Cut Through Thin Aluminum Sheet

Cutting thin aluminum should require no more than a few basic tools and is therefore a task that can be easily tackled either on the spot or from any reasonably well equipped garage.

Cut through thin aluminum sheet.

Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut aluminum with a wall thickness of more than 1 4 inch 0 64 cm. Then grip the saw with both hands and push the blade through the metal to cut it. 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.

How to cut thin sheet metal and keep it flat. If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly. Use a wood cutting saw with carbide tipped blades to cut most aluminum. For thin sheets of metal you can use tin snips to cut through it.

These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife. To cut straight lines use an electric saw. Check out this video. 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.