# Cutting 0.7mm copper plate... advice please :)



## MontyVeda (3 May 2022)

I've got a sheet of copper plate at 0.7mm thick that needs cutting (a curve, just to be awkward).

I figured my junior hacksaw would do the trick but that's proving tricky; not enough teeth and the force is bending the sheet when i'd like it to remain perfectly flat.

My Jigsaw blades for metal don't seem to have any more teeth per inch than my hacksaw, and looking at screwfix I've got got as finer blade as one can get. Would sandwiching the sheet between some plywood help?

Or would i be best off buying a coping saw with an ultrafine jewellers blade?

I guess at 0.7mm thick, I'd be looking for a tooth pitch of around 0.2mm... if such a thing exists??

Thanks in advance


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## Darius_Jedburgh (3 May 2022)

Cut a template out of plywood/mdf. Firmly place on copper and use a new Stanley knife. 
0.2mm isn't thick and a knife will leave a sharper edge than a saw.


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## MontyVeda (3 May 2022)

Darius_Jedburgh said:


> Cut a template out of plywood/mdf. Firmly place on copper and use a new Stanley knife.
> 0.2mm isn't thick and a knife will leave a sharper edge than a saw.


Thanks.

it's 0.7mm


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## Darius_Jedburgh (3 May 2022)

MontyVeda said:


> Thanks.
> 
> it's 0.7mm


Sorry, rushing. It's still not thick and a knife should have no trouble.


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## midlife (3 May 2022)

Is it a tight curve?


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## wonderloaf (3 May 2022)

Have you tried a pair of scissors? I flattened out a piece of plumbing pipe just recently and used a pair of kitchen scissors to cut a fairly intricate shape which had a few tight curves. Blunted the scissors but easy enough to re sharpen (or buy a cheap pair).


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## classic33 (3 May 2022)

Is the piece you need an external or internal curve?
If external, a series of small straight cuts, finished with a file.


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## slowmotion (3 May 2022)

Sandwich the copper between two bits of scrap MDF (each say 6mm thick) and then cut the curve with a fine tooth jigsaw. Make sure that the MDF remains in intimate contact with the copper when you are cutting.


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## JohnHughes307 (3 May 2022)

Isn't this a job for tinsnips?


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## Adam4868 (3 May 2022)

Definately decent pair of tin snips if your confident enough.Id never really cut with a jig saw.To much of a chance for error.How tight of a curve are you cutting ?


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## presta (3 May 2022)

JohnHughes307 said:


> Isn't this a job for tinsnips?



Yes, yes, and yes again.

(By the way, it's a job for tin snips.)


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## slowmotion (3 May 2022)

Adam4868 said:


> Definately decent pair of tin snips if your confident enough.Id never really cut with a jig saw.To much of a chance for error.How tight of a curve are you cutting ?



Oh, all right then...how about a laser cutter?

[media]
]View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YIp_WASCQ4[/media]


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## MontyVeda (4 May 2022)

Darius_Jedburgh said:


> Sorry, rushing. It's still not thick and a knife should have no trouble.


Thanks. I'll give it a go


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## MontyVeda (4 May 2022)

tinsnips tend to bend either side of what you're I'm cutting, so they're the last option.

I tried Darius' stanley knife option on the smallest cut and whilst it took a fair few passes, did work without bending the plate.

The curve is not too tight, 50mm radius at the tightest.


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## presta (4 May 2022)

MontyVeda said:


> tinsnips tend to bend either side of what you're cutting, so they're the last option.


If you're going about it the right way it's the swarf that curls, not the workpiece.


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## MontyVeda (4 May 2022)

presta said:


> If you're going about it the right way it's the swarf that curls, not the workpiece.



That's what happens on YT videos. Maybe its my snips (cheap/blunt) or my technique (clumsy/impatient) or a combination of the two


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## Adam4868 (4 May 2022)

MontyVeda said:


> That's what happens on YT videos. Maybe its my snips (cheap/blunt) or my technique (clumsy/impatient) or a combination of the two


You can get left hand and right hand snips....your cutting it the right way ? Not trying to be patronizing !


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## Roseland triker (4 May 2022)

Curved tin snips would be my choice


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## MontyVeda (4 May 2022)

Adam4868 said:


> You can get left hand and right hand snips....your cutting it the right way ? Not trying to be patronizing !



that could be it. I am cack handed


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## irw (4 May 2022)

MontyVeda said:


> that could be it. I am cack handed



What @Adam4868 means is that you can get different sets of snips depending on which way around the curve you are going- I have a set of three- one for going clockwise (right hand curve), one for going anti-clockwise (left hand curve), and one for straight cuts.


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## Adam4868 (4 May 2022)

Yes sorry should of made myself clearer ! Not so much of because what hand your using,more which way the cut needs to be
As in the waste needs to curl away from you if that makes sense.
If you were trying to cut a strip out of a sheet of metal,you'd alternate left and right handed snips and the waste will curl upwards.
I think snips nowadays are colour coded even,some call them aviation snips ? 
Sheet metal was my trade many moons ago and it's was only Gilbow snips...cost me a fortune and I still have them ! Shame your not closer 😁


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## MontyVeda (5 May 2022)

I found this video which explains how to get it wrong, and right... (it's rather dull, sorry)



The snips I've only ever used are the old fashioned (not aviation) snips, probably on gauges too thick for them, hence never getting good results.

But I'm not gonna fork out on a set of aviation snips. I'll use the stanley knife method suggested by Darius


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## bruce1530 (5 May 2022)

Coincidentally, just saw someone cutting copper sheet like this on Salvage Hunters-The Restorers. 

Used a Dremel-like tool with a circular rotating blade.


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## MontyVeda (5 May 2022)

bruce1530 said:


> Coincidentally, just saw someone cutting copper sheet like this on Salvage Hunters-The Restorers.
> 
> Used a Dremel-like tool with a circular rotating blade.



also an option


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## MontyVeda (5 May 2022)

I ended up using the jigsaw. Found a set of blades in Dad's garage which had some very fine looking metal cutting blades, so sandwiched the copper 'tween two chunks of MDF, clamped it up and cut it to shape.

Thanks for all the suggestions._ Ask a cyclist _is always the best thing to do


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## Adam4868 (5 May 2022)

MontyVeda said:


> I ended up using the jigsaw. Found a set of blades in Dad's garage which had some very fine looking metal cutting blades, so sandwiched the copper 'tween two chunks of MDF, clamped it up and cut it to shape.
> 
> Thanks for all the suggestions._ Ask a cyclist _is always the best thing to do


Amateur 🙄


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## MontyVeda (5 May 2022)

i got it right the first time. That's the main thing


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