Cutting Tiny Shapes In Sheet Metal

Green snips are designed to cut clockwise curves and red snips to cut counterclockwise curves.

Cutting tiny shapes in sheet metal.

Metal shears may resemble scissors or they may look more like small gardening shears. Instead of using a pencil a magic marker or soapstone kevin caron suggests. Loosen up the drill head with the provided wrench. It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool.

In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter. I have to cut out all the solid lines and then fold on the dotted lines. 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. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in.

Install one of the cutoff cutters. Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal. Place the dremel cutter on the cutting line perpendicularly to the sheet metal. For less precise cuts metal shears cut sterling silver quickly.

Use shears to cut a small piece of silver from a larger sheet for cutting with a jeweler s saw for cutting templates from a thin sheet of metal or for chain cutting. 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. For clarity here is the shape below. The fastest way to cut sheet metal in complex shapes or straight lines without a shear is a plasma torch.

This is a pepakura pattern if anyone is familiar with the concept. 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. 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. Plus a plasma torch can be used for thick metal too so they are really handy.

I m trying to cut a very large shape out of sheet metal about 3 x5 overall. Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade. Tin snips are primarily used for cutting thin sheet metal like tin aluminum brass and thin gauge stainless steel. The other tools mainly make round holes and to use them you start by drilling a small pilot hole.

Cut metal with your circular saw. Hold the tool tight. Mark the cut line with adhesive tape and draw your cut lines. There are hundreds of complex small angles in this shape.