And you can use the same technique anytime you need a straight cut on aluminum or other light gauge sheet metal even steel.
Cut thin aluminum sheet.
Before cutting put on a pair of safety goggles and work gloves to prevent injuries.
Cutting aluminium sheet sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.
How to cut thin sheet metal and keep it flat.
Clamp or hold a straightedge or square along the cutting marks and score a line with the tip of a sharp utility knife blade.
These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife.
If possible choose a saw blade that creates narrow kerfs the notch or slot made by the saw.
Since aluminum does not tend to close as you cut it create narrow kerfs whenever you can.
An air powered sheet metal nibbler or a nibbler head attached to a power drill can cut through galvanized corrugated aluminum sheet as well as flat sheet up to 16 gauge.
If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly.
The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot.
Tin snips are primarily used for cutting thin sheet metal like tin aluminum brass and thin gauge stainless steel.
Set the piece of aluminum on a table or over sawhorses and position it so the cutting area has open space underneath it.
Cutting aluminum sheet metal with a hammer and chisel is relatively straight forward line up the edge of the chisel along the line you wish to cut and strike the chisel with a hammer.
Bench mounted tools such as shears or band saws cut aluminum sheet relatively slowly and with varying amounts of accuracy.
Set your store to see local availability compare.
Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut aluminum with a wall thickness of more than 1 4 inch 0 64 cm.
Clamp the aluminum down.
Then bend the sheet back and forth a few times to snap it.
2 mark the start and stopping point of your cut.
Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal.
Lincane aluminum sheet weathered gray model 57565 62 98 62 98.
M d building products 3 ft.
With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.
Using a softer piece of material such as wood as a backer will allow the chisel to push through the metal and prevent wear on the chisel s tip.
