Thread: Cutting Colourbond Sheet.

G'day Star,

I had a bit of cutting to do earlier this year - I settled on a metal cutting blade in a bosch jigsaw - was quick and accurate, albeit a bit noisy. As for the others, nibbler is probably best, but very expensive for one-of jobs; snips are just damn hard work and next to impossible when the colorbond won't get out of the way; angle grinders are discouraged as they heat up the metal and (apparently) it loses its anti-rusting properties.

Cheers,
Adam

Gilbows (bloody big tin snips) are the desired corro cutting tool. I use a nibbler to cut down the sheet and Gilbows to cut across or do anything fancy. Too easy.

The angled aviation snips work good ,the handle is at an angle to the cutting blades .at about a 35 deg angle .
You may have to look around to find them .

Kev.

Thanks Guys and Woodlee. I will look out for the angled aviation snips. The straight ones don't work for me.

If i see them, I will make a decision straight away and I will post how I went.

Thanks

The easiest way I've found to cut awkward shapes (not Colourbond, but so what?) is to make two cuts: The first cut (rough) a few mm outside, and the second cut to the line. For the second cut, the narrow waste just curls away from the snips, and is easier to control.

Joe

Sorry I had to scoot earlier and meant to post a pic of the snips
so I came back and I hope this copy and paste works.this is the type Im refering to the red handle style .
No association with the website blah blah .

http://www.upsidedownsupply.com/inde...ex&ScreenID=82


Kev.

Offset snips can be had at Bunnies

Thats the style of straight snips I have, Do you have to have left and right offset snips.


I guess you do, as they would not make them unless they are for left and right handed people.

A couple of years ago I remember reading a tip on this forum, I've tried it a few times now when I need to cut corrogated iron to length and it works great.

Measure the length you want and make a small cut (20-30mm) with snips in the direction of the cut, lay a piece of timber (100x50 or similar, doesnt really matter) close to the line of cut. Put the timber on the end you want to use by the way.
Get someone to stand on the timber, and with gloved hands, grip the waste end of corro near the small cut, and lift and rip it straight across.

You will be surprised how easy this is, and it works out quite accurate, usually only 1mm or so out by the end of the cut.

It can stretch the corrogations slightly sometimes, but I've found for small jobs like pump sheds and chookhouses etc. it doesnt matter. Might make a bit of differance on a big job like a house roof, or large shed though.

Originally Posted by STAR

Thats the style of straight snips I have, Do you have to have left and right offset snips.


I guess you do, as they would not make them unless they are for left and right handed people.

Left and right snips are for the direction of cut on curved edges; I can never remember which is which, so I have to try each for verification. I suppose I could figure it out, but ...

Joe

Same as ships Joe , red for left (port )and green for right (starboard )
easy way to remember is by saying "No more red port(wine) left"
In the straight (non offset) the same except they have a yellow grip set for straight cuts.

Kev.

I have heard of the ripping method but never tried it - I wonder does it still work on the modern higher tensile corrugated iron etc? I heard of a variation of this method too using a piece of wire to rip the iron with.

The best way to cut it if you have a lot of sheets is a cold saw - Makita and probably others make small dedicated saws but you can also buy cold saw blades for I think about $80+ to suit circular saws - I used one of these once when putting up a shed - they cut the sheets like a knife through butter but be warned, they put a big load on the armature shaft - my old Skil saw was ruined eventually as the shaft actually twisted and wound up - so don't use on your best saw. Never use an abrasive cutting disc on colorbond as you will cause rust issues.

Nibblers are great for non-straight cuts but put down a tarp under the cutting area to collect the razor sharp offcuts or you'll be picking them out of your barefeet for years to come. You can I think still buy a small nibbler attachment to use in a drill - not that expensive I seem to recall and probably OK for small jobs.

Originally Posted by Quasimodo

Never use an abrasive cutting disc on colorbond as you will cause rust issues.

I have used the 1mm abrasive discs in an angle grinder but use masking tape to mark the cutline, it's easier to see and keeps the sparks off the paint.
Cheers
Graeme

I had this trouble when building my shed. I rang a shed erector, he told me "Red handle for right handers, Green handle for left handers". That way a right hander can pull the waste away with their weak hand and vice versa.