What blade for cutting corrugated iron?

[Acrobat]

Hi,
I have need to cut fitted corrugated iron sheets and a wooden beam behind it to be able to fit a ranchslider door set in and have the carport area enclosed. I have a Festool grinder that fits a Festool track AG125, tin Snips, Festool ts55 saw and a long track.
I am wondering what is the easiest/ best way to cut a horizontal cut across to take out about 2 inches or so to get the ranchslider fitting in.
If I use the grinder what blade?
If I use the track saw what blade?
Would I need to cut just the iron with that blade then change it for wood cutting blade to remove the timber behind it?

 

[lwoirhaye]

I've used a thin cutoff wheel on an angle grinder to cut corrugated roofing.    You can buy consumable ones or a metal one with abrasive on the rim.  Either should work okay for roofing sheet. 

 

[James Biddle]

I've used a thin cutoff wheel on an angle grinder to cut corrugated roofing.    You can buy consumable ones or a metal one with abrasive on the rim.  Either should work okay for roofing sheet.

Would this also work to cut a seawall?  I need to cut a hole to run a 4" din pipe through.

 

[lwoirhaye]

I've used a thin cutoff wheel on an angle grinder to cut corrugated roofing.    You can buy consumable ones or a metal one with abrasive on the rim.  Either should work okay for roofing sheet.

Would this also work to cut a seawall?  I need to cut a hole to run a 4" din pipe through.

I'm not sure I know what a seawall is.  I did cut up an old craftsman cast iron table saw top with a consumable wheel once though.  It was 1/4" thick at the thinnest spots and the cuts went smoothly.  The tool is more predictable than you might expect compared to doing something like carving wood with a chainsaw disc on a grinder.    For a few dollars a consumable wheel may be worth a test on some scrap.

 

[rst]

I have a metal cutting 18v Milwaukee circular saw that I use to cut in door lites in 18 ga commercial steel doors.  I've also used it to 16 ga frames.  I use a fine cut Milwaukee blade .  I clamp a straight edge to the door and it leaves the finest steel chips, more like filings.  cut edge comes out so smooth that I seldom file afterwards.

 

[RJNeal]

What rst says. I have the Hilti metal cutting 6 1/2” saw. Works great on metal.
Rick.

 

[Cheese]

Some food for thought...I’d rather use a saw blade than a grinder blade. The saw blades cut much cooler than the grinder blades which tend to burn the galvanized coating which will have a tendency to rust more than a saw cut. In any event, make sure you treat the cut edge with some type of rust preventative coating. A raw steel edge is still raw steel and it will rust.

 

[Bohdan]

My blade of choice is a https://www.bunnings.com.au/diablo-165mm-6-5-48-teeth-steel-demon-ferrous-metals-circular-saw-blade_p6370900, which fits a TS55.

The problem with a friction blade is that the sparks and grit that flys off are hot steel, they will stick to the gal and leave a rust stain on your sheet.

If you must use a friction blade then make sure that it is one designed for stainless cutting as these do not leave rust stains.

 

[Michael Kellough]

[member=36526]Bohdan[/member]  Won’t the ground steel sticking to the sheet cause the rust stains?

 

[Bohdan]

Yes. But I think that the real issue is the reinforcing mesh in the wheel that causes most of the stains.

 

[rst]

When I've cut roofing, I use 2" painters tape to keep the chips closest to the cut, also the new steel cutting blades to not really make the cut and chips hot.

 

[rst]

Speaking of grinding type blades in chop saws for cutting metal.  Twenty so years ago we installed 100' of storefront in a grocery store.  The GC's crew needed to install the soffit and moved down the front cutting the steel studs and soffit.  After the cleaning crew left they discovered that hot steel chips will etch glass.  We ended up replacing every piece of glass including the doors.  Very expensive learning experience.

 

[DeformedTree]

Hi,
I have need to cut fitted corrugated iron sheets and a wooden beam behind it to be able to fit a ranchslider door set in and have the carport area enclosed. I have a Festool grinder that fits a Festool track AG125, tin Snips, Festool ts55 saw and a long track.
I am wondering what is the easiest/ best way to cut a horizontal cut across to take out about 2 inches or so to get the ranchslider fitting in.
If I use the grinder what blade?
If I use the track saw what blade?
Would I need to cut just the iron with that blade then change it for wood cutting blade to remove the timber behind it?

What is corrugated iron?  I did a search and things point to corrugated steel.  I refuse to believe anyone would every call steel iron.  So I'm curious if this is something I've never seen before. 

 

[Cheese]

What is corrugated iron?  I did a search and things point to corrugated steel.  I refuse to believe anyone would every call steel iron.  So I'm curious if this is something I've never seen before.

I think most if not all of the respondents assumed the material was corrugated steel. I assumed it was rather like the Brits chatting about aluminium...whatever that is...oh you mean aluminum.  [big grin] [big grin]

 

[semenza]

[member=4404]Acrobat[/member]  Pictures? 

  How thick is the metal?

Seth

 

[Stephen B]

What is corrugated iron?  I did a search and things point to corrugated steel.  I refuse to believe anyone would every call steel iron.  So I'm curious if this is something I've never seen before.

I think most if not all of the respondents assumed the material was corrugated steel. I assumed it was rather like the Brits chatting about aluminium...whatever that is...oh you mean aluminum.  [big grin] [big grin]

The corrugated iron being referred to here in this  thread  is in Australia a 'common use'  (slang) reference to corrugated iron and galvanised corrugated steel; building products historically used particularly in rural and remote areas of Australia. Significant examples can still be found in Broome on the NW coast of Western Australia.

[attachimg=1]

Modern corrugated iron, really rolled steel,  is now manufactured in two  rust resistant processes and marketed as Colorbond and Zincalume. Other profiles, many of which are used in the UK and NA are also now available.
https://colorbond.com/colourhttps://www.bluescopesteel.com.au/product/zincalume-steel-for-roofing

When cutting these I use an angle grinder with a thin metal cutting blade just outside on the waste side of a marked line. This releases tension so the edge can be easily recut on the line with tinsnips. The tinsnips cut a finer edge, an edge more resistant  to rust. It is important that disc residue and any metal filings from fastening are vacuumed or brushed to prevent rust spotting.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/makita-100-x-1-x-16mm-cutting-discs-12-pack_p6310249

Some professionals may also use powered sheers or Nibblers -https://www.bunnings.com.au/makita-550w-1-6mm-nibbler_p6240127

 

[DeformedTree]

What is corrugated iron?  I did a search and things point to corrugated steel.  I refuse to believe anyone would every call steel iron.  So I'm curious if this is something I've never seen before.

I think most if not all of the respondents assumed the material was corrugated steel. I assumed it was rather like the Brits chatting about aluminium...whatever that is...oh you mean aluminum.  [big grin] [big grin]

The corrugated iron being referred to here in this  thread  is in Australia a 'common use'  reference to corrugated iron and galvanised corrugated iron; building products historically used particularly in rural and remote areas of Australia. Significant examples can still be found in Broome on the NW coast of Western Australia.

Well that's disappointing that it's people calling it "iron" when it's steel.  I was hoping to find there was such a thing as corrugated iron, maybe something that is like a shingle material like slate, clay, or concrete but made of cast iron.  Would be very cool if such a thing existed.  Thanks for the clarification.

I figured search engines were just auto correcting to steel for me, not that it's actually called "iron" someplace.  Never have I heard of anyone refer to corrugated steel, barn steel, barn siding, etc as "iron".  Sometime called Tin, but that's because they also made it out of tin sometimes.

Cheese,  careful on the Aluminium,  the brits are right on this one.  It's not Titanum, Berlylum, Cadnum....  I of course call it Aluminum because my brain is programmed for that, but I know it's wrong.  Also we aren't even consistent.  We refute British usage of "u" where it has no value add.  So why we in the US don't call it Aluminim is a better question.  My spell check hates me right now.

 

[Cheese]

When cutting these I use an angle grinder with a thin metal cutting blade just outside on the waste side of a marked line. This releases tension so the edge can be easily recut on the line with tinsnips. The tinsnips cut a finer edge, an edge more resistant  to rust.

Some professionals may also use powered sheers or Nibblers -https://www.bunnings.com.au/makita-550w-1-6mm-nibbler_p6240127

Hey Untidy thanks for that post.  [smile]  It made me remember some details from a similar project.  [smile]

About 8-9 years ago, my neighbor and I constructed some out-buildings for storage on his lake property and then roofed & sided them in galvanized corrugated steel. Like you, we cut outside of the cut line but with a circular saw. More importantly though, we then cut on the line with aviation snips or a Milwaukee power shears when electricity was available.
We found that the snips/shears left a much better/safer edge because it rolls the edge slightly which reduces the sharpness left by the saw blade or grinder blade by a factor of 3-4 times.
It made a huge safety difference when handling the cut panels.