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Aviation shears (aka compound-action snips or tin snips) come in three cutting styles - straight cutting, left cutting and right cutting. I plan to work with roofing corrugated steel and have no idea in advance what cuts exactly I'll have to do. Buying all three styles seems an overkill.

I guess straight cutting won't be very versatile if I have to make some tight curve cut, so I have to choose between left cutting and right cutting.

Which style do I choose if I have to choose exactly one style without knowing the exact cutting patterns in advance?

FreeMan
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sharptooth
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1 Answers1

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Right snips are the most often used and it is possible to use only them, but if you want a neat and professional finish I would advise getting both right- and left-cutting, considering they are not that expensive for a decent set.

If you are a beginner with corrugated it may be worth getting offset snips if you're planning on cutting the length of sheets. If you are only doing penetrations or trimming corners etc. non-offset ones are the easiest to learn.

Niall C.
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UNECS
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