could someone suggest some other ways of having thin sheet metal cut- other than laser cutting? this is quite expensive.
i want something a little thicker than thick art foil; the only other option ive heard of is acid cutting, and i want something a little more eco friendly.
i want it to have smooth edges.
are there any other options- i dont mind if its silver or gold coloured- but it will be large- about 2 x 4′, and hand cutting is not an option, as its so intricate.
i live in london, but can travel or pay by post.
thank you.
thanks- its a complex illustration- so cutting out with shears or even a knife- not an option!
Water cutting sounds like what you might need 
Try looking at http://www.grswaterjet.co.uk/ - I have had dealing with this company and I know that they do take on bespoke projects but I don’t really know what the cost would be.
They use a high pressure jet of water to cut the material, which gives a smooth edge without damaging the enviroment, and if you are London based, they aren’t too far away in Peterborough
You can cut it with an angle grinder.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_grinder
I dont know if this is possible, but try contacting some alloy wheel companys, as I think they use high pressure water jets to cut with?
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cutting shears? give a measurement for the thickness.
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Go to the hardware store and buy a tin shears. You have to draw a line where you want the cut and follow it but the shears will cost about 8 pounds while a laser is about a half million if you buy it!
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Water cutting sounds like what you might need
Try looking at http://www.grswaterjet.co.uk/ - I have had dealing with this company and I know that they do take on bespoke projects but I don’t really know what the cost would be.
They use a high pressure jet of water to cut the material, which gives a smooth edge without damaging the enviroment, and if you are London based, they aren’t too far away in Peterborough
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Personal experience
They make shears (scissors) and sell at Hardware store. You get smooth edges by grinding, polishing
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The best one, and one that i am currently using in school, in my tech ed class, is a squaring sheer. The holdest thickness you can cut is 15 or 16, but not even our teacher can cut that thickness because you nees alot of le muscle (nobody in our school could do it either.) Squaring sheers create no pollution, and gives you the best and most smooth cut. I believe the widest piece of sheetmetal you can cut is 36 inches. This only takes a couple seconds!
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school does help!
oh, if you want a perfect cut, don’t listen to the other people above tin shears and cutting shears leave jagged edges and is dosn’t cut perfect, this is compared to the squaring sheer which cuts it perfectly, and straight, with no jagged edges…IT’S JUST PERFECT!
The only other viable solution for intricate metal work would be a plasma cutter. I know a local metal shop in my area that makes very cool work for mailboxes and other applications, and they use a CNC Plasma Cutter. You might look in to buying a home-size CNC Plasma Cutter, especially if you do a fair amount of metal work, as the cost of buying one for your home far outweighs the cost of going in to a shop every time.
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http://www.google.com/search?q=cnc+plasma+cutter
machine shops or die shops are beginning to transition to precision water cutting, hard to believe but these machines spray out the water at such forces to penetrate most alloys. my dads shop current uses dies that use copper wire to cut prototypes for the military. I’m sure you could find at shop in your area, most are low key and under advertised. plus water cutting is Eco safe.
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Plasma probably is to hot, but they do have water jet and air jet machines that can cut intricate details in various thickness metals. Do you know the specific gage of the metal? I know of a small shop that has a plasma cutting table that is 4 foot by 4 foot and is computer guided. I’m not sure how thin it will cut but the computer can adjust for different thickness.
I’ll find his web site and post it.
Hope this helps. Christopher
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If the material can be supported, then it could be cut on std CNC equipment.
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If its that thin a sharp pair of shears will cut through it in minuets.
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