Hot metal chips will fly everywhere.
How to cut sheet metal for art.
You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in.
Trace your design onto the sheet metal using a marker.
A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet.
They look like scissors and work fine with sheet metals like brass aluminum tin steel etc.
These will guide the plasma cutter to cut the art piece.
Clamp the cardboard template to the sheet metal.
You will be left with an outline to follow with a plasma cutter.
Trace around the cardboard with soapstone.
This is something that can produce breathtaking artwork from sheets of metal however it takes years of practice to be able to create consistent clean symmetrical grind patterns that truly look professional.
Such as straight cut snips left cut the right cut etc.
A soapstone pencil or metal scribe can help you in this regard.
Use at least two clamps.
If the metal is really greasy first clean the metal with a solvent.
For a large design use three or more clamps to hold the cardboard firmly in place.
Use a plasma cutter to begin cutting out the letters.
If the metal sheet seems greasy you need to clean it with metal solvent.
There are some cuts that you can do with decent tin snips.
The stencil decal removes easily from the metal.
Cut out the design using a sharp knife.
To cut straight lines use an electric saw.
You will notice in our helena martin collection that we feature precise decorative grind patterns to the surface of the sheet metal.
Clamp the template directly to the sheet.
In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter.
Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal.
Learn how to create sheet metal art with shears and a sheet metal nibbler in this free educational video series.
Terry leafty is a welder at bc welding in camp verde.
Cut metal with your circular saw.
Tin snips or aviation snips are one of the most widely used tools to cut sheet metals.
The method you choose to cut sheet metal depends on the thickness of the metal and the type of cut you plan to make.
Start by taping both sides of the sheet metal directly over the line you want to cut and clamp the metal to a work station so it doesn t move.
It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool.
You can also use a soap stone pencil or metal scribe.
