Best Way To Cut Sheet Metal By Hand

They are great for making small cuts.

Best way to cut sheet metal by hand.

A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet metal and a rotary tool with a multipurpose cutting bit is useful for more intricate cuts. Also referred to as aviator snips these scissor like hand tools cut sheet metal materials up to 18 gauge in thickness accurately without leaving a ragged bent edge as the finished product. We recommend using a diamond blade that s labeled as a ferrous metal cutting blade but many tradespeople use a regular masonry diamond blade with good results. Apart from hand nibbler there are electric nibbler drill powered nibbler and pneumatic nibblers and so on.

Cutting sheet metal with snips can be tricky and frustrating. Start by taping both sides of the sheet metal directly over the line you want to cut and clamp the metal to a work station so it doesn t move. Mount a diamond blade in your angle grinder and use it like a saw to cut the mesh. Metal lath and hardware cloth can be cut with a tin snips but there s an easier way.

The edges are sharp the cutoffs are stiff and get in the way the snips bind or you just can t seem to negotiate the curve. The method you choose to cut sheet metal depends on the thickness of the metal and the type of cut you plan to make. Open the snips all the way at the beginning of a cut and seat the sheet metal as deep as possible into the opening this provides you with maximum leverage. But you don t have to be a tinsmith to cut sheet metal successfully.

For cutting out holes in sheet metal it s going to be necessary that you begin with a starter hole this can be formed by using the hammer and chisel method to punch through the metal. These problems are common for those of us who don t work with sheet metal every day. The standard tin snips comes in three standard cuts and you should have all three on hand.