Using a nibbler

[Witchfinder]

Not quite car bodywork related, but certainly sheet metal related. I'm making medieval armour and I need to cut 1.2mm and 1.5mm steel. My first attempts with a jigsaw have been successful, albeit very slow and noisy.

I've seen one of these gubbins that connects to an electric drill: http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8...

Has anyone used one of these? I'm told that they ditch horrible little steel crescents everywhere, but I'm willing to live with this if it's a quiet, effective tool. Any comments or alternative suggestions? No, I can't afford a throatless shear!

[anonymous-user]

I'd suggest visiting one of the national trust places and just nick a suit of armour More to th epoint, wtf do you need armour for? Rough area??

[Anatol]

Dave_ST220 said:

More to th epoint, wtf do you need armour for?

Look at the beard in his profile photo... I reckon, LARP'er? ;o)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LARP

Tol

Edited by Anatol on Thursday 26th July 12:08

[GAjon]

Assuming the metal you are cutting isn't stainless steel, why are normal tin snips not suitable for what you are doing?

[Witchfinder]

GAjon said:

Assuming the metal you are cutting isn't stainless steel, why are normal tin snips not suitable for what you are doing?

Have you tried cutting large sections with tin snips? It's fine until you get about 4" into the material, then it gets in the way of the blades.

Anatol said:

Look at the beard in his profile photo... I reckon, LARP'er? ;o)

Bingo, although if I can make a success of this, I might also get into reenactment.

Edited by Witchfinder on Thursday 26th July 13:33

[GreenV8S]

They are absolutely fantastic, easily controllable, highly manoueverable, everything that power jigsaws should be but aren't. They're moderately noisy but no worse than a jig saw. The chippings it produces are large enough to sweep up easily and won't blow about as metal dust normally does so far easier to deal with too. If you were using one a lot you'd probably want a self-contained nibbler but for occasional work the drill attachment type works fine.

Edited to add:

For accurate work make sure you have a drill with loads of torque and a variable speed control on the trigger so that you can run the nibbler at very low speed when you want to.

Edited by GreenV8S on Thursday 26th July 13:49

[GAjon]

Yes I have (I am a sheetmetal worker by trade, although a long time off the tools) because I don't know the shape of what you are cutting or trying to achieve I asked the question as to why tin snips couldn't do the job, they may well not be suitable. Is it a complicated cut?

[Witchfinder]

GAjon said:

Yes I have (I am a sheetmetal worker by trade, although a long time off the tools) because I don't know the shape of what you are cutting or trying to achieve I asked the question as to why tin snips couldn't do the job, they may well not be suitable. Is it a complicated cut?

Aha! Exactly the kind of person I need to learn stuff from! The shapes cut out in armouring are frequently small and sometimes quite fiddly. I've got a good set of old 12" tin snips and they make mincemeat of 1.2mm mild, but only in cuts up to about 4" deep, or where the cut is close to an existing edge.

This is an example of the kind of thing, including patterns:
http://www.armourarchive.org/patterns/arms_15thC_s...
http://www.armourarchive.org/patterns/elbow_darivs...

If I can make life easier for myself with a power-tool, then I'm happy to take the shortcut (no pun intended). In fact, if there are any tips you can give me on sheet metal working, I'd love to hear them!

[GAjon]

That is some serious skilled forming required to make them items, your looking at hollowing and raising, double curvature forming, stretching and shrinking of sheet metal. I would say cutting out the shapes from the templates is the least of your concerns.

The industry has been de-skilled significantly in the 30 years I have been in it, the fabrication works I now work for would be unable to make these items, we simply do not have the stakes, formers or shaping blocks to do it.

However just around the corner from my factory is a unit that specialises in wheeling of vintage car wings. I am on holiday for two weeks, when I return I'll go round and see them to see if they have anything that may be of use to you, we are in Manchester so are local to you.

I will mail you when I have something of use.

John

PS Why Stainless? It wasn't around for suits of armour.

[Wacky Racer]

I used a "nibbler" to cut some 15ft lengths of sheet aluminium several years ago, the device was very good but not very precise or accurate, but that was probably more due to my inexperience than anything......

[Witchfinder]

Sorry - to clarify I'm using 1.2mm and 1.6mm cold rolled mild steel, not stainless. Some armourers use stainless because it's easy to care for, but I hear it's very hard to work!

I'm a rank amateur I know, and sheet-metal working is a highly skilled profession. I have the highest repect for guys like you, GAjon! I've made only one piece so far, largely with home-made tools. I've made my own "dishing stump" out of an old log, my own raising/planishing stake out of a piece of bar-stock, and I've ground down a variety of hammers into raising and dishing hammers. They're far from perfect, but new tools seem to be very expensive!

Thanks for all of the information, it's much appreciated. I can be e-mailed via my profile on here. I look forward to hearing from you. Enjoy your holiday!

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm going to try using a nibbler to cut out the shapes, and then I'll trim them down with my tin snips.

Edited by Witchfinder on Friday 27th July 21:43

[52classic]

Just wanted to second all that Green said!

In a previous life I made a living fitting 'pop-top' sunroofs with nothing more than one of these nibblers - Brilliant tool, even the drill attachment ones.

[Ireland]

We use those type of shears all the time.

We cut mild steel and stainless with them and they are brilliant ..... but only for certain jobs.

They aren't the best for really accurate stuff but are worth getting for jobs like cutting out old floors, etc.

[dilbert]

Surely it doesn't matter if the nibbler isn't very accurate? If you can cut out the basic shape then it's easier to run around neatly and accurately with snips afterwards.

[Witchfinder]

dilbert said:

Surely it doesn't matter if the nibbler isn't very accurate? If you can cut out the basic shape then it's easier to run around neatly and accurately with snips afterwards.

That's precisely what I've been doing. MUCH better than using a jigsaw. Thanks for your help everyone.

[GreenV8S]

Witchfinder said:

dilbert said:

Surely it doesn't matter if the nibbler isn't very accurate? If you can cut out the basic shape then it's easier to run around neatly and accurately with snips afterwards.

That's precisely what I've been doing. MUCH better than using a jigsaw. Thanks for your help everyone.

Don't know how finely you're trying to control the cut, but you can use a nibbler as if it was a plane to delicately take thin layers off the cut edge of the metal sheep, but holding it at an angle so that the bit is barely touching the metal. Varying the angle varies the depth of 'cut'.

[Mr2Mike]

Nibbers are brilliant tools, but it's difficult to get long straight cuts without a guide (IME anyway), and the resulting edge isn't particularly clean.

[Stig]

I've used an air tool nibbler on several cars that I've built, though the hole punch style rather than the strip cut. Brilliant bit of kit.

As far as accuracy goes, it can be as accurate as your hand is steady!