Cutting metal on a farm often used to involve either an oxy-acetylene torch, a hacksaw or tin snips. If a shop was “high-tech,” it might have a metal cutting bandsaw or abrasive-disk chop saw.

The thicker the sheet metal, the higher the cost tends to be. Metals such as copper, aluminum, brass, and cold-rolled steel are generally soft, and tin snips are usually suitable for cutting these ...