If you want to cut stainless steel, you should prepare well. It is not as easy as cutting or sawing paper or wood. Nevertheless, it is a manual task that even a layperson can carry out. Here we introduce the various tools that are suitable for cutting stainless steel.
Some of them are also suitable for you and your hobby workshop; others are better left to us as professionals. The latter are used whenever millimetre-precise adherence to the specified dimensions matters. Instead of reaching for the tools yourself, you can of course also order a made-to-measure stainless steel sheet from us. But before you decide on that, let us first reveal how you can cut stainless steel yourself.
When cutting stainless steel, preparation is key
If you have never cut stainless steel before, you should first make a test cut, regardless of which tool you intend to use. So always get a little more sheet than you ultimately need, so that you can try out your tool and how it behaves when cutting stainless steel.
Be sure to mark the cutting edge cleanly. Bear in mind that every tool has a different kerf width - you must account for it when measuring and marking, otherwise your sheet will end up too wide or, worse, too narrow.
Create a clean, safe working environment. The sheet you want to cut must rest securely, and the area where the cut is to be made must be freely accessible. Clean the surface before laying a stainless steel sheet on it, otherwise unsightly scratches can occur.
Since you have to apply a great deal of force to cut or saw stainless steel, you should not do this with muscle power alone. The risk of working inaccurately over time is very high. Electric or compressed-air tools are clearly preferable here.
Cutting stainless steel with an angle grinder
Almost every hobbyist has an angle grinder. It is also excellent for cutting stainless steel sheet - especially thicker sheets from 5 mm upwards can be cut quickly and easily with one.
It is important to use a device with adjustable speed, because stainless steel is cut at low speed. The cutting disc must be suitable for stainless steel (inox) for the cut to succeed.
Cutting stainless steel with a jigsaw
A jigsaw is also one of the tools many homeowners and hobbyists own anyway. With an HSS blade, it is also suitable for cutting stainless steel sheets. However, you should not cut overly thick sheets with a jigsaw - this method is better suited to thin sheets, such as drip flashings.
Truly exact work is not possible with a jigsaw, as it is a rather coarse tool. The selection of blades for stainless steel is also not as large as for wood.
Fine cuts with a rotary tool
If you want to work very precisely and on a small scale, use a rotary tool (such as a Dremel) for cutting stainless steel. The size of the cutting disc alone gives it an advantage over the other tools, allowing you to cut more complex shapes from a stainless steel sheet, not just straight edges. If you want to cut a 10 mm stainless steel plate with this fine tool, do it in several stages - otherwise you risk the cutting disc overheating.
Cutting stainless steel with a mitre saw
This method is particularly well suited when you want to cut several pieces - for example, cutting a stainless steel tube several times to obtain the desired lengths. A mitre saw can easily handle thicker sheets too. In return, the width of the cut is limited, even with a sliding mitre saw. Here too, it is important to use an HSS blade for cutting stainless steel.
Tin snips are the classic
This is probably the tool most people thought of when they thought about cutting sheet metal. We strongly advise against it. Why? Because you can only cut very thin sheets with them anyway - and because it is very difficult to produce a straight cut in sheet metal with snips.
Hydraulic shears powered by compressed air or electricity are a different matter: since you can work without great physical effort, good results are possible. Incidentally, we also use so-called precision guillotine shears for sheet cutting.
The tool for professionals: the laser
If you want to cut particularly precisely, a computer-aided laser is recommended. However, this is absolutely not a tool for laypeople, because it requires a lot of space and is very expensive to purchase. We as professionals, on the other hand, are very fond of laser cutting, because it allows us to cut even elaborate shapes from a stainless steel sheet.
Beware of rust
For every tool we have presented, we pointed out that a saw blade or cutting disc suitable for stainless steel must be used. Apart from the material these tools are made of, it also matters that they have not come into contact with ordinary steel. So you must either use a new blade or one that has previously been used exclusively for stainless steel.
The reason: otherwise, rust particles from the steel could transfer to the cut stainless steel. As a result, even the stainless steel - which is highly corrosion-resistant - would begin to rust. To avoid rust, always pay attention to which tool you use.
Have stainless steel cut: ESC Burg
Now that you know which tools you could use to cut stainless steel, you can also assess what financial and time expenditure that means for you. Do you have an angle grinder or a jigsaw? Do you have an HSS blade that has never cut ordinary steel? All of this plays a major role in the decision between doing it yourself and having stainless steel cut.
We are happy to take on your order and can guarantee exact execution to your dimensions. Simply call our sales team without obligation. Together with you, they will find out which alloy is best suited to you - sometimes particularly heat-resistant stainless steel is needed, sometimes it must be especially resistant to liquids.
Our experienced staff can quote you a price for a stainless steel sheet cut to your specifications immediately. We also accept orders for individual sheets. Should you decide against cutting it yourself, you can place your order directly. We then produce your individual sheet within 48 hours and hand it over securely packaged for dispatch.
+49 3921 72-0