Cutting weld mesh- tool recommendations wanted

[Theblackbox]

Hi all. Quite a large portion of my work now is making dog cages for cars and vans. I use 38x38mmx3mm weld mesh. Usually go through around 15 sheets a month so a fair amount of cutting!

Currently I’m marking and cutting it with a thin cutting disk it’s quick but does generate dust and uses up disks quite quickly.

I wondered if there was a corded/cordless shear type tool that anyone can recommend to cut through this quickly to reduce the dust etc.

I’m only cutting where it’s a single strand so will need to cut through 3mm wire.

Standard bolt croppers are too slow for this work.

Thanks all

 

[Tigman]

Lay it flat put in a cropper

 

[nickk]

If you can justify it.....guillotine.

 

[hotponyshoes]

A gulitione will do that a treat,
Or a hf plasma cutter but that will still make a bit of mess.

Hitachi do a nice cordless shear but that's designed for cropping 10-12mm studding and will be vast overkill for what you want.
Might give you a starting point though, maybe find a cheaper version of the same sort of thing and make some plain jaws up?
I don't think the regular cordless metal sheets will be much good on round bars as I think they will just push it out of the jaws but the cable cutting type might be fine as they are? I don't know if any of them have a studding cut rating?

 

[hotponyshoes]

Another option might be to mound a grinder with cutting disk into a table (like a wood saw bench type thing).
Will still be noisy but at least you could add decent dust extraction and even a 2nd grinder with a flap disk or something to clean up the cuts as well in a single pass

 

[julianf]

Lay it flat put in a cropperView attachment 347223

I know there are better, fancier, more expensive options, but certainly a sheer set so it's cutter is at bench height (so you don't have to lift the job) would be a nice upgrade to the grinder at limited extra outlay.

Not good for internal holes though, only edges.

I went through a few options for cutting up the webs from my CNC (the outside but that's kind of like a mesh when all the parts are removed) for scrapping and, in the end, got a sheer (off someone on here) and it's been perfect for me.

 

[Kram]

Heavy duty nibbler?

Heavy Duty Electric Sheet Metal Cutter Nibbler 4.0mm

FOR CUSTOMERS IN EU PLEASE CHOOSE THE EU PLUG OPTIONCUSTOMERS IN UK PLEASE CHOOSE UK PLUG OPTION PLEASE NOTE IT IS NOT ALLOWED TO USE THE EU PLUG IN UK OR UK PLUG IN EUROPE UNLESS YOU REPLACE THE PLUG Heavy Duty Electric Nibbler 4.0MM Cable length(without plug):2M. 600W Nibbler Sheet Metal 4mm...

www.aimtools.co.uk

Or shears, I got this one.

Manual Sheet Metal Cutting Shears 300mm

steel-plate hardened carbon shear blades cutting mild steel long handle sheet iron stainless steel copper capacity aluminium 4-5 mm steel capacity 0.2-2 mm blade length 300 mm manual metal cutting Handmatige plaat Platschaar metaal staal Cisaille de coupe manuelle à plat métal acier Manuelle...

www.aimtools.co.uk

 

[8ob]

Can’t see how bolt croppers can be too slow, a small pair of decent quality bolt croppers would be through 3mm weld mesh in the blink of an eye,alternative would be to have the sheets cropped to size.

Bob

 

[DAPPH]

Hi all. Quite a large portion of my work now is making dog cages for cars and vans. I use 38x38mmx3mm weld mesh. Usually go through around 15 sheets a month so a fair amount of cutting!

Currently I’m marking and cutting it with a thin cutting disk it’s quick but does generate dust and uses up disks quite quickly.

I wondered if there was a corded/cordless shear type tool that anyone can recommend to cut through this quickly to reduce the dust etc.

I’m only cutting where it’s a single strand so will need to cut through 3mm wire.

Standard bolt croppers are too slow for this work.

Thanks all

Can you not get your sheets guillotine cut from the suppler if you are using lots of already set measurements for standardized panels it will save you hours & hours of backbreaking cutting & finishing...... so more time to make panels & more money . It might seem like a big investment but if you can afford it buy three months wire .... it's worth it as prices keep going up .

From " WeldMesh " 25 yrs or more ago IIRC ........ I had them cut me 600 off 30 " x 24 " panels , 400 off 24x 24 cut , 400 off 24 "x 16" plus 200 off 30 " x 24 " in a different wire gauge & mesh size . The panels were all cut flush along the weft wire leaving a brilliant smooth edge that only needed checking for they cleaned it up with an industrial lanisher bed /powerfile . The cutting & finishing charge was about £150 .


The best thing being , if the runs of the wires were slightly out and they could not cut a square cornered panel they rejected the panel and cut another that was square ..I didn't have to bear the cost of the rejects or have to do awkward spot welding to mask projections .
I phoned the people , had a good chat. set up an appointment & emailed them my plans .
Went & visited their plant , met the people in charge of the cutting & QC , saw the prototype ( made a day out of it with my lass too ) which I assembled there & then to ensure everything was OK , purchased 25 kg of stainless steel pig ring type clips and two pairs of ring pliers , gave them my order and they let me keep the made up cage FOC.

A fortnight or so later they delivered it to me on pallets . There were no badly cut parts .

 

[Theblackbox]

Thanks everyone for their input. I do have a 2.5mtr 4mm capacity safari guillotine hasn’t thought to use it to cut the mesh before just assumed it would ding the blades or something.

Tried a piece and it cut perfectly no issues at all! A small burr but nothing major all parts get throughly cleaned and radiused anyway because of being for dogs.

Annoyingly I can’t get precut pieces all of my cages are bespoke so two are rarely the same!

 

[mtt.tr]

Can’t see how bolt croppers can be too slow, a small pair of decent quality bolt croppers would be through 3mm weld mesh in the blink of an eye,alternative would be to have the sheets cropped to size.

Bob

And certainly easier than a guillotine sod leaning over trying to grab the handle

 

[brightspark]

motorise the guillotine thats what the scrapyards have for chopping up metal quick by hand

 

[Shedendman]

Can’t see how bolt croppers can be too slow, a small pair of decent quality bolt croppers would be through 3mm weld mesh in the blink of an eye,alternative would be to have the sheets cropped to size.

Bob

Totally agree,and one of the best ways i found was to do it on the floor,just nipping it with the tip of the croppers,while standing on the mesh,you have complete control and it wont knacker you

 

[Tigman]

I clamp my cropper to the bench, lay the sheet on the bench on two bits of 4 inch timber and chop away !

 

[Morris]

It's been many years since I worked with weldmesh but I always found bolt croppers to be spot on for the job, especially when irregular shapes were involved.

 

[winchman]

Have you asked your supplier if they can supply it pre cut?
I use these for small amounts

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Felco-C7-Cable-Cutter/dp/B0006229UQ/ref=asc_df_B0006229UQ/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=224088607899&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17521280169417261728&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046510&hvtargid=pla-422232269201&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

 

[Theblackbox]

Added some pics in of my Safan getting on a bit now still cuts well just likes to leak oil a bit

Cut from the guillotine as well will be perfect for my uses and also that’s the sort of cages I make very few mesh sizes are the same and usually I can plan in and leave very little offcut

Sounds like I need to go shopping for some decent croppers for the awkward cuts around the locks and hinges I tried some draper ones before and they weren’t very good the felco ones linked above look perfect thanks all.

 

[ukracer]

motorise the guillotine thats what the scrapyards have for chopping up metal quick by hand

Parm Parm Parm @Parm ........

 

[Parm]

Parm Parm Parm @Parm ........

Scrap yards do have those things, awesome bits of kit

 

[Hitch]

In my last job we used to cut tonnes (literally) of 2" 8g. Quickest thing was a 5" cutting disc.
If you force and trap the disc or have lots of vibration they don't last long, but put it on the bench so only the cut is just overhanging and they lasted for ages. Use the bars as a guide.
Cutting with snips/mini bolt cutters was rubbish as it always left a few mm past the bar that is a bit nasty and needed sanding.
Guilly was alright, but the hold down feet would bend the bars, or unless the bars/panel was dead straight you'd end up nipping the bar and messing up the sheet, or leaving little stubs that needed sanding back.