cropped Banging Toolbox
Menu
  • Home
    • Latest content
  • Tools
    • Tool guides
      • Power tools
        • Different types of saws
        • How to use a circular saw
        • Miter saw vs Table saw
        • Circular Saw vs Miter saw
        • Brad nailer vs. Finishing nailer
        • How to change a circular saw blade
        • 6 vs 8 Inch bench grinder
        • How to use an angle grinder
        • Jigsaw vs Circular saw
      • Hand tools
        • How to use a hand planer
        • How to sharpen chisels
        • How to use a laser level
    • All tool reviews
    • Full tool lists
    • Power tools
      • Wood
        • Dremel engraver
          • Dremel Engraver bits
        • Thickness planer
          • Dewalt thickness planers
        • Cabinet table saw
        • Portable table saw
        • Oscillating tool
        • Belt sander
        • Finger sander
        • Detail sander
        • Finishing sander
        • Jigsaw tool
        • Miter saw
        • Biscuit joiner
        • Circular saw
        • Electric planer
        • Wood router
        • Heat gun
        • Square hole drill bits
      • Metal
        • Bench grinder
        • Chop saw
        • Angle grinder
        • Nibbler tool
        • Electric metal shears
        • Reciprocating saw
        • Brazing torch
        • Portable oxy acetylene torch kit
    • Air tools
      • Portable air compressor
      • Air nibbler
      • Air orbital palm sander
      • Air brad nailer
      • Air finishing nailer
    • Hand tools
      • Framing hammer
        • Stilletto framing hammer
        • Estwing framing hammer
      • Tool belt
      • Wood chisel sets
      • Carving chisel sets
      • Woodworking apron
      • Clamps
      • Tin snips (+ Electric shears)
      • Manual hand drill
      • Ball peen hammers
    • Measuring
      • Laser level
      • Laser measure
      • Stud finder
    • Tool storage
      • Rolling tool bag
      • Tool backpack
    • Landscaping tools
      • Cordless chainsaw
      • Wood splitting axes
      • String trimmers
      • Gas chainsaw
      • Alaskan mill
    • Wear
      • Heated Socks
  • Cordless
    • Wood
      • Cordless multi-tool
      • Cordless dremel engraver
      • Cordless miter saw
      • Cordless circular saw
      • Cordless wood planer
      • Cordless wood router
      • Orbital palm sander
      • Cordless finishing sander
      • Cordless file sander
      • Cordless jigsaw
      • Cordless heat gun
    • Metal
      • Cordless impact wrench
        • 1/2 impact socket sets
        • 3/8 impact socket sets
        • Impact socket set [Combo kits]
      • Cordless angle grinder
      • Cordless nibbler + Drill attachment
      • Cordless metal shears
      • Drill attachment electric shears
      • Drill bits
    • Fixing tools
      • Cordless drill
      • Cordless impact wrenchs
      • Cordless biscuit joiner
      • Finishing nailer
      • Brad nailer
    • Landscaping
      • Cordless chainsaw
      • Cordless line trimmer
    • Jobsite radio
  • DIY
    • Building guides
      • Metal
        • Cut metal without power tools
        • How to cut metal roofing
        • 6 vs 8 Inch bench grinder
      • Concrete
        • How to sand concrete
      • Joinary
        • How to mount a TV
        • How to fix a jamming door
      • Painting
        • How to remove paint
    • Landscaping
      • How to level ground
      • How to cut & trim trees
      • Sharpen lawn mower blades
    • Woodwork
      • Build a table straight from a tree
      • How to cut perfect circles
      • How to cut a square hole
    • Craft & art ideas
      • How to make copper art
  • Design
    • Tiny house
      • How to design a tiny house
      • What height to put a door handle
    • Products
      • Window fan
      • Drafting chair
      • Portable home safe
      • Keyless door locks
      • Portable TV stand
      • Ceiling TV mount
      • Longest Tv wall mount
      • Motorized ceiling TV mount
      • Fireplace TV mount
    • When to replace your roof
  • Blog
    • Tool yarns
      • Dewalt vs Makita
      • Makita vs Milwaukee
      • Dewalt or Milwaukee
    • Woodworking projects to sell
    • Productive ideas to do at home
    • Increase your property value
  • Classes
  • Contact
    • About
Menu
Best Tin Snips Reivew

Best tin snips | Straight cut Stanley & Bessey or Malco snips?

Posted on June 8, 2019September 30, 2020 by Aaron Barnett
Share Email Tweet Share
    Banging Toolbox is a reader-supported website, approved purchases may earn a small commission. Learn more.

Checked and updated on September 30, 2020 by Aaron Barnett

Author intro

The best tin snips or aviation snips are designed with what’s known as an 0ff-set blade, this stops the metal cutters from jamming during a cut. Expect to find this in both Standley, Malco, and Bessey tin snips. Make sure to have both a pair of long straight cutting snips, for fast straight cutting, and a pair of either left or right-handed corner snips.

Tin snips are safe, cheap, accurate, and easy for beginners to use, but they are not very fast cutting for big jobs. You should think instead about getting electric shears or better a sheet metal nibbler if you want to cut metal more quickly for big jobs.

Table Of Contents show
Best straight cut tin snips
Best tin snip set
Best tin snips (Single pair)
Best seamers
Best electric drill metal shears attachment
Introduction
Best hand tools for cutting metal
Want to cut sheet metal faster?
Electric metal cutting shears
Popular metal cutting jobs done with tin snips
When to actually use tin snips?
Conclusion

Best straight cut tin snips

#1 Longest straight cut tin snips

Stanley FMHT73561 Fatmax straight long cut snips

Stanley Long Cut Straight Tin Snips

    • Really long cutting blade for big straight cuts
    • Comfortable to hold grips
    • Decent lock to hold the blades closed
    • Can be tightened easily if the blades loosen over time
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#2 Best straight cut tin snips

Irwin 21304 11-3/4-inch extra cut multi-purpose snips

IRWIN Tools Aviation Snips Straight Cut 1

  • Great brand snips will last
  • Easy to hold the handle
  • Blade length is a bit small
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

Best tin snip set

#1 Best Bessey tin snips

Bessey D15-set 3 pack aviation snip

Bessey D15 SET 3 Pack Aviation Snip e1559959608731

    • Easy to use in tight spots
    • Recommend for copper art, or any intricate metal cutting jobs as the small blades are easy to work with
    • Cuts through most materials efficiently
    • Produces very clean and smooth cuts
    • High-quality tin snips that will last a long time
    • Can be smaller than expected, For flashings, it is recommended to also get a pair of long-bladed straight cut snips.
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#2 Best Dewalt tin snips

Dewalt DWHT14676 3 pack aviation snip

Dewalt DWHT14676 3 Pack Aviation Snip e1559959646999

  • Versatile enough for use with everything from plastic to aluminum
  • Versatile enough for use with everything from plastic to aluminum
  • Slim design
  • Prone to rust buildup
  •  They tend to lose their edge quickly
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#3 Best Stanley Fatmax tin snips

Stanley FMHT73558 Fatmax 3 pack tin snips

Stanley FMHT73558 FatMax 3 Pack Tin Snips

  • Stays sharp for a long time
  • An excellent choice for cutting flat sheet metal
  • Nice locking mechanism
  • Not suitable for extremely tough materials
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#4 Best Craftsman snips

Craftsman EVOLV 3 pack tin snips

Craftsman Evolv3 Pack Tin Snips

  • Comfortable handles
  • Safety latch stays securely locked
  • Precise alignment of cutting surfaces
  • Cuts could be a little smoother
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#5 Best metal cutting snips

WORKPRO W000401A 3 pack tin snips

WORKPRO W000401A 3 Pack Tin Snips

  • Good performance for the price
  • Reasonably smooth cuts
  • Decent build quality
  • Not the best for cutting tight corners
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#6 Best ABN aviation snips

ABN tin aviation 3 pack tin snips

ABN Tin Aviation 3 Pack Tin Snips

  • Blades are sharp
  • Blades tend to dull quickly
  • There is a bit too much flex between the blades
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

Best tin snips (Single pair)

#1 Best Malco tin snips

Malco offset straight, left, right cut

Malco Bulldog Right Cut Offset Aviation Snip Left Right And Straight

  • Makes straight and angled cuts equally well
  • Hardened alloy steel blades provide long life
  • Easy to maneuver with a variety of materials
  • High-quality nips that will last a long time
  • The ergonomic handle ensures longer cuts and easy handling
RIGHT CUT STRAIGHT CUT LEFT CUT

#2 Best Irwin tin snips

Irwin Tools offset straight, left, right cut

  • IRWIN Tools Aviation Snips Left Right And Straight Cut
  • Compound cutting action cuts through metal efficiently
  • Textured grips for a more secure grip
  • Has an easy close latch for safe handling
  • Resistant to twisting
RIGHT CUT STRAIGHT CUT LEFT CUT

Best seamers

#1 Best Vise-grip pliers

Titan forge sheet metal grip locking pliers

Titan Forge Sheet Metal Grip Locking Pliers

  • Powerful steel jaw
  • Good price
  • Comes with a built-in wire cutter
  • Easily bend metal on a nice line
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

2# Best Vise-grip seamers

Irwin vise-grip original locking sheet

IRWIN VISE GRIP Original Locking Sheet

  •  
  • As durable as the best Irwin vise grips
  • Useful for welding panels together
  • A cheap tool to buy
  • Flat plates could be a bit bigger
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#3 Best Malco seamers

Malco s2r seamer

MALCO S2R Seamer

  •   Comfortable contoured handles
  • Much better thumb lock than other sheet metal tools
  • Good build
  • A bit expensive, for a tool you might not use that often
  • Small plates
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#4 Best hand seamer

Wiss WS3N 3 inch hand seamer

Wiss WS3N 3 Inch Hand Seamer

  • Long handle span ensures maximum power
  • No vise locking system
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

Best electric drill metal shears attachment

#1 Best metal cutting shears for corrugated iron

Malco TSHD Turboshear impact driver metal cutting shear

Malco TSCM Corrugated Metal Cutting Shear

  • Designed specifically for cutting straight and around corners on corrugated iron
  • Effectively navigates tight patterns and even makes square cuts
  • Turns any power drill impact driver into a heavy-duty electric shear
  • A cheaper alternative to a nibbler and faster than tin-snips
  • Cuts aren’t %100 clean
CHECK CURRENT PRICE GET A SECOND PRICE

#2 Best Malco metal shears

Malco TSHD Turbo shear impact driver

Malco TSHD Turboshear Impact Driver Metal Cutting Shear

  •   Great for general metal cutting jobs
  •   Replaceable blades
  • Fast cutting
  • Cheap and clean cutting for general sheet metal cutting jobs
  • For corrugated iron get the model specifically designed for metal roofing.
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#3 Best Dewalt roofing metal shears

Dewalt DWASHRIR impact driver shears

DEWALT DWASHRIR Impact Driver Shears

  •  
  • Could be used in place of most tin snips
  • Works equally well with impact drills and regular drills
  • Can be used for curved as well as straight cuts 
  • Cutting jaws do not open very wide
  • Warps the metal a bit
  • Not as effective as the Malco shears
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

#4 Best drill attachment fiber cement sheet cutter

Malco TSF2 Turboshear fiber-cement backer board shear

Malco TSF2 TurboShear Fiber Cement Backer Board Shear

  •  Made specifically to cut fiber cement boards
  • Fast and easy way to cut fiber cement sheets
  • Safe with minimal dust compared to an angle grinder
  • Cheap tool for what it does for you
  • Made for cutting unseen edges
CHECK CURRENT PRICE

Introduction

Tin snips are hand-operated shears that look like long-handled scissors with short, sharp blades. They are made of stronger metal than most scissors so that they can cut through some pretty tough materials.  Tin snips aren’t only limited to cutting tin–they can also be used to cut anything from plastic and cardboard to rubber, and even sheet metal.

Tin snips are typically used for cutting and trimming thin metal sheets to specific measurements. They can also be used to cut out shapes from sheet metal, making them useful for metalworking and home DIY projects.

Tin snips are commonly used for cutting and trimming metal for car modification, restoration, and repair. They can also be used to shape metal components for HVAC systems. For DIY applications, tin snips can be used to create metal parts for furniture, fences, roofs, and gutters.

Some tin snips are designed for cutting through heavier metal materials such as wire mesh or netting. For really tough materials, straight pattern tin snips–often referred to as aviation snips–are preferable due to their serrated blades and more robust construction.

Aviation snip features

  • Off-Set – A pair of offset tin snips are much easier to use, you can visually see the difference between and off-set and standard pair by the blade, and offset pair can cut around corners with less chance of jamming and getting stuck.
  • Blade Joining Nut – The nut that holds the to blades together should have something in place to stop it loosening, but at the same time, lets you tighten it up as maintenance if you need to.
  • Straight left or right cut. Green colored tin snips are known as right cut snips, red-handled aviation snips are for cutting left corners, and straight cutting tin snips are yellow for cutting straight lines.

Comparing short and long nose straight cut tinsnips

Best hand tools for cutting metal

Straight cut tin snips can cut through metal quickly and efficiently. They are especially useful at making straight cuts, and they don’t cause dimpling in the material being cut. The cuts you can achieve with straight cut tin snips are pretty smooth, making them excellent choices for finishing work.

Some straight cut tin snip blades are too long and bend out of place and then stop cutting. So keep in mind that a pair of straight-cut tins snips with a longer blade inst necessarily better, unless you are cutting something like thin tin or plastic.

Cut straight lines fast.

Stanley Long Cut Straight Tin Snips

CHECK CURRENT PRICE

Corner cut tin snips are better suited for shaping and corner work. Coppersmiths and custom metalworkers often use corner cut tin snips in conjunction with straight cut tin snips for precision work and cutting out intricate shapes in metal.

But better known as a pair or left or right-handed tin snips. If the color of the tool is green this indicated a right-hand pair. And red indicates a pair for cutting corners to the left. You can still cut straight lines with either pair.

Get a pack of off-set snips for cutting corners.

Bessey D15 SET 3 Pack Aviation Snip e1559959608731

CHECK CURRENT PRICE

On a budget? Get only a single pair of off-set snips.

Malco M2007 MAX2000 Bulldog Right Cut Offset Aviation Snip

RIGHT CUT

Seamers really do come in handy.

Seamers are primarily intended for bending light gauge sheet metal. They can also be used to make cuts into sheet metal with the addition of a cutting blade.

Keep in mind that you will lose a bit of functionality when using a seamer in this manner. Furthermore, you risk breaking the tool if it is bent beyond the normal limit. Seamers are best used for bending metal tabs in a tidy fashion, most used for making up flashing details.

Titan Forge Sheet Metal Grip Locking Pliers

CHECK CURRENT PRICE

Roofers Hand Seamer

Want to cut sheet metal faster?

Electric shears are a metal cutter that can come as dedicated tools or as drill bit attachments. They can cut through metal pretty quickly, and allow you to cut straight lines much more easily as compared to tin snips or nibblers.

Electric shears like the Malco Turbo shears are also ideally suited for cutting roofing material hidden under ridges. Important to know that there are 2 different metal cutting attachments made by Malco, a standard pair for sheet metal cutting and a dedicated pair for cutting corrugated iron.

Malco even does an attachment for cutting fiber cement sheets, if you are a builder you might not know about this and it could be a handy tool to have.

Malco Metal Roofing Corrugated Metal Cutting TurboShear TSCM

Electric metal cutting shears

Electric shears are useful tools for making faster straight cuts into sheet metal. They are often presented as a more efficient alternative to tin snips, enabling users to cut through corrugated metal with minimal effort.

There are dedicated electric shears power tools like the popular cordless Milwaukee option, or you could also purchase a metal shear attachment for your impact driver instead, as a more cost-effective option.

Check out the Malco TSHD Turboshear that could take the place of most nibblers or tin sniping jobs when it comes to cutting corrugated iron.

Electric shears for cutting metal roofing

CHECK CURRENT PRICE

Is a dedicated electric nibbler a more consistent cutter?

Electric nibblers can cut through metal in the same way as a hand nibbler, but they are much more effective for roofing jobs as they are a power-driven tool.

They do cost more, so you might want to hold off on buying one unless you have to do a lot of metal cutting work. Even with electric nibblers, it is necessary to finish up with tin snips for corners and detailed areas.

Click here to read my nibbler review.

Makita JN1601 16 Gauge Nibbler 5 Amps

Here’s a cheaper DIY alternative

If you have an impact driver, you could get a nibbler attachment that expands its capabilities and allows you to use it to cut through metal sheets in a similar way that a nibbler does.

Nibbler attachments are a good option as they are much cheaper and do the same job as a dedicated nibbler, however, they are good if you only have to do occasional and a small amount of metal cutting work. For trade use they are under-powered.

A nibbler drill attachment can pair well with an electric shear. You can use an electric shear to cut the bulk of the straight cuts, and then use this nibbler drill attachment to cut around steep corners.

The CaNibbler is a good option for this.

CaNibble Professional Nibbler Drill Attachment Kit

Popular metal cutting jobs done with tin snips

Tin snips are best suited for metalworkers and DIY’ers that want to make accurate cuts. Even though snips are relatively cheap tools, they can make clean and precisely-controlled cuts that even costlier devices would have difficulty doing.

One of the best uses of tin snips is to clean up edges that you first cut with a nibbler. For example, you can quickly cut roofing material to about half an inch longer than the intended length or width.

After installing the roof, you can then trim the excess with a good pair of tin snips if it is a visible and seen cut edge.

Tin snips are also useful for cutting large pieces of sheet metal. For this purpose, however, you should make sure that the sheet is large enough so that you can twist the off-cut away and keep the snips on a straight path with-out the blade jamming.

1. Cutting metal roofing

The best tin snips for cutting metal roofing are the same as what’s above in this review, tin snips that are off-set are less likely to get jammed when cutting, and are also less likely to have the blades stretch apart.

But for cutting metal roofing have a look at the electric shears tool that is pretty much just electric-powered tin snips.

Cutting flashing with a pair of straight cut tin snips

2. Cutting metal studs?

The best tin snips for cutting metal studs are what is outlined in this review, the best pair of off-set tin snips are what you need for cutting metal studs. Some commercial steel wall systems have a steel top and bottom plate that is to thick for tin snips, so for thicker metal-cutting jobs, have a read of my  angle grinder reviews. 

Another idea is to bulk cut the metal studs using a metal chop saw  as it can be faster.

Irwin Tin snips

3. Making metal art

Creating copper wall art is a process that requires precision and a steady hand. Tin snips can be useful for cutting out shapes precisely, making them especially suitable for copper work. As with highly intricate metalwork, you will get better results by using a straight cut pair of tin snips in addition to left- or right-handed snips for cutting corners.

In some cases, you might be able to make more precise cuts into copper with a good pair of hand nibblers. Some copper workers find that they can get the best results by alternating between tin snip and hand nibblers.

Copper Fish Art

When to actually use tin snips?

Tin snips are the best options when you need a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to cut metal roofing materials, they are also very easy and safe to use and make an accurate cut with. For most roofing work, it would be best to have a straight-cutting pair of snips, as well as a left-handed or right-handed pair, depending on your preferences.

Having these options will allow you to perform a wider variety of jobs, from straight to corner cuts.

Tin snips allow you to make precisely controlled cuts. These tools are ideally suited for cutting edges of corrugated iron that will be visible after the project is completed. Other tasks that tin snips can handle effectively are cutting galvanized steel and plastic flashings.

They are also useful for cutting stainless steel–if the material is thin enough–and for intricate copper work. Tin snips cut copper like butter as copper is soft this makes them ideal for shaping copper artwork as well.

When not to use tin snips.

Tin snips probably aren’t the ideal choices when you need to cut excessively thick material. Trying to cut material that is thicker than the snips are capable of will likely cause the blades to separate, resulting in rough or uneven cuts.

You could experience similar issues with tin snips that have excessively long blades without the ability to re-tighten them. Cheaper tin snips can give you even more trouble, due to weak blades that tend to bend outwards and not cut into the material at all.

Most tin snips–particularly those of the cheaper variety–will suffer from this problem eventually, so it is always better to pay a little more money for a robust model that will give you longer service.

Although you could use tin snips to cut through fairly thin corrugated metal roofing, the work is often slow and difficult. Depending on how thick the material is, you might be better off using a hand nibbler or electric shears.

Tin snips in roofers apron

Conclusion

Tin snips are a must-have tool in your toolbox really. They are versatile enough to cut through a variety of materials, from plastic and cardboard to even stainless steel and copper. They are also the cheapest metal cutting option, and you could easily afford to have two or three different snips on hand for various tasks.

If you do a lot of metal roofing, for instance, an electric nibbler will let you cut through roofing materials more quickly. Even so, you might still want to have a pair of tin snips around for finishing work.

Malco Max2000 Snips Video

How helpful was this?

Click to rate it!

Glad to hear this helped you! Please dont forget to follow Banging Toolbox on

Facebook or Pinterest

Feedback required:

Sounds like this can be improved for the next reader.

Please share how this article can be improved?

Share Tweet Share Share Share Email
Aaron Barnett at BangingToolbox
Aaron Barnett

My name is Aaron, and welcome to Bangingtoolbox.

As a qualified builder and DIY’er, my goal with Banging Toolbox is to provide the #1 building and DIY resource on the internet for my readers.

I’m here to show people how to start DIY, and to help qualified professionals take building to the next level.

Feel free to have a look around, and don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, you can find out more about me here.

Subscribe
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
guest
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Banging Toolbox footer logo

Don’t be the best builder, be the informed DIY’er, and build on your own goddamn projects.

Find out more

Go-after real-tool-analysis:
 
Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow View
 

Building guides Tool guides Read the blog Ask for help?

 

 

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Complaints and Returns
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Safety

Office number: (323) 553 5452
Support: [email protected]

DMCA.com Protection Status

Copyright © 2021 by Banging Toolbox
wpDiscuz

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy