What are you guys using to cut the body on your trucks?

[Thunderace1997]

I have a cut off tool and that works fine but I was wondering have any of you had experience with an air or electric sheer or nibbler?

Is a sheer or nibbler good enough for someone that does body work every once in a while or should I just continue using the cut off tool.

[cdowns]

it really depends what you're cutting// i'd be lost without my cutoff wheel another highuse tool is my jigsaw(paid $20 for it about 30years ago and still cuts with great precision) roughwork i use an air saw and sawzall

[67ChevyRedneck]

The only thing I'm capable of cutting straight lines with is a cut-off wheel

[myoldchevytruck]

Love the nibbler (air) but keep in mind they use allot high CFM's. I also do an awful lot with my cutoff wheel and like cdowns said the jig saw is great also.

[Frizzle Fry]

Cut-off wheel on 4.5" angle grinder gets used most in my garage. Sawzall and 1/2 handled hacksaw are needed for some cuts that the cut-off wheel can't reach.

I would like to try a nibbler.

I used an 8" cut-off wheel on a circle saw once to cut through the inner and outer bedside panels in one slice (for a long/short conversion).

[Bus Ted Knuckle]

I use the sawzall a lot.

[Dingfodgy]

4.5" cutoff wheel on an angle grinder is my weapon of choice for sheet metal. When I'm feeling particularly adventurous (aka-crazy) and want to do some hardcore "dismantling"- like chopping a frame in half, I'll bust out the recip.saw and get after it. When I shortened my long bed....I bought a 7-1/4" cutoff blade for my worm-drive circ.saw and cut through both inner and outer bed panels in one pass. Lemme tell ya'....you ain't seen sparks till you fire up one of them bad boys! I've heard about carbide and diamond cable "chains" for chainsaws that can cut through pert near anything....haven't seen one though, but it would kick some serious a$$.

[caja_larga]

Are you guys shorting the bed sides to do a conversion? got pics?

[Palf70Step]

Cut-off wheel, jig saw, and good ole American broken hack saw blades.

[BB70c10]

i just started chopping the bed on mine this past weekend.i used a sawzall to cut inside and out at the same time.the cuts looked good to me using the sawzall, but i still have to line everything back up for welding.it's my first time cutting,so im sure i'll find out why everybody uses cutoff wheels.if you're planning on cutting your bed,i have a thread under projects and build that might help you avoid some of the mistakes i made(just starting it).

MY BUILD: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=268981

heres some pics:

[72lb4x4]

Monster electric die grinder w/ cutoff wheel
Sawzall
Circular saw w/ 7" cutoff blade for the yough stuff
Air powered die grinder

[BCOWANWHEELS]

try a metabo cut off grinder.

[PanelDeland]

caja larga, there is a write up in the builds section that detail this very well.It is by member Rockcrawlin Spelling is different tho.

[67_C-30]

I use a cut-off wheel on 4.5" angle grinder for big stuff, and 2" cut-off wheel on a small pneumatic die grinder for the little stuff. I also have a portaband and a sawzall, but I don't use them that often with body work. If its something in a junkyard I use the torch sometimes, but I cut the the piece extra large to keep warpage away from the piece I need.

[Thunderace1997]

I appreciate the replys. So has anyone on here ever used an air/electric sheer or air/electric nibbler on the body sheet metal? If so was it succesful???

[67_C-30]

I used them when I took body shop in high school, and they both work great, but I've never seen a need to run out and buy them. I bought a stud welder recently because the one we had in body shop worked great for pulling out dents w/o drilling holes. I don't see a real need for the sheer/nibbler unless you just want them.

[Rust Buster]

I bought a Bosch electric shear a few months ago. The thing is huge and powerful, cuts through 16 gauge like it was paper. It's is great for cutting flat sheets of replacement sheet metal. Downside is that it is real heavy and I doubt it would be good on curved metal like body panels, but I haven't really tried that. I'd worry that it would contort it. For body panels I just prefer a cut-off wheel. Doesn't distort the metal at all.
Just my 2 cents.

[Thunderace1997]

I've used sheers in metal class over 10 years ago but never electric/air. I know that manuel sheers did distort the metal somewhat.

Does a nibbler distort the metal???

[67_C-30]

In my experience it does wrinkle the edges a little. I remember using a hammer and dolly to work some parts out. The upside is that there is no heat and it won't cause widespread warpage. With that being said when I fabricated my rear fender flares for my dually (see my build thread below), I did it all with a cut off wheel and had no warpage. Welding the mounts was a another story!

[jaros44sr]

Depends on what your cutting. If I have to cut a relatively flat pc. I use my Milw. electric nibblers, I can control it better with the variable speed. I can see the line better. The nibblers keep both edges flat, but won't cut much of a contour. That's where the 4 1/2" angle grinder comes in, used to use air cutoff, but got tired of it stalling... J.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by caja_larga

Are you guys shorting the bed sides to do a conversion? got pics?

One I started but never finished: