stable work surface that can withstand the repeated impacts... ie. an anvil. I need to remedy this.

For small cuts, Weiss No3 aviation snips work, but it is hard on the hands.
(I am never cutting out helmet bowl halves with them again...)

For fine work sometimes a heavy duty jewlers saw, or a hacksaw works.

For busting down big work/sheets I have had to utilize a hand held jig saw. It is noisy, tiresome, and you go through blades fairly rapidly.

I so need a shear, I spend way too much time cutting, and then having to adjust and clean the cuts... well either a shear or 3 apprentices.

-Takeda

For all the knocking folks do on the HF shears they really aren't that bad. NO they aren't a $500 beverly but it beats the hell out of a jig saw. I'm quite happy with mine and I've used it on 14ga steel.

I hope Mord's question's been answered adequately, so I'm not horning in by asking a related ones.

What to do when you have a lot of metal to cut and the HF shears only cut it by using a "cheater bar" extension?

Am I doomed to forking out a lot of money for a B2?

Is there enough of a market that a guy could buy a decent used B2 and re-sell it after the project is over?

Jeff J wrote:I hope Mord's question's been answered adequately, so I'm not horning in by asking a related ones.

What to do when you have a lot of metal to cut and the HF shears only cut it by using a "cheater bar" extension?

Am I doomed to forking out a lot of money for a B2?

Is there enough of a market that a guy could buy a decent used B2 and re-sell it after the project is over?

Jeff,

No problem. I'm just looking for alternatives.

Thanks to all that posted here.

Mord.

Hey guys. The best you can do out there for cutting metal is the plasma cutter and its not that expensive. really its not. I just picked up one in Jan. of this year and a hypertherm 600 with a compressor and all the electrical supplies (I'm an electrician so the labor was mine) all of it cost a little under $1800. It cuts extremely fast and efficiently... and for those of you that cut more then one set you can make templates out of 1/4 mdf...the nice part of it is that you can literally rent the use of it out and make the money back in months any one in MD that need use of one or wants the info to get one just pm me

varg

Jeff J wrote:I hope Mord's question's been answered adequately, so I'm not horning in by asking a related ones.

What to do when you have a lot of metal to cut and the HF shears only cut it by using a "cheater bar" extension?

Am I doomed to forking out a lot of money for a B2?

Is there enough of a market that a guy could buy a decent used B2 and re-sell it after the project is over?

What are you cutting that you need a cheater bar with?

Magnus The Black wrote:What are you cutting that you need a cheater bar with?

Springsteel. A LOT of it.

You are supposed to cut&form it before the heat treating.

Alcyoneus is right but....
hmm in that case I'd check with the local machine shop (or highschool) about having it done by plasma or water cutter. The hardest thing I've done with mine is 16 ga Titanium and while I didn't have to use a cheater bar I did end up chipping blades.

Ehhh ya bunch a sissies!

Learn to use a jigsaw properly! FAR less expensive to operate and later replace if necessary... and one blade easily lasts through 2-3 helmets and only costs about $1.

Who needs these non-versatile, expensive to buy and maintain, touchy, hard to work with shears?

Otto, proprietor of Otto's Armoury and been using a jigsaw for making armour for over 20 years now.

So, what jig saw do you recommend?

Mord, who is tool un-adept.

Not really a brand per se... but for armour work (which to me includes up to 12 ga. mild or stainless and some occasional barstock and such) you want at least what is qualified as "Industrial". Sears brand or Black and Decker is fine... preferably one which specifically states that it has metal gears and such... otherwise you get plastic gears which just won't hold up for long. Plan on spending around $100 give or take... frequently a sale will come to your aid.

A normal "household" level jigsaw will not hold up long... it'll burn out.

I like to use my 5/8hp Dewalt saber-saw. The damn thing is HUNGRY and likes to eat 1/4" steel plate, 1/2" bolts and my workbench if I'm not carefull. Ask anyone who's been in my shop. My saber saw is my tool-o-distruction when something aggressive needs to be done.

I also use my Harbor-Freight B1 nock-off to good advantage.

Mord, you're mostly local. Are you looking for a 1 time solution or a tool to use repeatedly. If its a one time job I can just bring my saber-saw to Mud thaw and let you borrow for a bit.

Sean

i got a makita electric throatless shear and it works really well- i just propped the steel up on some 2x4's with saw horses and a piece of plywood over top (just spare suff around, probably dont need all of it) and cut out two vambraces and spaulders

flattening was a pain only becasue i have no soft hammer to i tried it witha 3lb steel hammer over my anvil- mostly good

anyway the makita shear rules and it was only $250 but it only says it can cut up to 16g mild
ive heard it can cut 14g if need be

For type of jig saw, I would add that you should get a variable speed. Of course they may all be variable speed now. Use a wax lube stick, to get long life and easier cuts

Also, for "good blades" I would add that you want to go with a good name brand bi-metal type blade with the right tooth count for your metal thickness. Alot of the Home DeBaseLowes type blades are cheap carbon steel. Even the High Speed Steel don't compare to the bi-metal. I've been really happy with Lenox brand which I can get at both the local welding supply and fastener supply places. They are good for stainless as well as mild. I'm sure there are many other good brands too.

Sean Powell wrote:I like to use my 5/8hp Dewalt saber-saw. The damn thing is HUNGRY and likes to eat 1/4" steel plate, 1/2" bolts and my workbench if I'm not carefull. Ask anyone who's been in my shop. My saber saw is my tool-o-distruction when something aggressive needs to be done.

I also use my Harbor-Freight B1 nock-off to good advantage.

Mord, you're mostly local. Are you looking for a 1 time solution or a tool to use repeatedly. If its a one time job I can just bring my saber-saw to Mud thaw and let you borrow for a bit.

Sean

Thank you very much for the offer, but I don't need to cut metal just yet. Too damn cold out side, and besides I have to find a metal supplier, etc.

I was asking for future projects. I tend to plan well ahead of time for such thing--after all, why do you think I'm a librarian.

Mord.

Well drop me a line privatly some time with what you are looking for. I have a decent stock of mild steel (14, 16 and 18ga) some 1/16 alluminum and am contimplating buying some stainless. I keep the stock for newbies to work with and retail it by the sq-foot at my cost. I have a few suppliers that I can look into if I know what you are looking for and might buy enough to justify full sheets instead of partials.

If you don't mind the drive to Coatesville, you are also welcome to come out to the shop and use the tools there. Its not the basement in Risdy but its what I've got to work with. Shop is open about 50% of the weekend, usually when not overlaped with a major SCA event.

You can contact me at powell(dot)sean(at)comcast(dot)net

Sean

Sir Mord,
I use a Milwaukee 6.4 amp jigsaw for all of my larger, less intricate cuts. They work exceedingly well for just about anything up to 14g mild...I've cut 10g Aircraft aluminum as though it were made of cardboard. I highly agree with His Grace Sir Gaufred Kelson about all of the precautions needed. When the jigsaw starts jumping about because of an nonsecured piece of metal and the blade snaps violently it's not much fun at all.
I want to start using my HF Throatless once I am done moving...it's gotten great reviews as a cheap, Beverly alternative.

Sean Powell wrote:Well drop me a line privatly some time with what you are looking for. I have a decent stock of mild steel (14, 16 and 18ga) some 1/16 alluminum and am contimplating buying some stainless. I keep the stock for newbies to work with and retail it by the sq-foot at my cost. I have a few suppliers that I can look into if I know what you are looking for and might buy enough to justify full sheets instead of partials.

If you don't mind the drive to Coatesville, you are also welcome to come out to the shop and use the tools there. Its not the basement in Risdy but its what I've got to work with. Shop is open about 50% of the weekend, usually when not overlaped with a major SCA event.

You can contact me at powell(dot)sean(at)comcast(dot)net

Sean

Thank you very much.

Mord.