There are a variety of ways to cut metal. 

We'll divide these into hot cutting and cold cutting.

Hot Cutting:

This would include the oxygen acetylene cutting torch, and the plasma cutter.

Oxygen Acetylene cutting is for cutting steel.  This works particularly well on  heavier steel such as 1/4" thickness and above. 

Cutting lighter metals is possible but takes some real practice. 

The large flame of the cutting torch will warp thinner metals.

The cutting torch is set to a neutral flame, once the steel is red hot the lever is pushed and the metal is flooded with oxygen. 

A good cut means that:

1) The torch tip is clean.  There are a number of holes in the cutting torch tip.  These must be kept clean. (Tip Cleaner)

2) Correct regulator setting (refer to the manual that came with the torch outfit). 

3) Torch tip must be correct distance from the metal to be cut. 

4) Speed of travel must be constant.  If the speed is too slow the metal will melt back together.  If it is too fast it will not cut.

Someone that is experienced can make a cut in heavier metal that is almost as good as a shear cut.  But this did not happen overnight.  It does take practice.

There was a time back in the 1980's when I was doing a lot of steel work and was quite proficient.  I have since lost that skill.  If I wanted re-gain that proficiency I would need to spend some quality time practicing.

The Plasma Cutter

Plasma cutters are idea for cutting steel, copper, brass, stainless steel and aluminum.

As opposed to the oxygen acetylene cutting torch, the plasma is cutting electronically.

Entry level plasma cutters cut up to 1/8th" thick, a bit less for stainless steel.

Moving up to units that cut 3/8", 1/2" and beyond.

Plasma cutter start in price at about $900.00 and go up from there.  Larger units can run into the thousands of dollars.

If metal cutting comprises a large part of what you do a plasma cutter is a worthwhile investment. 

Three points I like about cutting with the plasma cutter are;

1) almost a shear like cut if everything is set up correctly.

 2) The ability to cut sheet materials, i.e., copper, brass, steel without warping the material. 

 3) It is much cleaner than the oxygen acetylene torch.  There is no soot from the acetylene flame as when the torch is lit and there is far less slag that falls on your table or on the floor.

One negative on the plasma cutter is the expendables such as tips and nozzle. These are expensive.

The tendency is to get by as cheaply as possible.  This often results in buying a unit that is one step below what you need.  For plasma cutters I would suggest doing your research and especially visiting some of the welding forums on the internet.

Cold Cutting

Cold cutting primarily refers to shears.

Below is a 5" Shear from Grizzly.  This is what I'll call a utility shear.  It will cut short sections of flat metals and there is a hole in the blade for inserting round stock.  About $70.00

For me this is a good tools to mount on the bench when I am doing the Small Table Top Bicycles ( 3/32nd RG 45)and also the Magic Wands (8 gauge copper wire).

Below is a Grizzly 12 inch bench top shear.

This shear has more capacity which allows for the cutting of longer sections.  It will also cut heavier metals.  It has a longer handle which increases the leverage making it all around a more powerful shear.

I've cut sheet steel and copper with this and have cut up to 1/8th " steel.

Takes a little practice to cut a straight line as the metal will want to move slightly as the blade enters the metal.

Price is a little over a $100.00

Heinrich Bar Cutter

This is one of those top of the line tools. I Purchased this in 1973 and use it almost daily. It is an expensive tool.  For day in and day out production it can't be beat.  For the hobbyist I would recommend one of the Grizzly shear above.  The Heinrich bar cutter is now over $500.00.

You'll notice that it has several holes.  This allows for flush cutting up to 3/8th" rod.  Flush cutting means that the ends are squared off, not cut at an angle.

I have the Heinrich setup so that it acts as a measuring device. It is adjustable for different lengths.  Primarily I use this to cut RG 45 rods for various sculptures.  I also use it to cut lengths of 1/8th" x 1" flat hot rolled steel.

This is a foot shear or sometimes called a floor shear.

Excellent for cutting large pieces of sheet metal material to exact size.  Prices for these are a little over a $1000.00.  This price is for an imported model.  A USA manufactured foot shear would be more expensive.

As you can see this shear is quite old.  It's a great tool if you need it. 

The Jig Saw

I have done some experimenting with using a jig saw to cut 1/8th" thick steel.  The goal is to find an inexpensive way to cut heavier metals. Specifically for cutting metals for modern sculptures such as the ones in the Steel Sculpture videos.

A good jig saw is a fraction of the price of a plasma cutter. 

Another advantage of the jig saw is the price for replacement metal cutting blades is nominal.  Even the premium blades!  Far less than the the expendable parts for the plasma cutter.

Like any tool it does takes some practice to get the desired cuts.  If you already have a jig saw you may want to buy a few metal cutting blades and give it a try. The saw that I'm using here is a Bosch.  It's one of their better saws. 

The above will give you a good idea of what's available for metal cutting.  There are others such as the Nibbler, Power Shears and the Throatless Shear.  For a number of reasons I have not found either of these preferable to the cutting tools shown above.

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