Ideas & Advice

How to cut metal with a band saw. Band saws are a power tool that have a looped metal cutting blade tensioned over 2 pulleys. The top pulley retains and guides the blade, while the lower pulley varies the speed. The blade runs in one direction rathe

Hacksaws are a hand tool that is a very versatile addition to any workshop. Hacksaws work by simply moving the blade through the metal backwards and forwards in a regular ‘sawing’ action. The C shaped handles are relatively cheap to buy and the w

‘Score and snap’ is a hand-cutting technique that is simple to complete on light gauge sheet metal and thin aluminium and steel profiles. This technique needs very little equipment and is very quick. The only equipment you will need i

How to cut metal with a reciprocating saw. Reciprocating saws fitted with the correct metal cutting blade make easy work of sawing through bolts, rods, rebar, pipes, profiles, and nails in stud work. Reciprocating saws cut by the blade travelling i

How to cut metal with a guillotine. Guillotines cut metal by using 2 blades; one is fixed under the workpiece, the other moves downwards to cut through the metal. Guillotines come in many sizes and are known by an array of names such as; guillotin

Tin snips are an inexpensive and invaluable addition to any tool box. For most cutting jobs regular tin snips will be perfectly adequate, but for some projects it is worth upgrading to one of the more specialised blade configurations to achieve bette

What is a chop saw, cut off saw, or mitre saw? Chop saws and cut off saws make a straight cut across the profile at 90° while mitre saws cut across profiles at an angle, however, the directions for using all these machines are the same. Mitre saws,

Pipe cutters are a simple hand-held tool that easily cuts through steel, copper, bronze and aluminium tube sections. The tool is constructed in a ‘C’ shape that has rollers and a cutting blade set within the inside edge. Some models need to be

Brass is an alloy that is comprised of Copper and Zinc. Different grades of Brass will also contain elements of other alloys that will provide different properties. Brass has a high tensile strength, high corrosion resistance and is suitable to be hot forged.