Mark,
Thank you.
Very good points, as I have cut a lot of 1/8 - and thinner steel sheet using the sabersaws.
Drill 3 close-spaced 1/8" holes to start the cut inside the sheet. Drill two 5/16" holes at opposite corners and cut towards the blank corners for square-ish openings.
As you say so accurately : I always pre-oil the cutline and then feel for the right blade speed. Heat is the enemy of blades.
A sandbag or two on the sheet helps absorb the misc vibes of saw racket and saw chatter.
I used to duct the saw's fan exhaust air with some metalwork and duct tape to blow the chips ahead of my cut - but now chip blowers are included with some, if not all, sabersaws ....
(ps, any time I see a "new" hardware store I go looking at cutting stuff - saw blades of any sort, drills, snips .... you never know until you seek ... )
__________________
Kent
http://www.tinmantech.com
"All it takes is a little practical experience to blow the he!! out of a perfectly good theory." --- Lloyd Rosenquist, charter member AWS, 1919.
Last edited by crystallographic; 10-07-2017 at 12:52 PM.
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