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I'm looking to start a hobby, but I do not have a large work space, as i live in a small apartment. I also have to keep noise levels low, so no band saw and pneumatic nail gun practice. I drink far too much soda from cans and I have seen other people do some really interesting art pieces with the aluminum from cans, so I've decided to start with aluminum and see if I can get a hobby test driven. I'm going to try making simple mosaics as a first project. I bought a 0.50 inch paper punch and was surprised at it's quality. It very easily pops out nice clean half inch squares of aluminum cut from a can. I've experimented and have found that the aluminum is very easy to cut with scissors or a hobby style knife as well. When I use the punch, knife, or scissors, the square isn't quite flat enough to be useful in a mosaic type fashion - it just doesn't lay flat enough to create a nice even flat surface with multiple squares laid out. The sharp cutting tools seem to have too much influence on the metal itself, causing it to warp on top of the natural curve the aluminum had to begin with. I've tried clamping them very firmly between two pieces of hard flat metal, but they spring back when released. I can slowly work a single square by hand and get it fairly flat, however that is very time consuming, especially if I am working with hundreds of squares. There has to be an easier way, and I can't think of it, my hopes are that someone here has an answer. I've found several methods for cutting the top and bottom off the can, the best seem to involve scoring and cutting with a hobby style knife. I have a box cutter that works, but I feel like I am doing surgery with a butcher knife. What knife would you recommend for cutting aluminum cans with, specifically cutting the top and bottom off? Would the same knife work well for finer cuts to make small shapes, cuts, scores, etc? Amazon has tons of things that are sharp with the intention for cutting that would fit my intentions, I am hoping that someone has some real experience with using a metal cutting scalpel like knife and could recommend a brand or even a specific knife itself to fit the job. Thanks! 
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Jul 27, 2015 16:59
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 19:17 |
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bag of cement and 2 hardwood boards might work for flattening them out. I wouldn't think the corners would just dig into the wood.
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Jul 28, 2015 21:52
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I would suggest getting one of those big kitchen scissors that can also get through chicken bones.
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Jul 30, 2015 20:32
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It might be overkill, but this sounds like exactly the kind of thing you want a Dremel (rotary) tool for. e: or an angle grinder or a bandsaw, but that actually IS overkill. However, a decent hacksaw might work, come to think of it.
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Jul 31, 2015 02:34
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Just hammer the sheet flat with a soft mallet on an anvil surface (flat, steel, some mass to it- for this a sledgehammer in a vise will do). It'll go fast and it's easy. You can use a clean-faced ballpeen or carpenter's hammer too, you just need a soft touch so you keep metal stretching to a minimum. Heavy shears are about all you need to cut thin aluminium, that's all you really need, you just flatten everything once the cutting's done.
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Jul 31, 2015 03:55
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I found this site with a little bit of searching around. I don't know if I would have ever come up with can opener approach, but it looks pretty slick and certainly worth a shot.
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Jul 31, 2015 05:16
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Roofing shears are what you want
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May 4, 2016 23:36
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I use these for cutting the tops and bottoms off pop cans, no resistance and make nice straight lines. Just punch a hole with your utility knife to start the cut. Pick 'em up at any hardware store.
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May 5, 2016 00:24
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 19:17 |
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The cutting method isn't going to have much of an effect because, as you noticed, the metal has a "natural" curve to it. That means you need to stretch the inner surface of your squares to match the outer surface. In order to do that, you have to actually stretch it slightly past the point of flatness. So, compressing it under a heavy thing won't work very well necessarily. With sheet metal, I'd suggest using something called a slip roller to introduce a complementary but opposite curve to the metal. However, since you're working with such lightweight stuff, you might be able to use some kind of pasta roller? Regardless, you should definitely do the flattening before you do the cutting. It'll reduce how much time you spend handling the metal, and you might find that the punch and scissors only introduce warping into the very edge, which is way easier to manage. edit: er, I mean after you cut the top and bottom off the can, obviously. I'm thinking of going from a curvy rectangle of metal to a nice flat one, then cutting it into nice squares.
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Jul 22, 2016 04:25
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