nibbler maina

If you're lucky, else it goes down your shirt, in your ear canals .. :-)

Problem with sheet metal nibblers is they are often overrated. If you try to use a Jet or Harbor Freight 16 gauge nibbler on 16 gauge sheet steel, it will likely break, then you have to buy new parts. But on really light stuff they're wonderful. Or if you get a really high quality tool, that would probably work too, but it would likely be expensive.

GWE

Yep, big mess of VERY sharp little bits all over the floor. They stick real good to your shoe soles, too, and then get tracked everywhere. For sheet metal that is thick enough that its hard to cut with snips, a nibbler can be pretty slick- but you need a big one to do much real work, as Grant says. I have a 14 ga Bosch Nibbler, which, almost 30 years ago, cost an ungodly amount. And it is just about adequate for 16ga galvanized. But its still work to cut much with it. After all, you are essentially punching hundreds of holes, and pushing the machine in between each one.

So yeah, they are cool, but if you are impressed by those, I hope you have your heart medication with you when you try out a plasma cutter.

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I've got the nibbler's big brother, a Gobbler by Modern Co. of Willow Springs PA. One cool machine, makes cutting steel sheet up to 1/4" like using a power siccors on paper. IIRC, new list price is about $1400. I scored one on eBay for less than 1/2 of that. Had to look a LONG time.

My wife tells me I'm having too much fun anytime I cut metal with it.

Karl