Not outdoors I know, but hoping for more experience here.
This is a sliding closet door rail. It's about 1/2" too long for my opening.
How can I cut this easily and really cleanly?
It's relatively heavy gauge, 6' long and it doesn't bend or twist easily.

Yeah a dremel would work or a reciprocating saw with a fine tooth blade for metal should work since you say it isn't too flimsy

harge57 said:

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Metal cutting blade on Miter saw? then just file smooth if needed on any rough edges.

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this was my first idea, my neighbor has a metal chop saw.. don't have any experience using those so wasn't sure.

And yeh, forgot to put 'squarely' in my wish list. Not critical, but certainly desired.

Mark it on both sides where you want to cut with speed square. Put it in a vice with sandwiched between a couple of straight boards with their edges at the cut line. Use hand hacksaw and cut along the straight edge - giving you a guide.

Putting in in the vice allow you to have it not move on you when cutting. A hacksaw with fresh blade will make pretty short work of that. This assumes you have these items around the house - versus having to go out and buy special cutting wheels etc.

If you do try a grinding wheel, make a practice cut on something. Not rocket science, but if you've never cut metal with a grinding wheel it wouldn't hurt to practice on a waste piece. Wear gloves and eye protection!

Material thickness is too small for any bladed saw.

Use an abrasive wheel on either a Dremel tool or an off-hand grinder. Then clean it up as required with a file or sandpaper.

No access to a chop saw? Because that isn't even a light snack for a chop saw.

rab79 said:

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No access to a chop saw? Because that isn't even a light snack for a chop saw.

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this is what I'm going to borrow from my neighbor.. seems the easiest and can be square/accurate. I may fill the hollow area with wood as suggested.

I've never worked with an abrasive blade/chop saw.. Do I just let gravity let the blade drop slow, or will I need some force?

I only have 1/4" or so to cut off, so not really any material for a practice cut!
Gonna cross fingers and go.

Good luck!!!

This. Or like Furlock bones said or Hullabaloo. Band saw with a high TPI blade.

rab79 said:

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No access to a chop saw? Because that isn't even a light snack for a chop saw.

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This 100%. Use a thin kerf blade and level out long piece with scraps or whatever on the other end. I think they all have a clamp on the cutting end so just take your time setting it up.

You will barely have to apply pressure down on the saw with that thin material and it will cut it straight as an arrow. Might need to clean it up with a small file. Piece of cake.

Furlock Bones said:

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Milwaukee portable band saw

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Son-in-law has one and that thing cuts thru heavy steel like it's butter. I was impressed.

Stabilize it with a vice and some wooden blocks to hold form.

Hacksaw all day. A good fine tooth metal cutting blade will be through that thing in less than 3 minutes. Make sure to mark the entire length of the cut as a guide.

^^^ This.

find or shape a piece of wood that fits snugly in the channel to maintain its shape. then just use a sharp hack saw and it should be simple.

ChoppinDs40 said:

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Stabilize it with a vice and some wooden blocks to hold form.

Hacksaw all day. A good fine tooth metal cutting blade will be through that thing in less than 3 minutes. Make sure to mark the entire length of the cut as a guide.

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More like 3 seconds

1990Hullaballoo said:

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I know, I know, this is the OB and what they really need is an $5,000 CNC plasma cutter run by a new $3,000 gaming laptop.

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Psssh

Wire EDM