How Do You Cut Aluminum Sheets Cleanly

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

How do you cut aluminum sheets cleanly.

Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal. Since you ll be cutting. 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.

Apply cutting lubricants on your blades or bits. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough. When you cut materials of roughly 1 8 inch thickness buy a saw blade that features 10 teeth per inch of diameter e g a 12 inch x 120 tooth or 10 inch x 100 tooth blade any aluminum piece that is 1 4 inch in thickness 8 teeth per inch of diameter is ideal. 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.

If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly. All types of aluminum trim are readily cut with standard saws although certain types of power saws will require carbide blades. If you only have a few pieces of aluminum trim to cut you can cut through the trim with an inexpensive handsaw. The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot long pieces using this method.

Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer. 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. If you have an air compressor one option is an air powered cutoff tool.

This can range from standard oil to saw wax. These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife.