The steel deal

by Paul Markgraff

Building with steel can save time and money, but can create construction challenges.

Use these tips to make the most of your steel work.

As recent as 2004, few commercial contractors would have thought building with steel was a good idea. China’s voracious appetite for steel drove the price through the roof, affecting everything from nails to studs to roofing.

Since that time, steel prices have moderated, and the volatility in raw material price swings has diminished. Contractors are once again building with more metal.

And with good reason. Allied Steel Buildings president Michael Lassner says building with steel saves time and money when working on larger buildings. Allied Steel Buildings produces pre-engineered buildings in the commercial, industrial, residential, institutional and agricultural industries.

Lassner says contractors who use steel will find costs savings in building materials and manpower.

“When you get into larger buildings, you’re really finding more cost efficiency in steel,” says Lassner. “Whether it’s a small structure or large structure, it’s an erector set at the end of the day. Everything can be pre-punched and pre-drilled. It can be fabricated. Whatever size you are dealing with, you are getting those cost efficiencies right out of the gate on the frame.”

Scott Kriner, technical director for the Metal Construction Association, says building with steel can also be done in just about any weather or climate situation. Its high strength-to-weight ratio keeps materials costs down and easily meets wind-uplift and seismic codes and standards.

Owners can also take advantage of thermal efficiencies and metal coatings to meet LEED requirements on cool metal roofing.

“It goes up faster because of fewer onsite fabrication issues, and that makes it more cost effective when compared with some other products,” says Kriner. “Certain types of metal wall systems on some of the commercial-size projects come out to be more cost effective on a price/sq.-ft. basis.”

With all of these advantages, that’s why metal gets included in projects at one point or another. But contractors who build with metal face challenges different from contractors working with wood, concrete or other structural materials. Metal-building contractors need different knowledge to maintain productivity and efficiency when working with metals.

Metal cutting tips
Metal-cutting blade supplier M.K. Morse provided Contractor Tools and Supplies with a number of ideas for making metal construction more productive. Check out the following tips to make your job easier and make tools and accessories (blades and bits) last longer.

Hole saw cutting tips
Cutting metals thicker than 1/8" can cause problems when the hole saw’s teeth become buried in the material and the metal chips have no place to go. Here are several tips for cutting through thicker metal material and extending the life of your hole saw.

First, start the pilot hole and saw until the blade reaches the surface material, creating an outline of where the diameter of the hole will be. Next, drill several 1/4" holes through the material just inside the scored circle created by the hole saw. Then, finish the hole with your hole saw.

The drilled holes will allow the metal chips to fall through, preventing clogging in the tooth gullets. The saw cuts more freely and the hole saw will last longer.

Cutting threaded rod
Steel threaded rod should be cut with a steel cutting blade, and stainless steel threaded rod should be cut with a blade designed specifically for that material. To cut the rod, sandwich it between two pieces of wood or other material softer than the rod. This allows the rod to be secured without damaging the threads.

Ease the blade through the rod. If you let the blade do the cutting and don’t force the cut, you’ll get a cleaner cut. Once the cut is complete, screw the nut onto the end of the rod without chasing the threads.

Cutting steel studs
When cutting steel studs using a saw and 14" stud-cutting blade, follow these tips to extend blade life, allow for greater productivity and increase safety on the jobsite.

First, nest the steel studs to allow the vise the best grip on the work piece. Steel studs are flexible, allowing for a secure grip during the cut. To cut only one stud, use a piece of scrap as a guide and slide it behind the cut.

This type of cutting is much faster than cutting with abrasive wheels, but don’t push it by cutting too many studs at one time. The safest option is two studs in a secure grip. To cut bundles, contractors should use a simple fixture to hold the studs down.

Above all else, use the saw’s vise to hold the work piece. Don’t use your hands.

Reciprocating saw cutting tips
Many reciprocating saws have an adjustable shoe the user can hold tightly against the work piece while cutting. Contractors extend the life of the reciprocating saw blade by adjusting the shoe to use different portions of it as the blade dulls.

For example, when cutting a relatively small material such as 3/4" pipe using a 6" saw blade, only a small length of the blade is used when the shoe is in its fully retracted position. The amount of the blade used depends on the stroke length of the reciprocating saw. As the blade begins to dull, adjust the shoe outward by extending the adjustment slide to bring more unused teeth into play.

Selecting teeth per inch
To choose the right blade for the job, contractors need to match the correct tooth size to the work in order to get the maximum blade life and efficiency from reciprocating saw blades. Use this rule of thumb: At least three teeth should be engaged in the work at all times; for optimum cutting, six to 12 teeth should be engaged in the work.

If the tooth size is too large for the work, the teeth tend to straddle the thin section and the teeth will strip very easily. For example, this would happen when cutting thin-walled electrical conduit with a 10-teeth-per-inch (TPI) blade.

However, if the teeth are too small for the work, the tooth gullets won’t have enough room to pull out the metal chips. This also causes dulling and stripping.

For very hard materials, more teeth per inch can improve blade performance. A higher number of teeth also creates a smoother finish.

Cutting stainless steel with portable band saws
Stainless steel is difficult to cut, especially when using hand-held portable band saws. To make better, more efficient cuts, apply a gentle rocking motion to the saw as it feeds through the steel. This rocking motion changes the attack angle of the blade teeth with respect to the material.

Stainless steel also loads tooth gullets with metal chips because the chips have a tendency to weld themselves to the blade’s tooth faces. Use a quality lubrication stick to minimize chip welding. If a lube stick can’t be used, make sure to brush the teeth clean between cuts with a wire brush. Minimizing chip welding can extend the life of the blade significantly.

Lastly, if the portable band saw has a variable speed setting, cut stainless steel at a slow speed.

Cut at the right depth
Contractors who want to get the longest life from their metal-cutting circular saw blade may need to buck traditional metal-cutting trends. In a series of tests conducted by M.K. Morse using a 9" metal-cutting circular saw, several 48-tooth Metal Devil Blades, and a 6"x1/4" steel plate, it found that blade depth made a huge difference in cutting time and blade life.

The first blade had the saw fully locked against the saw’s base plate, allowing the blade to cut at its maximum rated depth of 3". The second blade stood out 5/8" from the saw’s base plate. This is the standard depth for many wood-cutting applications. The third blade stood out 1/4" from the base plate.

The M.K. Morse blade that stood out 3" from the base plate performed more than 300 cuts, compared to the second and third blades, which performed 128 and 95 cuts, respectively.

M.K. Morse concluded that cutting through steel plate while using a shallow cutting depth forces the blade to cut through a large cross-section. This places high stresses on the carbide blade tips and reduces blade life.

Published in the November/December 2007 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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