Its a bit of a standing joke around the office. Evidently I like
snips a lot and I get pretty enthusiastic about them when someone asks.
Truthfully, I like all tools. I've always found the ingenuity that
goes into creating or updating a tool fascinating. But today I want to
talk a bit about snips.
The following is an excerpted from my own writings and is
copyrighted, so please read it & share it, but do not reproduce it
without asking first!
SNIPS
Snips are basically a scissor designed to cut sheet metal. There are
as many varieties and styles as the years they’ve been in use; there
have been examples of early sheet metal snips found in Roman ruins
thousands of years old. Early snips didn’t have to be too strong; they
were only cutting soft copper and lead. The industrial revolution saw
the advent of better quality metals, thus better quality snips had to be
made.
Why so many varieties? Specialization, modernization, competition.
Today there are a couple of main groups of snips readily available to the do-it-yourselfer:
- Pattern Snips
- Aviation Snips
- Traditional sheet metal snips.
Pattern Snips
Pattern snips have so many varieties that it would probably take a
hundred pages to review all of them. Essentially a pattern snip is a
tool designed to do layout cutting in flat sheets. They can cut long
straight lines, wide sweeping curves and even some tighter curves.
Pattern snips are older traditional designs that are
usually manufactured of forging steel. They are available in
long straight broad blade designs, bend blade designs,
duckbill designs, and now,
using light-weight aluminum and magnesium for the handles, offset and replaceable blade designs.
Aviation Snips
As their name suggests,
aviation snips
were originally created to cut the aluminum used in the construction of
aircraft. With the advantage of compound leverage mechanical linkage,
aviation snips have a distinct advantage over traditional sheet metal
snips. Less effort is required to cut materials and some designs feature
offset blades that help flow material up and away from the hand.
Traditional Sheet Metal Snips
Are just that.
Traditional designs, usually of forged steel,
than are available in a wide variety of shapes that are used for a
variety of tasks. Essentially anything you would use an aviation snip
for, you can do with a sheet metal snip, but it will take a little more
work and skill. The designs have remained relatively unchanged since the
beginning of the industrial revolution, but with the application of
modern steel alloys for durability and strength.
Too Many Choices? What is best for metal roofing?
This really a loaded question. Most snips have some purpose when used
in metal roofing applications, however what works best is pretty
subjective. In other words, it really depends on the skills, needs and
pocketbook of the user.
For the average do-it-yourselfer, my recommendation would be a good set of offset blade aviation snips.
Why aviation snips and why offset blades?
- Aviation snips are generally less expensive than other options
- Aviation snips can cut any sheet metal product used in a metal roof
- Aviation snips feature a compound leverage action that requires less effort to cut
- Aviation snips usually feature color coded handles so you know which way they cut
- Offset blades angle the snip and place your hand above what you are cutting
- Offset blades push the cut metal away from your hand better than regular aviation snips
- Offset blades are great for cutting curves and circles. Offsets can
even cut a small 6” diameter hole in sheet metal with just a little
practice
Standard aviation snip on the left. Offset aviation snip on the
right. Note how the offset aviation snip’s angled blades change raise
the handles above the kerf angle and away from that raw, jagged edge you
just cut. Another advantage of the offset aviation snip is that you can
use it to comfortably cut from below and you can turn the tool around
and cut back toward yourself.
What’s with the different colored handles?
Aviation snips manufactured for the North American market have color
code handles that are indicative of the expected direction of cut. All
aviation snips will cut straight, however
green and red handled aviation snips will cut curves much better than a yellow handled snip.
RED – Cuts Straight and
LEFT
YELLOW- Cuts
Straight
GREEN – Cuts straight and
RIGHT
I don’t see any need for yellow handle aviation snips. I’ve known
plenty of professional metal roofers and most of them don’t even own a
pair.
Buy a set of red (cuts left) and green (cuts right) offset aviation snips and you’ll have everything you need.
Most likely you will develop a preference for which one you prefer to
cut straight with, but remember, they will both cut straight just fine.
I hope that this has helped you understand which tool works
best for your application. When in doubt, call or email me. I can always
be reached at 770-405-1060, or by email at info@rapidmaterials.com
