Last updated on December 7, 2021
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.
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.
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.
Best straight cut tin snips
#1 Longest straight cut tin snips
Stanley FMHT73561 Fatmax straight long cut snips
- Really long cutting blade for big straight cuts.
- Comfortable to hold the grips.
- Decent lock to hold the blades closed.
- Can be tightened easily if the blades loosen over time.
#2 Option for straight cut tin snips
Irwin 21304 11-3/4-inch extra cut multi-purpose snips
- Great brand snips that will last.
- Easy to hold the handle.
- The blade length is a bit small.
Best tin snips (Single pair)
#1 Best corner cuting tin snips
Malco offset straight, left, right cut
- 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.
#2 The Irwin tin snips
Irwin Tools offset straight, left, right 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.
Best tin snip sets
#1 Best tin snips for accuracy
Bessey D15-set 3 pack aviation snip
- 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.
- It is recommended to also get a pair of long-bladed straight cut snips.
#2 Good value tin snips
Dewalt DWHT14676 3 pack aviation snip
- 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.
#3 Good DIY tin snip set
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.
#4 The Craftsman snips
Craftsman EVOLV 3 pack tin snips
- Comfortable handles.
- The safety latch stays securely locked.
- Precise alignment of cutting surfaces.
- Cuts could be a little smoother.
#5 More metal cutting 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.
#6 The ABN aviation 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.
Best seamers for folding metal
#1 Best value vise-grip pliers
Titan forge sheet metal grip locking pliers
- Good price and does the job.
- Comes with a built-in wire cutter.
- Easily bend metal on a nice line.
#2 Best quality seamers
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.
3# The Irwin vise-grip seamers
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.
#4 Cheaper hand seamer
Wiss WS3N 3 inch hand seamer
- A long handle span ensures maximum power.
- No vise locking system.
Electric drill metal shears attachment
#1 Faster cutting for corrugated roofing
Malco TSHD Turboshear impact driver 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.
#2 Malco sheet metal shears
Malco TSHD Turbo shear impact driver
- 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.
#3 Best Dewalt roofing metal 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.
#4 Best drill attachment fiber cement sheet cutter
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.
An overview to the use of tin snips
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.
For thin metal sheets
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, like aluminum, for car modification, restoration, and repair. They can also be used to shape metal components for HVAC systems.
How do you use them at home?
For DIY applications, tin snips can be used to create metal parts for furniture, fences, roofs, and gutters.
How about tough cutting jobs?
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 is much easier to use, you can visually see the difference between an off-set and standard pair by the blade, and an offset pair can cut around corners with less chance of jamming and getting stuck.
- Blade Joining Nut – The nut that holds the two 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.
Best hand tools for cutting metal
#1 Tin snips to cut straight lines fast.
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.
#1 Corner-cutting off-set tin snips.
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.
The Malco off-set tin snips offer superb quality for a great metal cutting experience.
Or get a single pack of quality off-set snips.
For craft-work and cutting sheet metal with extreme accuracy, this set of Besseyoff-set tin snips have tighter blades.
So you can expect the blades to hold strong on even tougher metals, without separating.
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.
Want to cut sheet metal faster?
Electric shears are metal cutters 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.
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.
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 tool review.
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.
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 without 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.
We’ve prepared a more detailed guide for this particular metal-cutting job. But of course, this is not the tool for major roof replacement.
2. Cutting metal studs?
The best tin snips for cutting metal studs are what is outlined in this review, the best pair of offset tin snips are what you need for cutting metal studs.
Some commercial steel wall systems have a steel top and bottom plate that is too 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.
Meanwhile, here are more manual cutting tools to use for metal.
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.
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 which makes them ideal for shaping copper artwork as well.
When not to use tin snips?
Tin snips probably aren’t the ideal choice 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.
Did you know that there are over thirty plier types that look like tin snips?
Comparing tin snips
|
Stanley FMHT73561 
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Irwin 21304 
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Bessey D15-SET 
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DeWalt DWHT14676 
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Stanley FMHT73558 
|
Craftsman Evolv3 
|
Workpro W000401A 
|
ABN Tin Aviation 
|
Malco M2003 
|
Malco M2006 
|
Malco M2007 
|
Irwin 2073212 
|
Irwin 2073113 
|
Irwin 2073211 
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict: | #1 Top straight, long cut | Best 3-piece aviation snips set | Best left cut, offset | Best right cut, offset | ||||||||||
| Material: | Forged steel | Alloy steel | Alloy steel | Cr-Mo | Cr-Mo | Cr-V | Cr-V | Steel | Alloy steel | Alloy steel | Alloy steel | Alloy steel | Alloy steel | Alloy steel |
| Tool length: | 12 inches | 9-1/2 inches | 7-14 inches | 10 inches | 10 inches | 12 inches | 10 inches | 10 inches | 10 inches | 10 inches | 10 inches | 9-1/2 inches | 9-1/2 inches | 9-1/2 inches |
| Cutting edge length: | 3 9/50 in | 3 1/8 in | 3 in | 2-3/4 in | 1-3/16 in | 3-9/50 in | 1-3/8 inches | 1-1/4 inches | 1-1/4 inches | 1-5/16 inches | 1-5/16 inches | 1-5/16 inches | ||
| Type: | Straight cut, long | Straight cut, long | Set (Straight, offset-right, offset-left) | Set (Straight, offset-right, offset-left) | Set (Straight, offset-right, offset-left) | Set (Straight, offset-right, offset-left) | Set (Straight, offset-right, offset-left) | Set (Straight, offset-right, offset-left) | Straight cut | Offset, left | Offset, right | Offset, right | Straight cut | Offset, left |
| Cutting capacity | 18 to 22 ga | 18 to 23 ga | 18 to 22 ga | 18 to 22 ga | 18 to 22 ga | 18 to 22 ga | 18 to 22 ga | 18 to 22 ga | 18 to 20 ga | 18 to 20 ga | 18 to 20 ga | 18 to 23 ga | 18 to 23 ga | 18 to 23 ga |
| Handle material: | Vinyl cushion grip | Rubber | Nickel-plated | Plastic | Vinyl cushion grip | Thermoplastic rubber | Thermoplastic rubber | Thermoplastic rubber | Thermoplastic rubber | Thermoplastic rubber | Thermoplastic rubber | Rubber | Rubber | Rubber |
Comparing hand seamers
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Titan 
|
Irwin 
|
Malco S2R 
|
Wiss WS3N 
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict: | Best value hand seamer | |||
| Material: | Cr-Mo | Alloy steel | Die cast zinc | Steel |
| Size: | 202 mm (approximately 8 inches) | 8 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches |
| Pressure adjustment: | Yes | Yes | None | None |
| Jaw capacity: | 3-1/8 in | 3-1/4 in | 3-1/4 in | |
| Handle material: | Cr-Mo | Alloy steel | Rubber | Rubber |
Comparing drill attachments
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Malco TSHD 
|
Malco TSCM 
|
Malco TSF2 
|
DeWalt DWASHRIR 
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict: | Best drill attachment | |||
| Drill requirement: | 1/4 in | 1/4 in | 1/4 in | 1/4 in |
| Application: | Metal sheets | Corrugated metal sheets | Fiber cement backer board | Sheet metal, corrugated metal sheets, asphalt shingles, vinyl siding, steel mesh, wire, cardboard, plastics and rubber |
| Cutting capacity: | 18 to 20 ga | 30 to 24 ga | 1/2 inch (.b. board) & 5/16 fiber cement plank | up to 18 ga |
| Types of cut: | Tight patterns, straight, curved, square cuts | Cross cuts, lengthwise cuts, circular, square outlet cuts | Precise arcs, straight lines, and fine trimming | Patterns, straight, curved, square cuts |
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.
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.
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