This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.
How to cut aluminum sheet metal straight.
Put on a pair of work gloves before you wax the saw to protect your hands.
Cutting straight lines with an electric saw.
Place the sheet metal on top of the workbench and lay out your pattern using a tape measure pencil and straightedge.
Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.
Choose a saw with a tooth number of at least 24tip teeth per inch to ensure even cuts in the metal.
Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards.
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.
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.
Bench mounted tools such as shears or band saws cut aluminum sheet relatively slowly and with varying amounts of accuracy.
2 x research source.
An air powered sheet metal nibbler or a nibbler head attached to a power drill can cut through galvanized corrugated aluminum sheet as well as flat sheet up to 16 gauge.
Using a straight edge clamped to the edge of the bench is also a good tip to cut thin metal precisely.
