Cut Thin Aluminum Sheet

With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.

Cut thin aluminum sheet.

If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly. Cut metal with your circular saw. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal. It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool.

Cutting sheet metal with snips can be tricky and frustrating. The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in. If possible choose a saw blade that creates narrow kerfs the notch or slot made by the saw.

This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line. But you don t have to be a tinsmith to cut sheet metal successfully. Clamp the sheet metal in place on your work table to hold it in place while you work. Check out this video.

Red for left green for. How to cut thin aluminum. These problems are common for those of us who don t work with sheet metal every day. How to cut thin sheet metal and keep it flat.

Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut aluminum with a wall thickness of more than 1 4 inch 0 64 cm. Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade. Depending on the cut shape you ll use left cut right cut or straight snips typically indicated by the handle color. Commonly known as aviation snips or tinsnips these scissor like tools are great for cutting soft sheet metals such as tin aluminum brass and thin gauge 24 gauge or thinner steel.

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. These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife. Use a wood cutting saw with carbide tipped blades to cut most aluminum. Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal.

Tired of getting fingers cut on sheet metal while using tin snips. Auto hobbyists and handypersons sometimes have the need to cut aluminum sheeting and don t always have the luxury of going to a metalworking shop to take care of it.