Best Way To Cut Aluminum Sheet

Use a wood cutting saw with carbide tipped blades to cut most aluminum.

Best way to cut aluminum sheet.

Mount a diamond blade in your angle grinder and use it like a saw to cut the mesh. Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut aluminum with a wall thickness of more than 1 4 inch 0 64 cm. Step 5 optional if your project requires cutting a hole in the center of sheet metal draw it on the metal as you would any other cut line. Make sure that you use coolant or a light oil like wd 40 to lubricate the cutting and prevent the chips from gumming up your blade.

Start by taping both sides of the sheet metal directly over the line you want to cut and clamp the metal to a work station so it doesn t move. Then grip the saw with both hands and push the blade through the metal to cut it. If possible choose a saw blade that creates narrow kerfs the notch or slot made by the saw. To cut straight lines use an electric saw.

Either way the main problem you want to avoid is clogging the blade. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet. Metal lath and hardware cloth can be cut with a tin snips but there s an easier way.

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. This is actually one of my preferred ways to cut aluminum. We recommend using a diamond blade that s labeled as a ferrous metal cutting blade but many tradespeople use a regular masonry diamond blade with good results. 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.

Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal. It is stupidly fast and it leaves a nice clean cut if you can hold it.