Let s start off with some of the ideal tools that will work for most applications a few more that work well for specific applications and then some tips and tricks.
Best tool to cut 30g aluminum sheet.
With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.
Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards.
Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade.
Hot metal chips will fly.
Handheld jigsaws provide a very mixed bag when it comes to cutting aluminum with the right tool and the right bit or blade you can easily cut through thick sheets and other forms of stock.
Mark the start and stopping point of your cut with a grease pencil or some similar implement that marks on sheet metal.
Use a wood cutting saw with carbide tipped blades to cut most aluminum.
To cut the sheets of metal rathe.
In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter.
As a general rule of thumb anything that would be considered a high performance tool for wood will also cut aluminum plate.
Such as straight cut snips left cut the right cut etc.
You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in.
If possible choose a saw blade that creates narrow kerfs the notch or slot made by the saw.
There are some cuts that you can do with decent tin snips.
Makita has long been known as one of the top power tool manufacturers out there and makes the list of best metal cutting saws of 2017 with the makita 4131 7 13 amp metal cutting circular saw.
This tool successfully puts 13 amps of power in a lightweight 11 3 lb package making it less tedious to use then some of the other heavier saws on.
Tin snips or aviation snips are one of the most widely used tools to cut sheet metals.
This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.
Even there though there are exceptions.
They look like scissors and work fine with sheet metals like brass aluminum tin steel etc.
Select a fine toothed blade and don t cut aluminum with a wall thickness of more than 1 4 inch 0 64 cm.
With the aid of a ruler or yardstick draw a straight line between the two.
Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal.