Sheetmetal Tool Recommendations

[BigIrish]

I got some HF air shears that supposedly cut up to 18 ga sheet metal. Cuts 24 gauge great, but the 20 ga I'd like to use is nearly impossible to cut a straight line. It takes so much force to push the shears through the metal, makes me think i'm doing something wrong. It cuts it ok but it get bound up in the channel that it just cut.

So those suck. Do the nibblers work any better? Trying to find an alternative to using the grinder and cut off wheel.

 

[DJ3100]

Try spraying the shear with WD-40 or silicon or something else slippery. Also, try lowering the back of the shear to keep the front from, digging in.

The nibblers are hard to get a straight, smooth line. They are good for removing metal from the center of a circle or other shape, but you need to file to get a smooth edge (at least that's my experience.

 

[BigIrish]

OK thanks, I'll try that.

 

[acourtjester]

nibbler chip problem

Hi
I have both the shear and nibbler the shear works great you may be pushing up or down to much.
The nibbler is ok but I makes little 1/4 moon shape chips and they stick into shoes and are a real pain I just don't use it. I mean thousands of them!!!

my 2 cents

 

[olcarguy]

BigIrish.....is the bottom blade on your shear tapered away from the cutting edges. I had a pair of cheap one that where almost straight, wouldn't cut worth poop. Once I ground a relief for clearance, they worked fine.....

 

[BigIrish]

I'll check that out. I think there was a taper but it looked very rough.

 

[jlm]

have you tried an air saw? i use one quite a bit, cuts real nice through sheet metal, and it's easy to control. not too expensive either

 

[BigIrish]

Is that like a sawzall-type thing?

 

[jlm]

kind of, but with a 2 or 3 inch blade