Subject: Re: Cutting aluminum soup cans

From: [email-masked] (W. Kaiser)
Date: 23 Apr 1996 17:40:20 GMT

Jacqueline Passey ([email-masked]) wrote:
> Does anyone know a good, cheap tool to use for cutting little pieces of 
> metal out of a aluminum cans, like the kind soup come in?  I read the 
> section of the FAQ on cutting metal but got confused.  I wanted to make 
> candle holders out of them.  Is there any cheap and easy way to do this 
> or should I give up on this project?  

Tin snips.  Big ones give you more leverage, and are easier to use, but 
you need a big hand to use them.  Small ones are better for cutting 
intricate shapes.  Aluminum will be easy to cut with small ones.  Tin 
cans (steel plated with tin) are thin enough to cut easily, too, and have 
the advantage that they can be soldered.

--
Bill Kaiser
[email-masked]

There are three ways to do a job: good, cheap, and quick.
You can have any two.
A good, cheap job won't be quick.
A good, quick job won't be cheap.
A cheap, quick job won't be good.

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From: Steve Wellcome <[email-masked]>
Date: 23 Apr 1996 13:50:19 GMT

I guess it depends in part on how accurate you need the pieces
to be, but for starters I'd suggest some of the compound-leverage
metal shears made by Wiss (Weiss?).  There are three styles:
left-cutting, right cutting, and straight-cutting.  I've never
used any but the straight-cutting. One can certainly cut left 
and right curves with them, but I assume it's easier to cut curves
with the specially-designed shears.

They should be available as a large hardware store, I expect, or
>from  a mailorder place like MSC (address in the FAQ).

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From: [email-masked] (Peter Brooks)
Date: 25 Apr 1996 17:36:12 GMT

If it's really aluminum, I believe that a sharp utility knife can cut
it fairly cleanly.  Wear gloves....

Pete Brooks

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From: Jacqueline Passey <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 1996 15:17:50 -0700

Thank you everyone who sent me great advice on how to cut the cans!

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