Cutting large sheet

How do you manually hacksaw a large sheet metal? I know there is probably a simple answer but so far i haven't thought of it:confused:

Hacksaws are fine for large dimension rod and tube, but for sheet they are restricted by the depth of throat, just like a jewellers saw. If the metal is not very precious, large ironmongers and DIY stores have a special sheet cutter, a bit like a tin opener, but it wastes a narrow piece of metal which curls as you go. You also need tough gloves as the sharp edges ouch. Dennis.:'(

I bought my copper sheets in large sets as they were cheaper and have just used my tin snips to cut them. Bloody painful, but if you do it slowly its not too bad. As for a hacksaw, I tried it and it was way too slow for me. BTW, I wear leather gloves when cutting my sheet, so the sheet doesn't cut me!

There's a few methods I use, depending on what I'm cutting. One of my hacksaw frames allows me to rotate the blade to 90 degrees, but that still limits the width of the cut to the frame depth. I've got 5 & 8" depth jeweller's saw frames, Gilbows, aviation snips and a hand nibbler (which I think is what Dennis may be referring to) - but probably the most convenient tool I use is a decent jigsaw with metal cutting blades. The bandsaw is ok for working sheet, but it can be awkward manouvering a large piece.

I'd quite like a plasma cutter, but I don't think it would get quite enough use to justify it...

It depends on what size, what material and how thick, really.

thanks Dennis and Jules, I'm going to B&Q tomorrow so I'll look out for the sheet cutter

You can also try using a bench shear - works for me and none of the issues discussed so far. I found my local garage/bodyshop had one so just pay them a visit when I have something that needs cutting.

The problem with bench shears is that it's difficult to cut large sheet as you can't see both ends at once. I use a massive guillotine which works much better.

thank you all for your replies, my hubby has a jigsaw so I'll get some metal blades. he's starting to complain coz I'm borrowing all his tools !!