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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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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 01:42 |
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