How To Cut Aluminum Sheet Cleanly

A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet.

How to cut aluminum sheet cleanly.

This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal. 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. Kevin caron is cutting 16 gauge 5051 soft aluminum and it s a little too thick for tinsnips so he needs to use a power tool.

Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut aluminum with a wall thickness of more than 1 4 inch 0 64 cm. To cut the sheets of metal rathe. If you have an air compressor one option is an air powered cutoff tool. I hope this reads sensibly.

Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal. Place the metal on a hard surface to score it and on long pieces do the bending with the score place along a sharp edge of a bench and if necessary clamp the fixed piece with a long piece of flat wood to prevent buckling the metal while bending it back and forth. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.