Advanced Metal Sheering Tips and Tricks - Cuttin' Corners

These Aussie-made cutters feature a cam-driven, adjustable head (rotates). They're reported by the manufacturer to cut up to 12 inches per second, and can cut up to 300 feet of mild tin on a single charge of its 14.4-volt battery.

Cutting is almost effortless and smooth as silk-as long as you keep the cutters cocked between 10 and 15 degrees.

If the excess metal doesn't feed out properly, it'll not only bog down the blades but produce a poor cut as well.

The smaller vertical cut is the result of a sufficient pass; the longer horizontal cut is characteristic of what happens when the cutter is not angled/guided properly.

With a fresh set of blades installed, my 110-volt Milwaukee electric shears work just fine for straight and slow curving cuts. I picked these up at a yard sale; don't think I'd own them otherwise, as I'd much rather spend the money on something like the aforementioned Excaliburs, for what it's worth.

Plus, I'm tired of picking up-and oftentimes stepping on-all the sharp curly cues the Milwaukees make! If I need to cut a large piece of sheetmetal in half, though, the less distortion they cause will more than likely rule out the cordless ones.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not all "pro" professional tools. If money were the deciding factor, my set of Prosnips would definitely suffice-I've used them for this long, and I know they've still got a lot of life left in 'em!

In all honesty, one could really get away with simply having just one set of tin snips-the yellows, or straight-cut (Prosnip 103) snips.

But for more accurate "right" and "left" cuts, why not have the reds and greens too?!

In addition to the red, green, and yellow snips, often referred to as "aviation" snips, are these "offset" snips. These are from Snap-On (left) and Wurth (right) and are a little more expensive than the aviation snips. Note how the jaws are offset to one side. These snips are available in straight, left, or right cut, just as the aviation snips are. The Wurth snips shown can handle steel up to 1.8mm thick. These are twentysomething years old and still going strong, though the blades have seen some abuse over the years!

Note how the offset jaws allow the steel to be trimmed off to "curl" while the work piece remains flat. The angled jaws also keep your hands away from the sharp metal edges as the handles are up and away from the sheetmetal.

No matter what you use to cut with, protect your investment-keep the blades lubricated all the time. I've been using Rapid Tap on everything from tubing cutters to drill bits (and of course shear blades) for quite a long time, and it's kept the tools I don't break in service for quite a long time as well.