How To Cut Aluminum Sheet Cleanly

With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.

How to cut aluminum sheet cleanly.

If possible choose a saw blade that creates narrow kerfs the notch or slot made by the saw. I hope this reads sensibly. 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. 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.

To cut the sheets of metal rathe. 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. Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut aluminum with a wall thickness of more than 1 4 inch 0 64 cm. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.

A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet. Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal. Use a wood cutting saw with carbide tipped blades to cut most aluminum. 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.