Hi.
I'm looking to buy a toold to get a good quality cute on a sheet of ali (max run of about 1.0m)
What would people recommend from a choice of tine snips, bench shears, air nibbler or air shears. I don't want to spend huge amounts of money,
but I do want to get a quality finish.
Why not just an old fashioned jig saw, the black and decker type or other make you can get different blades to suit!
If doing a straight line use a piece of wood and run the saw along that.
If doing a curve try string tied around the jigsaw and pulled tight against a fixed clamp to help with a radius. Clean with file or flap wheel.
Adrian
Wet the ali with parafin when you cut it. It stops the swarfe sticking to the blade.
Adrian
Best quality cut IMHO would be the nibbler as long as you can steer it straight
The air nibbler would be my choice - if it wasn't for the millions of crescent-shaped bits of swarf that fall on the floor! They stick to your shoes, get carried into the house and, in my house, cause much grief!
Damn, I just bought an air shear on Ebay - fairly cheap, but hopefully it'll last a while.
I was put off the nibbler by the prospect of not being able to keep it going in a straight line wuite so easily.
I have an air shear - it's worth practising with a bit of spare sheet the first 2 or 3 times, as it'll go in a straight line then suddenly
veer off. Not its fault, just poor technique. It won't do corners, apart from slight changes of direction.
It's a useful tool, within its intended scope.
I was wondering whether it'd do corner at all, but figured at the very least a series of straight cuts finished with a file.
I've also seen a set of tin snips from machine mart that has left, right and stright cutters for just under a tenner - should be enough to take
care of the finer details
I have an air nibbler as mentioned above, cuts the crescent shaped bits and also quite wide. I would need to consider before ever using it again,
unless I could control where all the bits went, what a pain. Is useful for small radii and stuff like that but need serious practice first to keep it
on line. Another thing I have seen used is a high speed router with carbide bit, again lots of mess.
Adrian
[Edited on 17-6-07 by AdrianH]
If its only straight lines, another option is a thin slitting disc in a small angle grinder.
Clamp a tube to the sheet to give you a straight edge to cut against. Finish with production paper on a straight block of wood
Cheers
Fred W B
[Edited on 17/6/07 by Fred W B]
Another vote for a jigsaw and a straight edge, with an appropriate blade in it. Finish with a file or wet and dry on a block, works for me.
jig saw -- ultra fine tooth Bosch blade , clamp a bit of wood/lamminate board on to act as a cutting guide-
Liek I said, I've bought the air shears, but I'll bear in mind the jigsaw for the finer cutting and shaping of corners etc.
Straight lines, jig saw for me with a bit of wd40 and clamp the sheet.
I have got a plasma cutter and nibbler, both work well, but are harder to control for long runs IMHO.
Regards Mark
If it's a straight cut and the ally is not too thick and hard try deep scoring both sides with a Stanley knife against a straight edge. Then
gently bend back and forth to snap the waste off. This gives a surprisingly neat edge that just needs a minor amount of dressing with abrasive paper
afterwards.
Yours for the cost of a knife blade.
jigsaw for me too. great for both straight and curves.
Why make life so complicated, just use tin snips, its what they are designed for.
I used a good pair of kitchen sissors, 1mm thick bendy ali for my bonnet. The sissors are fine.
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Why make life so complicated, just use tin snips, its what they are designed for.
Thought you weren't supposed to use angry grinder on aluminium due to risk of disks breaking?
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Straight lines, jig saw for me with a bit of wd40 and clamp the sheet.
I have got a plasma cutter and nibbler, both work well, but are harder to control for long runs IMHO.
Regards Mark
I use my jigsaw for everything apart from dead-straight cuts - it is easier to control. You have to use proper metal-cutting blades, but they're
easy enough to find. A variable-speed jigsaw is also helpful, but not essential.
The only downside is the amount of noise generated, esp. when cutting a full sheet. Great way to impress the neighbours. 
I used a jigsaw the other day to cut a piece of 5mm stainless - it took about 3 years to do a 140mm cut 
Maybe that was alittle beyond the designed use for the tool
I'll be using a combo of air shears, tin snip and jigsaw for the various different bits and pieces - from what people are saying and the research
I've done, there's no one toold that suits all purposes.
A pair of quality WEISS tinsnips and a pair of gloves to avoid lockjaw cuts in the webs between you fingers. Cut a full 8x4 the other day with em.
Alex
I used a drill mounted nibbler for all my aluminium and steel sheet cutting. If you oil the cut line it will last ages and doesn't take too much controlling. Rub the edge with coarse emery to finish it or use a de burring tool. Get some earmuffs though and watch out for the toenail clippings. Aviation snips or a good set of Gilbows are alright for shorter cuts but I wouldn't fancy cutting side panels from a 2x1metre sheet with them.
quote:
Originally posted by Russell
If it's a straight cut and the ally is not too thick and hard try deep scoring both sides with a Stanley knife against a straight edge. Then gently bend back and forth to snap the waste off. This gives a surprisingly neat edge that just needs a minor amount of dressing with abrasive paper afterwards.
Yours for the cost of a knife blade.
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
I used a drill mounted nibbler for all my aluminium and steel sheet cutting. If you oil the cut line it will last ages and doesn't take too much controlling. Rub the edge with coarse emery to finish it or use a de burring tool. Get some earmuffs though and watch out for the toenail clippings. Aviation snips or a good set of Gilbows are alright for shorter cuts but I wouldn't fancy cutting side panels from a 2x1metre sheet with them.
Youv'e probably had enough advice here already to last a lifetime, and as you say one method won't suit all applications. But for lovely
straight cuts, a table saw fitted with a fine toothed TCT wood blade does the trick, as you can use the rip fence, just remember to wear eye
protection.
Personally i use the jigsaw for 90% of my ally cutting, even 20mm plate cuts ok with WD40.
Al.
Jigsaw with inslation tape on bottom to stop marking ally, 5mm stainless only 3 years finest blade blunting material invented
tony