metal cutting: tin snips, bolt cutters, etc

[Harry Bloomfield]

Stephen laid this down on his screen :

Angle grinder?

[Stephen]

Hello,

Once upon a time, the outer half of my car exhaust went rusty and was hanging down so I tried to cut it off. I was too frightened to use the group's favourite, the angle grinder, in case the sparks melted something important or made the tank go boom. Looking back I think I was being over-scared, do you agree?

So I bought some tin snips for cutting odd bits of thin metal. I have found them very useful for cutting those carpet strips that go across doorways etc.

The other day I had a condemned wheel barrow to take to the scrap yard and I was trying to remove the tyre. The rubber was perished so I cut through it with a knife only to find the rim was reinforced with wire. I reached for the nearest thing which was the tin snips but they weren't strong enough to cut it. Would it have damaged the snips? I hope I haven't blunted them.

I used a hacksaw in the end. It did the job but is there anything better? What's the next tool up from tin snips? Bolt cutters?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Tyre bead wire is usually quite hard - something like piano wire. It will depend on the quality of the tinsnips if they are damaged - but you should be able to see any. Most are designed to be sharpened if needed.

Yes. A good quality pair. So not cheap.

[The Medway Handyman]

Deffo.

[Nick]

Tin snips are the wrong tool for the job. A/grinder will do it. Decent tin snips might and, if damaged, can be sharpened. Def not the right tool though. Tin snips cut tin or light sheet metal, wire cutters cut wire. Who condemns a wheelbarrow?

[Andy Dingley]

Damage would usually be either a notch or looseness in the pivot. You'll have worn some of the edge off them, but snips are rarely too sharp anyway.

Snips work like scissors, by shearing the thickness in what's effectively one bite. For thick materials you should instead use diagonal cutters, either wire cutters or bolt cutters. These have wedged jaws, so they slice more gradually.

[Spamlet]

Tyre band wire is like Bowden cable wire: very hard so it doesn't stretch. Even hacksaws generally bounce off it - though you can get harder blades.

Small bolt cutters are excellent for tough wire, but do make sure you get decent ones, as some of the cheap Chinese ones have soft jaws and will just dent on hard wire. (You can get hardened cheap ones: just try filing or scratching the cutting edge before you buy - you soon get the idea of what hard feels like.)

S

[Stephen]

The owner did! It had been rusted through and been patched with plywood a few times before hey gave up and bought a new one. This one they left standing so it rusted some more and the tyre perished.