Tell me the best way to cut Hardware cloth!

[Hawkeye95]

Seriously, because I just used a little clipper and clipped through every little square and I'm ready to

!! Please tell me there is a better way to do this! BTW-- I even tried using the Dremel tool with the flat vibrating cutter-- It worked --sort of, but I nearly ruined the blade. It's my DH's and he doesn't know I did that...

I was just going crazy snipping one square at a time.

 

[tsmith1499]

A good pair of tin snips is like useing scissors. That's what I use.

 

[notiones]

I'll second tsmith1499. I cut a bunch over the weekend with a pair of tin snips and it was easy as could be.

 

[nickie]

My husband is an electrician, don't tell him I raided his tool bag... I used his fancy shmancy wire cutter things. I tried tin snips, but they just sort of crimped it instead of cutting.

 

[ll]

I used some kind of sharp metal cutter that my DH had in the garage -
with gloves.
One square at a time.
The whole darn thing.
Gloves helped, without them = blisters.
Good luck

 

[Chinchilla2]

Tin snips or a pair of heavy duty pruning shears work. I actually use a pair of paramedic shears I picked up years ago. They go through it just like butter.

 

[ChickEngineer]

I just rolled it out on the driveway, put some bricks to hold it down. Used a heavy duty pair of tinsnips, which may be your problem?

 

[jgaepi]

Aviation, angled snips work really well. About $18.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Looks like I'll be using tin snips, then! Thanks! I tried to get out the tin snips that my DH just bought this summer and he saw me and told me NO. So either I need to buy my own, or sneak his pair out... Does it ruin them? Yeah, I was using wire cutters that I use for bailing wire on my hay bales. And it must be getting dull, because not only was it slow-- each square at a time, but I was having to twist the plier cutters back and forth to cut thru it! I'm getting ready to cut a whole lot more wire this week and I knew I could not continue on this way. It took me FOREVER.

 

[Nonny]

I haven't yet cut into my roll of hardware cloth since I'm still early days in building our coop, but when I was putting up a temporary fence of chicken wire I just used an old pair of secateurs and they worked really well.

Definitely use good hardwearing gloves and weigh it down with bricks (or a helper!) - wire is a pain to work with at the best of times!