Cutting Tiny Shapes In Sheet Metal

Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade.

Cutting tiny shapes in sheet metal. The cutters are offset below the handle so you can keep your cutting sheet metal hand above the work and the compound action allows you to cut thicker material with less effort. Each cut punches out a tiny piece of the sheet metal and the process is repeated. Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer. With cutoffs the cutting of sheet metal can be done over one path at a time and with partings the shape can not be nestled precisely.

You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in. Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal. In this episode mark from natoli panel creations discusses some tips and concepts behind hand cutting sheet metal with tin snips electric shears and a guil. The other tools mainly make round holes and to use them you start by drilling a small pilot hole.

Hold the tool tight. Sheet metal cutters and nibblers can be used for cutting irregular shapes and for cutting up big sheets but they cannot cut holes less than 25 to 50mm across. Mark the cut line with adhesive tape and draw your cut lines. Clamp the sheet metal in place on your work table to hold it in place while you work.

Cut metal with your circular saw. Compound snips also called aviation snips are color coded. The nibbler is a tool that offers a lot of control over the cut but at the expense of cut width. When cutting a thin piece of metal precisely you need to make sure to start with a good line and a good mark to follow.

Green snips are designed to cut clockwise curves and red snips to cut counterclockwise curves. Install one of the cutoff cutters. In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough.

The nibbler shown here is hand operated though drill powered electric and pneumatic versions are also common. Loosen up the drill head with the provided wrench. Instead of using a pencil a magic marker or soapstone kevin caron suggests. It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool.

Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal. Parting is that a cutoff can be nestled perfectly on the sheet metal due to its geometry. Place the dremel cutter on the cutting line perpendicularly to the sheet metal.