Cut Sheet Metal Without Bending

It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool.

Cut sheet metal without bending.

Tin snips are primarily used for cutting thin sheet metal like tin aluminum brass and thin gauge stainless steel. Clamp the sheet metal in place on your work table to hold it in place while you work. Hot metal chips will fly everywhere. Plus a plasma torch can be used for thick metal too so they are really handy.

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. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. When working with sheet metal one particularly useful piece of equipment is the brake. One tool is a foot shear or a jump shear.

When set to a low amperage a plasma torch won t warp the metal and can yield quick clean cuts that help you get the job done quickly. The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot long pieces using this method. Cut metal with your circular saw. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.

Another tool is a plate shear for cutting slightly. Metal shops have brakes mounted at different angles with automated braking arms however it is possible to bend sheet metal at home without the use of a brake. The fastest way to cut sheet metal in complex shapes or straight lines without a shear is a plasma torch. Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal.

There are three tools that kevin caron uses a lot to get a precise cut from a thin piece of metal. A brake is a device that allows you to bend a piece of sheet metal at a particular angle. In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in.

Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade. If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly.