Can I Cut Vinyl Siding With Tin Snips

Use tin snips for vertical cuts not horizontal cuts.

Can i cut vinyl siding with tin snips. Use your measuring tape to determine where you want to cut your siding and make a mark on the underside at each end. Instead of using a carpenter s square to help you cut straighter line you can guide the side of the strip of the vinyl siding along the edge of your working table. Cut along the marked line using tin snips. It s better to use tin snips when you only have to cut a few vinyl strips as opposed to many since using tin strips tends to take longer than using a circular saw.

Then place a straightedge on your siding to mark where you want to cut it. Hold the siding firmly while you cut it and close the jaws of the snipper only about 2 3 of the way on each cut. Besides making clean crosscuts tin snips are the only practical option when you need to make a curved cut to fit the siding around a vent pipe or some other obstruction. As you re cutting the siding avoid closing the blades on the tin snips all the way so you get a cleaner cut.

Keep cutting until you get all the way across the vinyl siding. With the other begin cutting through the piece of siding with a pair of tin snips. For clean cuts on the strip of the vinyl siding while cutting you shouldn t close the tin snips entirely. Because of this using tin snips to cut vinyl siding with short vertical incisions is a good idea.

Close the snips about two thirds of the way.