Cutting aluminium like a hot knife through butter

[way_up_north]

Hey guys I’m having fun cutting aluminum like a ninja

this harbour freight sheer flies through aluminium sheet

takes some practice but you can get good at cutting curves or straight lines ... it goes slow or fast

it does cut a ribbon of metal waste that is 5.5 mm wide/bit less then quarter inch.... leaves a nice edge... with no distortion

if anyone else has used these please chime in...I’m having so much fun with it...

I got it 2 years back for $30....I think it’s $40 now... but worth every penny... I say this is an essential aviation scatch builder tool...

Im tossing in here some reviews from online....

[Nev]

Excellent! I’m just looking for a way to cut sheet aluminum, will get a set. Thanks.

[way_up_north]

Excellent! I’m just looking for a way to cut sheet aluminum, will get a set. Thanks.

What I did was get a scrap part... draw some lines... and practice how close you need to be to the line... after 5 mins you’ll be pretty good at getting right on the line... it’s getting used to how the tool does its thing...it has to be held at just the right angle... ect...

its also nice that you can cut nice and slow...I’m really impressed how good a tool this thing is...

The only issue I’ve had is sometimes the plastic film on the metal gums up the blade... just takes a second to clear it and you’re back in action..

another good thing is you can’t tell where you stopped and started cuts ...it runs so smooth.... you know when you’re using hand snips ...each cut distorts the metal a bit as the pressure from your hand is not even during the cutting process .. but with this you can stop in the middle of a cut...reposition yourself and continue and the metal is still smooth in that spot....you can’t tell you stopped there ...

i did pick up an extra set of blades when I bought it... but it’s meant to cut steel... I don’t think we’ll ever wear the blades out... I’m on my 7th sheet and it’s still cutting like new

[Russellmn]

A metalshaping friend of mine uses those to cut sheet off of the coils he buys. 19ga steel, he's been using the same set for 3 or 4 years now. He buys a coil of steel every spring, biggest sheets he cuts off are 8' long. He said the coils are typically around 2500' long...

[Chewie]

Here are more ideas for curious minds.

https://bearhawkforums.com/forum/tools-technics-and-best-practices/41886-cutting-aluminum

[way_up_north]

Great link.... Good read

[davzLSA]

Yeah but does it cut julian fries????

[Bacon]

reminds me of the Blendtec will it blend series. “Don’t breathe that!”
You could 100% make juilian fries from plate aluminum with those.

[Bacon]

For thicker aluminum (or steel up to 1/2” no joke) I love my m18 6-3/8 Milwaukee carbide saw. I use it with an extrusion for a straight edge and a non-ferrous/ aluminum specific blade. Leaves a weldable edge and It doesn’t impart much heat so no worries on tempered alloys unlike using an angle grinder.

for thin stuff, I use a makita 14ga shears, large pair of olllllld proto hand shears, scoring knife, or nibblers. Throatless shears are pretty nice too but I need to buy another one.
I had to buy a HF Electric shear like yours one time when I forgot mine at the shop. Used them on 20ga stainless. Buttttah, worked great. Kept it as a back up. Can’t find it though. Ha
And im glad you posted this, now I’m looking for my old hand shears, I think they grew legs and walked out too!

[Bacon]

1/8 3003 Deck plate, can touch it 1 second after cut, hardly warm.

[whee]

Those shears can work awesome. We used the Milwaukee version a bit but they marred the sheets where the shoe slid on the sheet. After trying to solve that problem unsuccessfully we stopped using them.

[Bacon]

I find cleaning up the bottom of the jaws and using a lubricant helps mitigate what you describe. I have the same problem with my cold cut saw.

[way_up_north]

I’ve not used any lubrication yet... what did you use?... or recommend ..., wd40, 3 in one oil ... I’ve got handy

[svyolo]

For straight lines I still like the track saw. Great for big sheets of metal or wood as well, I use a 2" sheet of foam insulation on the ground as a backing for cutting. If I owned my shop I would have a 4X8 table that folded down against the wall.

I have cut .08 4130 with it as well. Ferrous blade, and go slower. It laughs at aluminum.

[S Lathrop]

I have had a Black & Decker air shear for 40 years. Speedair, Ingersoll Rand, and Chicago Pneumatic all make pneumatic shears.

I have compressed air in my shop and I find the pneumatic tools are lighter, easier to use and nearly indestructible. I never cut steel with my pneumatic shears.

[James]

Yeah, I use air for everything. I don't pay anything for power where I have my workshop, and my 17CFM compressor runs pretty much all the time, but I can't imagine building my plane without my air drills, die grinders, venturi vac, dynofile, rivet gun, spray gun, dusting nozzle etc etc. For people out there without shop air, seriously consider it (if your family can put up with the constant noise of the compressor).

Never used pneumatic shears, but I've always wished I had a 4" guillo and a small brake.

Thanks for the reviews :-)

[way_up_north]

Those shears can work awesome. We used the Milwaukee version a bit but they marred the sheets where the shoe slid on the sheet. After trying to solve that problem unsuccessfully we stopped using them.

So far this harbour freight version is working flawlessly...
with no marks.... but I’ll keep an eye on it maybe with time and wear this might start doing it also....thanks for mentioning that ... if I notice any changes in quality I’ll post it here...

[way_up_north]

I was looking at some of my first cuts I did with the sheers .... I was cutting a bit oversized to be on the safe side back then.... now that I’ve gotten practiced with it...I was able to cut a 1mm or 1/32 inch trim ribbon of metal off the edge... 3 feet long...usually harbour freight type tools come with some sort of gotcha .... but these sheers have continued to surprise me...

[Chris In Milwaukee]

It’s a good tool, no doubt. The aluminum I bought had a plastic sheet on it that would occasionally get caught up in the blades while cutting. But once you get the angle right, it’ll blow through the stuff with ease.

[Archer39J]

I'm quite happy with the cheapo nibbler that came with my used compressor. Many feet of aluminum turned into little hyperdermic half-moons that love to find their way into your shoe... It is a little messy though.