Cutting sheet aluminum without a shear

[acropilotbret]

I thought I would post a little tip for those money conscience builders (who isn't money conscience right) really its for those who dont have big sheet metal tools available. Lately I have needed to cut some leading edge material for some ailerons that are 60+ inches long. I dont have a shear available to me that cuts more than 36" so I got a tip on using Olfa 800 tungsten blade cutter/scorer knife to score the aluminum the break it over an edge. I got this tip online but thought I would post my results here for the fine folks of the biplane forum. In the first picture I have used my straight edge to hold my line and two clamps on each side. The middle piece of wood keeps the straight edge from flexing in the middle. I then make 5-6 passes with my Olfa knife making a rather deep score. It actually curls up cutting the aluminum. It could probably cut through with enough passes but you can just break the rest off. This particular piece is 0.025 2024-T3 sheet at 6 ft long.

The olfa knife blades will last a long time on aluminum sheet and the knife came with 3 extra blades. The knife only cost $12 on amazon.

 

[MTChris]

 

[acropilotbret]

 

[user 38]

 

[curtis]

 

[MTChris]

 

[raymoeller]

 

[an8pilot]

 

[planebuilder]

 

[kenamt]

 

[Lotahp1]