Welding Tips and Tricks

I have oxy acetylene, plasma cutter, metal circular saw, and old trusty cut off wheels at my disposal. Any opinions on what would work best? Not sure the thickness. My buddy is bringing it by the house Sunday for help.


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Screw it to a piece of plywood and use circular saw for rough shape...then either cutting wheel or band saw, oxy for final shape.

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Plasma if yours will maintain the arc during interrupted cutting. Thickness looks pretty stout, and material looks pretty rusty which will be a bit of havoc for plasma or Oxy.

Time for the 9" angle grinder with cutting disc to come out and play.

+1 on the circular saw. Torch or plasma will be a pain the a$$

Looks like you have a LOT to cut. Any way you slice it i t's gonna be a long day.

I tend to agree with the circular saw and grinder. When I buy the stuff, I usually tell the place where I'm getting it from all my dimensions and have them Shear cut it. I then call it money well spent when it arrives.

Yeah I'd go circ saw. And maybe don't use your good gloves handling the stuff, it snags and rips EVERYTHING [emoji3]

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A simple circular saw with a metal disk. Just don’t use a cheapo with a plastic guard or it will melt.

Thanks. He’s working on a trailer so I don’t know how he wants it sliced. It’s gonna take awhile no matter what.


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I just use a 5" rat tail grinder with a thin .040 cutting disc and it goes quick.

either metal cutting circular saw, if you have one.
or angle grinder with cut off blade.
the hardest bit is setting up a guide rail so you get accurate cuts.

BugHunter wrote:I tend to agree with the circular saw and grinder. When I buy the stuff, I usually tell the place where I'm getting it from all my dimensions and have them Shear cut it. I then call it money well spent when it arrives.

Couple of suppliers in my area wouldn't shear the heavier raised expanded metal because they said the hold downs on the shear have nylon or rubber pads and the sharp ridges can damage them. For a rectangular cutout, trailer ramp for instance, once it's on sawhorses marked out with a couple 2x4 under to hold it straight can easy have it cut in 15 min with grinder and thin blades. Rat tail grinder works well because it's a 2 hander with good control. .040 cutting wheels are not very tolerant towards binding.

Depends in the dimensions of what you'll be needing and the direction of the diamond pattern (if using specifically for traction), but a thin kerf cutting wheel can leave the diamond intact on both sides of the cut when following the angle of the expansion. Makes it much nicer to handle and less grinder work later. A little hammer work on a hot weld can do wonders also...

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Circular saw will work... make sure to wear a long sleeve an face shield. Hurts when them metal flakes hit you lol.

[quote="bplayer405"]Depends in the dimensions of what you'll be needing and the direction of the diamond pattern (if using specifically for traction), but a thin kerf cutting wheel can leave the diamond intact on both sides of the cut when following the angle of the expansion. Makes it much nicer to handle and less grinder work later. A little hammer work on a hot weld can do wonders also.
Neat job!

With a piece of soapstone mark your lines and go on the part right before the mesh. Cut on the edge of each diamond so when you tack you have roughly 1/8-1/4 inch to weld. With the Metabo grind in a pattern the disc will do all the work and cut your section. Metabo works best I’ve tried them all, now when we’re talking 1/4 non flat rolled then it is ideal to use a torch of any kind. And with that I cut the tips of the diamond above/next and weld under the center per diamond.

My supplier won't shear the raised expanded metal, as someone else had mentioned. I just lay the full sheets on a few 2x4's, mark with a tape measure and sharpie, and then zip through it with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel. It cuts way faster than you may think it would.

Spartan wrote:My supplier won't shear the raised expanded metal, as someone else had mentioned. I just lay the full sheets on a few 2x4's, mark with a tape measure and sharpie, and then zip through it with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel. It cuts way faster than you may think it would.

This...just seconds fast and not minutes. Ensure the alignment is centered when cutting with a disc or you could create your own version of razor wire.

Spartan wrote:My supplier won't shear the raised expanded metal, as someone else had mentioned. I just lay the full sheets on a few 2x4's, mark with a tape measure and sharpie, and then zip through it with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel. It cuts way faster than you may think it would.

This...just seconds fast and not minutes. Ensure the alignment is centered when cutting with a disc or you could create your own version of razor wire.

Spartan wrote:My supplier won't shear the raised expanded metal, as someone else had mentioned. I just lay the full sheets on a few 2x4's, mark with a tape measure and sharpie, and then zip through it with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel. It cuts way faster than you may think it would.

This...just seconds fast and not minutes. Ensure the alignment is centered when cutting with a disc or you could create your own version of razor wire.