Need tips for cutting O1 annealed sheet steel with hand tools

I

IrishSteel

Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Messages
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Hey all,

I have a large 1/8" x 12" x 18" sheet of annealed O1 steel that I managed to get off of craigslist. I am having a hell of a time trying to cut profiles out of this sheet with only hand tools. I have a hacksaw, but I can only get about 5.5" into the sheet before the hacksaw frame gets in the way. I also have a coping saw, but the blades on it are getting eaten up after about an inch of cutting. I am going to acquire a variable speed hand jigsaw in about 3 weeks and I hope that will make the cutting simpler. I'm wondering if there are any other clever ways of cutting this steel with just the hacksaw and coping saw that I just don't know about, or if there are coping saw blades that are hardy enough to do the job. Any tips, or am I stuck for the next 3 weeks? I appreciate the input.
 
Do you have access to a hand drill/drill press? Using some HSS/Cobalt bits you can drill along the outside profile of the blade, giving the hacksaw much less work to do. An angle grinder and some thin cut-off wheels would be an excellent investment. The Jigsaw won't be of much use to you for cutting metal sheet. Bi-metal hacksaw blades, properly cared for HSS bits, and cut-off wheels will make short work of nearly all annealed metal sheet.
 
I do not have access to a drill press at the moment, my father-in-law has one that I can use every couple of weeks when we visit. I will however, be obtaining a hand drill in the next three weeks. After the holidays I should be able to invest in an angle grinder.
 
IrishSteel said:
Hey all,

I have a large 1/8" x 12" x 18" sheet of annealed O1 steel that I managed to get off of craigslist. I am having a hell of a time trying to cut profiles out of this sheet with only hand tools. I have a hacksaw, but I can only get about 5.5" into the sheet before the hacksaw frame gets in the way. I also have a coping saw, but the blades on it are getting eaten up after about an inch of cutting. I am going to acquire a variable speed hand jigsaw in about 3 weeks and I hope that will make the cutting simpler. I'm wondering if there are any other clever ways of cutting this steel with just the hacksaw and coping saw that I just don't know about, or if there are coping saw blades that are hardy enough to do the job. Any tips, or am I stuck for the next 3 weeks? I appreciate the input.
Click to expand...

Have a look at the stud and nut that holds the hacksaw blade

The hacksaws I have let you give that stud a quarter turn and set the blade to cut 90 degrees to the normal way.

That will let you cut strips off and the five inches or so should be lots of room for a normal blade width
 
The Count FTW. That was an incredibly simple solution. So simple it makes me feel dumb.... well this is why shop class needs to make a comeback, my generation got screwed out of it. Much thanks!
 
For some akward cuts I had the blade backwards. Just be creative.
If you're on a budget you can also consider buying a dremel first. By no means will it be as fast as an angle grinder but it will come in handy for all different kind of stuff.
Ebay is a good place to find acceseries for for friendly prices.
Of get a drill press with a flexible shaft extention. haven't worked with one but it should go
 
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