I want some galvanised strip. Thin sheet metal, 0.5mm-0.7mm-ish thick,
100mm wide, give or take, and about 5,000mm long.
I have some spare barge flashing (for tin roofs) which would be good, but if I cut it up, I don't want distortion, or to damage the zinc coating, which using an angle grinder and cutting disc would do. Using a hammer & chisel would be easy, then filing an edge flat I suppose would be OK... I could overlap 6' lengths, which would work.
So, any suggestions on cutting, or where to buy such a small quantity of such stuff?
If its the typical angle section, could you not just fold it flat to save cutting?
I had to do some cutting of thin sheet steel, and found a 1mm slitting disc in an AG used against a timber batten, made a very clean and straight cut.
However *any* cut edge will expose some non galvanised steel regardless of how you cut it. (although you could fold over the cut edge and then solder it up).
You can get thin galvanised sheets like:
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a 1000mm x 500mm sheet would presumably give you enough material.
or, more than enough:
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Also galvanised ridge flashing can be quite cheap:
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Or trim the tongue off some galvanised drip edge flashing.
I could, but I've only got one new piece, 6' long, which I was going to cut into four, lengthwise, leaving one cut-off piece left over.
This is for a drip edge, you see, to be sandwiched between the 2x6" and
2x3" boards above the four doors, protuding from between them to protect the top of the doors and stop the rain from hissing in.
I have two very old pieces of eaves flashing, but they're going rusty here and there. Since the edges of those are hemmed (just creased down at an angle, not folded over) I could cut each old piece at the middle
90 degree angle, clean them off, and go on them with coal tar paint, then jam the pieces cut edge in between the boards. That might not look too bad and would at jeast get me going.
It'll do it, and I've got the stuff, but it burns off the zinc near the cut.
Oof. I got the whole roof, 20 sheets of 10/3, 2.6m long, four roll-top ridges, 6 barge flashings, for less than £350!
I've just been looking, you can also get "galvanised lawn edging (??) but it's rather thick.
P'raps I should just use the old stuff. Hm. I'#ll have a closer look at it.
They advise that galv roofing sheets, cutting with tin snips, will have the cut edge protected by the galv coating by the action of the tin snips. Certainly roofing sheets I have cut by that method, have remained rust free for more than a decade.
(As with all things Fein: you will likely prefer to keep the money and gnaw you way through the metal using blunt shears... it's "a little" expensive.)
You can get an electric drill nibbler attsachment, which I've seen, but haven't one of. When you cut sheet with such tools, the only exposed steel is small in area compared to the galvanising, so the protective effect of the zinc still works. If you remove more zinc, it does not protect the edge, or area (look at the bottom of my wheelbarrow, for instance).
I have one of those attachments and it's okay for occasional use. Some years ago I used it to cut the (stainless-steel) bonnet of my Lotus 7 style kit-car in half, allowing me to fit a piano-hinge and avoid lifting the whole bonnet off just to check fluids.
It has done a few smaller jobs (sealing plates around pipes or brackets) since.
The drill (especially not being locked rigidly to it) makes it a bit unwieldy though.
I have a self contained one made by Hitachi. Mains. Less unwieldy than the add on ones. And I think I saw similar in Lidl a while back. Very useful tool for the odd time you need it - can be handy for car body restoration. If you don't have an air powered one.
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