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Tin snips for lead flashing, trad and fancy?


epsilonGreedy

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Possibly the most boring BuildHub tool question ever.

 

Over the next few weeks I will be doing a small amount of lead sheet work i.e. soakers and stepped flashing. All the pro roofer videos I watch on YouTube feature rudimentary tin snips that look as though they were forged in the early years of the industrial revolution. However on Amazon most snips appear designed for a NASA space mission. I an inclined to buy something like this:

 

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However the market appears to prefer this style:

 

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You would only buy the dewalt type ones if you were using the snips every day, as the grip will be a little more comfortable.

The top traditional ones will be more sale for a few quid in your local "cheap diy shop" that sells Silverline or Marksman branded tools etc and will do the job

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Gilbows are the traditional tool, I.e picture 1.  Not a cheap option if they are the brand name Irwin Gilbow.

 

The others stop you pinching your fingers on a regular basis!

likewise dewalt being a recognised brand name, with cheap copies available too.

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If you’re doing this once then just use a cheap pair of kitchen scissors after scoring with a sharp Stanley knife.
 

Spending some money on the other tools will be better - you can pick up old hardwood priests and bobbins on the flea markets for not a lot of money. This sort of stuff comes up on eBay a lot too. 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-job-lot-of-vintage-lead-working-plumbers-tools-/154387956735?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

 

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4 hours ago, PeterW said:

If you’re doing this once then just use a cheap pair of kitchen scissors after scoring with a sharp Stanley knife.
 

 

I am commencing a phased project.

 

Step 1: I have built a practice 30 degree hip roof with a plan size of 1.1m x 1.3m i.e. about 4 slate rows to the ridge and 4.5 slates across. One end of the practice roof features an OSB wall abutment. I will be cutting a few soakers for this and will have a go at shaping a lead roll top ridge and hip flashings working my way up from code 3 to code 5.

 

Step 2: If step 1 is a success I will slate the roof for a single story section of the house 4.5m x 3.3m plan size. This is a larger version of the practice roof.

 

Step 3: The main house roof, 95m2 L-shaped with 3 hip ends and three chimneys emerging from the eave ends of the 3 hips. These is also 1 full valley plus another opposing shallow valley resulting from a single brick step in at the start of the smaller block of the L. The two valleys meet with a saddle at the lower ridge of the L-shaped junction. 

 

Think I will need to get a pro in for the complicated parts of the main roof.

 

 

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