Cutting Metal Roof Panels

[JoeyGee]

My dad is in the process of putting a metal roof on his small detatched one car garage. He special ordered them from Menards, and he mis-measured. Fortunately (I guess) is that the panels are too long. The instructions continually stress not to scratch them, or cut them, since any damage to the protective coating/paint basically will ruin the panel--I suppose it will rust, etc.

I don't know what material it is, but it is fairly thin. Any suggestions on how to cut the stuff? To complicate matters, there are ridges on the panels, so they are not flat.

[Crash2510]

use a circular saw with the blade backwards. also be sure to wear eye and ear protection. if you flip the ridges dow the back side should be relatively flat.

[JoeyGee]

Does it matter what type of CS blade, ie, how many teeth? I have a few "throw away" blades from Sears clearance that I bought for $.47 a piece, but I couldn't tell you how many teeth they have.

[blame]

i've cut tin panel shields with a circular saw before and wouldnt reccommend it to anybody
very dangerous small pcs of tin fly everywhere

when i was running my roofing biz i used a pair of electric shears but also just used wiss tin snips its very easy and alot better then the circular saw

blame

[Pappy]

I have used the backward mounted blade and it works. I have aslo cut steel wall panels with a cut off wheel on a die grinder. Slower and you need a guide to get a decent cut but much safer.

[jabe]

I use a Chicago Pneumatic nibbler CP-835, the cutting head is small so its easy to get into up & down of the metal roof. I've used Tenryu metal cutting carbide saw blades in my cs with good results. Hitachi make a good electric nibbler but it's expensive the CP nibbler is cheaper. The Tenryu metal cutting cs blade would be the least expensive way to go. As for the newly cut edge rusting, you can prime & paint it with a rust inhibitive paint. Or you can put it under the ridge cap.

[reddog552]

Panels Cutting

I have cut many of the "steel roof panels" A circular saw with an abrasive cuttoff blade works well.Use a straight edge clamped to the sheets I have cut up to 10 sheets at one time.

[siliconbauhaus]

I'm assuming theyre too long from ridge to eave so make sure you put the cut end at the ridge so it will have some cover from the ridge cap.

[crokett]

How oversized are they and is it that they are too long? Asking because if they are too long by a few inches how funny would it look to install and leave as-is? then you don't have to worry about the corrosion issues.

[Hellrazor]

My rules for working with metal roofing..

1. Search for something along the lines of a Wiss 12 1/2" Tinners straigt snip. Sugar/caffeine up and cut them. I use those snips for siding, soffit and shingle work, so I am used to cutting a crapload of stuff with them. (For the unbelievers.. those rule for cutting shingles. Mark the line with a straight edge or snap a line and cut away.)

2. Spray or paint the cut edges immediately with rustoleom paint.

3. Put the cut ends under the ridge cap or under an overlap.