Nibbler attachment

Nibblers seem to be quite expensive. I've never actually used one before. It's not the sort of thing I'd use often. So, I'm reluctant to pay a lot for something that only gets a few weeks' work. I don't use sheet steel much at all. I wonder if anyone has experience with the nibbler attachment that can be used with an electric drill. A cheaper option. How have you found them? This sort of thing:

Just a moment...

P&N were a good make, I thought, but the reviewers on that site give it the thumbs down.

What do you actually want it for? Nibblers are generally used for cutting out curved surfaces; they are pretty ordinary at keeping long straight lines. Those Bunnings reviews were predominantly around cutting sheets of Colorbond; I used a circular saw with an Austsaw sheet steel cutting blade for rebuilding the front of my shed; highly recommended.

Again depending on what you want too cut with it,
Have you considered Aviation snips or a good pair of Tin snips.

SCA Left Blade Aviation Snip - 10inch | Supercheap Auto

Record G245/8 General Purpose Tin Snips 8"

There not too difficult too get use too.

Cheers Matt.

Or this

Just a moment...

the nibbler leaves a gazillion little bits of metal to pick whereas the shear cuts

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

What do you actually want it for?

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Attachment 534615

You can buy 'vermin guards' but they are not cheap. I figured all I'd need would be a nibbler and some sort of template to guide it to the correct profile. And bending a piece of sheet metal shouldn't be too difficult.

Tin snips would be fine (I have a pair) but given the shape I want the metal cut I think the nibbler would be best, but I have to admit to wanting the cheap option (ie. the elec drill accessory).

I used this nibbler to cut a round hole in a corrugated iron roof for an air vent in my shed:

DETROIT 500W Nibbler DEN5001 | Total Tools

It cut like a hot knife through butter and I was very impressed with how easy it was to follow a curve and how little time it took.

However it was very loud and created a shower of fine, sharp metal offcuts to clean up after (still finding the odd piece 1 year later...)

Years ago I used one ext5ensively for quite a few roof penetrations on colourbond.

It worked wonderfully for the first few but the edges of the anvil/punch quickly rounded over so it soon became almost as much of a chore as using snips. I don't think it was a P&N, it looked pretty much the same but was bright yellow and the anvil was... more substantial.

To me the main fault was that in operation one needed a hand on the drill and a hand on the attachment, making things awkward when one needed a third hand for anything else. (Like, holding the sheet or stopping yourself from sliding off the roof. :rolleyes:)

If I was doing that job again, I'd look at a dedicated unit even if only to free up a hand.

It's a good price compared with the others on the market. It was the price that was forcing me to consider a drill attachment. But for this one, the online reviews support your experience too. Thanks for that Letaage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

awkward when one needed a third hand for anything else. (Like, holding the sheet or stopping yourself from sliding off the roof. :rolleyes:)

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Good point. Never thought of that.

I can't vouch for the longevity of the tool, I have only had it for about a year and used it for one job, but I was impressed with how fast it cut and it seems decently made for the price.

I had also considered the drill attachment style nibblers and using snips for the job but the dedicated nibbler saved a lot of time and grief.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by letaage

I can't vouch for the longevity of the tool, I have only had it for about a year and used it for one job, but I was impressed with how fast it cut and it seems decently made for the price.

I had also considered the drill attachment style nibblers and using snips for the job but the dedicated nibbler saved a lot of time and grief.

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I have the same one and have used multiple times for various projects over the last 5 years or so and is still going strong, for $159.00 was a no brainer for me, does what it is designed to do and was not prepared to spend money on an attachment that might not do the job as well,.

Thanks for that. Good to know.

EF

You may have completed the job by now but this shear is another alternative.

Malco TurboShear Heavy Duty Sheet Metal Cutting Attachment Power Shear USA TSHD 686046533209 | eBay

or this one:

Malco Metal Turbo Shears Cuts Up To 20ga / 1.02mm Galv TS1 686046530208 | eBay

I have the first one and used it extensively. I used it for cutting a Trimdeck profile. I found it worked better with a corded drill than a cordless drill, but much depends on the physical shape of the drill. My memory is that I used it so much it wore out an old Bosch drill that I had had for many years.

Having said that, I always thought a powered tool would be ideal for cutting the ridge capping to suit corrugated iron roofing.......until I saw my son do the same thing with tin snips.....much faster! You need curved cutting snips. Left cutting if you are right-handed and right cutting if you are left-handed. He did it entirely by sight, but if you are like me, measure the depth of the corru and draw a line along the flashing and mark off the peaks. Cutting such a short distance is much easier than long straight lines. My son did that fairly easily too.....using two straight cutting tin snips about 10/15mm apart and both hands! He is a reasonably accomplished carpenter/builder and it would seem ambidextrous.

:rolleyes:

These are the type of aviation style snips. Not a recommendation one way or the other. Literally the first one that came up in a search. I was actually looking for the Weiss brand, but failed.

HORUSDY 3Pc Aviation Tin Snips Cut Set Left Right Straight Metal Sheet Cutters | eBay

Regards
Paul

Thanks, Paul. It's useful to hear of practical experiences. I won't be starting my actual job for a while yet. I'm just gathering information.

Though, I have to say that as I will be cutting a lot of curves I suspect the nibbler will be best. I was planning/hoping to be able to design a jig with the profile I need. Presumably by running the nibbler against the template, the cut will be as near as perfect as I'm going to get. I doubt straight-edge snips or curved snips would manage that as well as the nibbler.