First choose a flat working area and place your sheet metal.
Best way to cut sheet metal and keep it flatten.
Laser or waterjet may yield nicer edges but they are much more expensive to purchase and to run.
Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade.
Sheet metal has a smooth surface so it tends to slip away if you cut using a jigsaw.
For cutting steel sheet and flat materials they are easy and fast.
You can also do free hand cutting steel with plasma if you re steady without much trouble.
Place the metal on a hard surface to score it and on long pieces do the bending with the score place along a sharp edge of a bench and if necessary clamp the fixed piece with a long piece of flat wood to prevent buckling the metal while bending it back and forth.
I m thinking water jet is the way to go but don t want to overspend for no reason.
Don t know about flattening but i found that sand or bead blasting one side of sheet aluminum will put a bow in the metal bowing toward the blasted side.
Hot metal chips will fly everywhere.
How to cut sheet metal with a jigsaw 1.
Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal.
You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in.
Cold rolled steel is good enough in terms of flatness but i m worried about warping at the edges when cutting these pieces out using a guillotine or plasma laser cutter.
Tin snips are primarily used for cutting thin sheet metal like tin aluminum brass and thin gauge stainless steel.
If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough.
Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal.
It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool.
Am i overthinking things.
Keep it steady by putting a flat material like a plywood or other heavy objects to prevent it from moving as you cut.
Cut metal with your circular saw.
Put a nice matte finish on the piece but it wasn t flat anymore.
Clamp the sheet metal in place on your work table to hold it in place while you work.
In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter.
I hope this reads sensibly.