MakitaJN1601 16 Gauge Nibbler

Holy cow... I'm banging myself in the forehead.... years ago I built two steel buildings, one that is mine (2000 SF) and then helped a friend build his (3500 SF). For those two buildings we wrestled with hand shears, bled and cursed considerably- had blisters, ragged edges... lots of "close enough" cuts. This summer, another friend decided he wanted to build a shop as well, and I can't say "no" to a good project. BUT in the ebbs and flows of economic standing, I was flush enough to buy one of these for this project.Cuts like crazy, easy to control, makes beautiful curves, whacks through ribbed building sheets, and makes you look like a pro doing it. This is essential equipment. If I had known how nice this tool was, I'd have jumped through hoops to have one for the first two buildings.The only warning I can offer is be careful of the curf, this leaves "fingernail trimings" of very sharp steel in its wake, a roofing magnet made quick work of picking those up.

As the owner of a roofing company in Houston Texas. I am impressed with the nibbler. great tool for cutting metal.

Xlnt for quick rough cuts. Waaaaay faster than tin snips. Versatile. NOTE - this tool has essentially one cutting speed: quick. So unless you've set up a fence, straight cuts are going to be difficult.

I bought this to cut sheet metal siding/trim as we are putting "max-rib" (R-panel) 29 gauge siding/roofing on a large outbuilding. This nibbler is very easy to use and you will get the hang of it quickly. I advise to pull up on the tool when you are cutting, this helps with vibration/flapping of the panel. You will learn to quickly follow a line, it makes a great cut. Well worth the $270 I paid for it to make good, quick cuts.

Best nibblers on the market. I finally replaced my one from 8 years ago. This one is almost identical to my original and works just as well. We do a lot of odds and ends work with sheet metal and this definitely fits the bill.

This is a very nice and well made tool. Perhaps I've just never learned the knack, but I find the thing a bit of a beast. It just takes off and is very hard to control. I've tried clamping guides in place and a few other methods to try and get greater control of the cuts, but nothing will allow me to get really precise cuts. It does chew through work with great efficiency, so if you just need rough cuts this tool will probably work perfectly for you. If you need controlled cuts with any degree of precision, keep looking. In spite of the difficulty of control, I still find myself picking up this tool in many situations. It's useful in enough situations that you are unlikely to regret the purchase.

I bought it to cut metal mesh that goes on drywall partitions so the store can't be broken into. This machine cut it like butter. Used it all day today and it's still running. Definitely saving time on labor then using a grinder!

On occasion I work with sheet metal and there's no easy way to make a cut with a hack saw ,hand shears or saber saw. The nibbler makes a once aggravating job easy. The on off switch is a slider that dips so It will take me some getting use to but after I cut a few feet of metal that aggravation will pass. I have no idea how you could hurt yourself with a nibbler so a simple on/off switch would have worked. u-tube has a few videos in English with cutting demonstrations and on die and punch break down so don't sweat the Japanese operating instructions. The tool operates simple and is simple to disassemble to replace the punch and die head at some point down the cutting road.Had a problem with this nibbler on the second use. Apparently there was a machining burr left in the punch die housing or metal fell from some where inside the tool that locked up the punch die . The punch pin die became locked in the housing . I requested a return on the tool but since I was in the middle of a project I managed to get the housing off the punch pin and clean out the burr that locked up the tool . I re lubricated and the tool runs fine now . If anyone else had this same trouble how about a posting .