Cutting thin stainless strips

[kingbob]

Hi All

Anyone have a suggestion on the easiest way to cut thin stainless steel strips?
I have some SS sheet, i think about 0.25mm thick, and i need to cut some strips around 8mm wide from it. I tried aviation snips but they tend to make the strip i'm cutting curl up, plus they leave serrated tooth marks on it.

Really need a guillotine or something but i dont have access to anything like that.

Suggestions?

Thanks

[WhiteWolf McBride]

Kingbob,

Try a doillar store's frozen food scissors. They aren'tr serrated, but they do cut decently. I've been using thre pair I bought for ages, cutting lead sheet, tin-foil trays, and even that perforated stuff in microwave windows.

Another option is to use a ruler, and the backside of an X-acto or Olfa knife. Score like styrene, but keep doing it. It'll take a while, but it can be done. The strips may need some filing after cutting though... I've found dollar store nail files make great halfway-decent files for the more delicate jobs.

Anothetr option, if the sheet can stand up to it, is a Dremel router table, with a carbide wheel in the machine. Calibrate to 8mm, and run the piece thru the table like a lateral cutter. BUT!! Run it thru ~against~ the rotation of the wheel or it'll snatch the material out of your hands, and possibly cut you, make a mess of the sheet, shatter the wheel (unless ya use a diamond or fibre wheel) and generally teach you a cruel lesson.

How many strips you need, and what for? Making metal banding for cargo-strapping for pallets? You might wanna use large tin-foil cooking trays instead - easier to cut, and cheaper.

WhiteWolf
Mr. 'Outside the Box'

[kingbob]

Well, i want to make some straps for fuel tanks, but also a couple of other bits that i need need straight pieces for.

[Espeefan]

Bob, I've had good luck cutting metal sheet like this with a ultility knife, and a fresh blade. Out of curiousity, how wide do you need the strips to be?

[kingbob]

8mm

Have just tried that exact method, fresh knife, score it deep, then bend/snap it off.
Got 1 good piece and 3 failed pieces. lol, my metal skills suck.

Besides the tank straps, i'm working on lightbars for under the cab and sleeper. On about my 6th attempt. Might have to give up and ask Russ nicely :D

[WhiteWolf McBride]

King,

If you don't have any luck with the scoring/cutting method, it might just be cheaper to buy aluminum strip from K&S. That or ask one of the fabricators here to cut you some. Especially if you aren't going to need more than a half-dozen or so pieces.

WhiteWolf.

[kingbob]

I actually have some K&S strips, but they're too wide.

Of course even once i have the strips, then i need to neatly drill all the holes in them. lol, frustration.

[Espeefan]

Bob, are you inside the USA? I know a source for some .25" wide stainless strip material, that might work for tank straps. It's a little narrower then what you want, and it's about .015" thick.

[kingbob]

Nah i'm in Australia.
I think 8mm works out at about 5/16", and the narrowest K&S do is 1/2".

Its one of those things that in theory is so simple, but i just cant get it right, and i hate that its beating me! lol

[kingbob]

I've admitted defeat and asked Russ.

*hangs head in shame*

[Bodyman]

you can try a welding place or sheet metal place that has a shear. i have a place where i buy my sheet metal that they charge me a little to cut.

[FlyingBeagle]

I am not sure how thick the metal you are trying to cut is, but sandwich it between two pieces of thin plywood and run it through a bandsaw or scroll saw with an edge guide.