How Do You Cut Aluminum Sheets Cleanly

All types of aluminum trim are readily cut with standard saws although certain types of power saws will require carbide blades.

How do you cut aluminum sheets cleanly.

Use a wood cutting saw with carbide tipped blades to cut most aluminum. Since you ll be cutting. Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut. Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal.

Using electric power tools 1. If you have an air compressor one option is an air powered cutoff tool. Apply cutting lubricants on your blades or bits. 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.

The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot long pieces using this method. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough. A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet. 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.

These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife. 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. This can range from standard oil to saw wax. If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly.

Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal. If you only have a few pieces of aluminum trim to cut you can cut through the trim with an inexpensive handsaw.