Cutting Expanded Sheet Metal

[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.