Thread: Nibbling Shearers

Sean

Last year I built a shed out of fencing material. I had to cut in some awkward places to allow mounting the sheets onto a basic frame. Although the problem is a different to what you're thinking of, I still faced the problem of cutting curves and reasonably clean lines. At first I rented a nibbler. I hated it. It was loud and difficult to control. It also left a hell of a mess with those little crescent shaped bits of metal that always got stuck into my shoes and subsequently the indoor carpet.

I bit an bought a decent jigsaw with a set of sheet metal cutting blades. This was a major improvement in control over the cut and less mess, although it was still a loud process. Jigsaw blades aren't designed to cut through thick sheets, but I think they would be up to the thickness of a kitchen sink. With some practice you could get some accurate and clean curves.

A CNC plasma cutter would also do the job...

Sean

An interesting link for electromechanical etching of thin steels.. up to 0.010". For inlays I think you would get cleaner edges, less wrinkling of the material etc. This doesn't solve your problem of cutting up the kitchen sink but does give a neat alternative.

http://www.aardvark.co.nz/pjet/makevalves1.pdf

Most of these machines cost in the vicinity of $600. If you do not have any long term plans for these machines I would do some carefull measuring and get the supplier of the stainless to cut to size for you. You may also find to cut stainless that the cutters supplied with the machine are set up for mild steel so you would require extra cutters which are not cheap.

Snips are the way to go mate. Try Wyss left & right. They make a straight too but you're better off with a nice long pair of Gilbows or something for straight cuts. Power tools and stainless steel don't get along with each other very well.

Thanks for the tips and information fellas. I,m certinally a little wiser about the diificulties of cutting stainless steel than I was just 24hrs ago!

Off too check out the site link you mentioned Ivanavitch....

Might swing back again later ..


Thanks again every body

Sean,

If you're still having trouble locating prices for S/S sheet, I can get a sq. metre price for it off my brother in law if you like. It'll give you an idea anyway. Just let me know what gauges you're after and I'll give him a ring.

Make sure you're sitting down though because it's expensive.

SilentC
I,m sitting down and would be interested in the price of stainless steel information. Thanks !

Not sure of the gauges ....but not less then 0.5 mm thickness and probaly no more than 1.5mm

OK, I'll give him a bell on Monday morning and post some prices for you then.

Thanks for chaseing down some SS prices for me SilentC. Looking forward to seeing what infromation you can get from your Brother In Law.

Thanks again.

Not an answer re cutting but if you check out the auction notices in the papers / online (eg www.graysonline.com.au ) for commercial kitchen equipment they often have stainless steel shelves that go for reasonable prices. At least these will not have the curves of a sink.

The thing to think about is that any used SS will have scratches, marks etc. With some work though they will clean up OK.


Paul

Sean,

As a guide, if you wanted to buy a small piece of 0.9 S/S it will set you back $77 per sq. metre plus cutting charges (probably a couple of bucks per cut). You can get it cheaper if you buy in full sheets or larger quantities but that'll give you an idea. Not cheap, is it?

Cheers

silent C

Thanks for getting me that info on SS prices. Not cheap as you say
but hey it lasts a life time! )

I guess I'll just have to be very carefull not to waste any. When I compare it to some of the paint jobs we do at my work which can cost up to $90.00 a Sq Mt it sounds OK.

Earlier in this thread you said ...


Snips are the way to go mate. Try Wyss left & right. They make a straight too but you're better off with a nice long pair of Gilbows or something for straight cuts. Power tools and stainless steel don't get along with each other very well."

Do you still think that Wyss snips would cut ok through 0.9mm stainless steel ?


Thanks again for finding out some prices on stainless steel silentC

Sean,

They sure will but they'll need to be sharp and you'll have arms like Popeye after doing it for a while.

Spoke to the bro-in-law who does a lot of stainless work and he reckons he cuts freeform shapes with a jigsaw then cleans it up with the snips. If you try and cut too complex a shape with the snips, it will distort, so the idea is to remove the waste with the saw and then cut to your line with the snips. You'll probably need to dress the edges flat afterwards too.

He reckons you can use nibblers as well but they are rough as guts and you'll still need to clean it up with snips.

From the sheet metal worker!!!

Get yourself a pair of 12" Gilbow cranked shears. Forget weiss and other so called "aviation snips".

Agree with the thought "Grays auctions for old commercial kitchen benches etc", and would suggest you call in on your local scrap metal dealer. There's a lot of scrap stainless out there.

As for thickness look for 24 or 26 gauge, (if you talk that bloody metric garbage <0.5mm). Keep drills sharp. cause it work hardens easily, and once hard, you'll never cut it.

If you are cutting curves make two cuts the first leaving about 1/4" to cut off on the second cut you 'll find it easier to follow the line accurately.

Never fully close the snips when making a cut unless the cut is into a corner. Make the inside 2/3 of the blade do the cutting. When they are fully closed they leave little lumps on the edge of the cut.

For really tight curves get yourself abrafile attachments for your hacksaw and use abrafile blades. If you decide to use your jigsaw you'll need really fine tooth blades to do the cutting. At least 3 teeth should be in contact with the surface you are cutting at the same time, and that's impossible with thin gauge material.

Glenn