Wiss tin snips are hand snips for cutting sheet metal: duct, flashing, siding and trim, whether the cut is a straight run or a curve. HVAC techs, sheet metal contractors, fabricators and remodelers use them every day. The Next Generation aviation snips take about 20% less force to cut and last 60% longer than Wiss’s earlier snips. You’ll feel that by the end of a day cutting duct.
Jacob Wiss, a 30-year-old cutler and gunsmith, came to the United States from Switzerland in 1847. He opened a small shop in Newark, New Jersey, forging surgical instruments and shears. During the war years, Wiss compound-action aviation snips were a key tool for cutting aircraft sheet metal, and they became a best seller. Apex Tool Group owns the brand today and sells it as Crescent Wiss, its line of scissors and snips.
Pick the color by the direction of the cut
Every Wiss aviation snip uses compound action, and the handle color tells you which way it turns. The yellow cuts straight and follows slight curves either way. If you only buy one pair, buy the yellow. The green cuts right, from tight curves to straight, and the red cuts left the same way.
The mistake people make most is buying by the hand they write with. The color tells you which side the waste comes off. It has nothing to do with the hand holding the snip. The latch opens one-handed from either side, so any color works for a lefty or a righty. If you’re right-handed and the waste falls to your right as you cut, use the green.
Wiss also makes offset and bulldog snips, but the yellow and the green cover most of what a remodeler or a roofer cuts in a day: a straight run of drip edge, a curve around a vent pipe, a notch in step flashing.
Why the Next Generation snips cut easier
The hand savings come from the jaws. Cutting force is spread across them instead of loading up one spot, and that gives a better cut and longer blade life. The blades are precision-cast molybdenum with CNC-ground serrations. Because the serrations are uniform, they hold the sheet so it doesn’t slide out of the bite, and the edge comes out cleaner. A spring action opens the jaws for fast feed, and a free-float design extends the life of the pivot bolt. The non-slip grips are a single material, so they wipe clean, and each handle has a hang hole. The jaws open wide, so a smaller hand has to reach for the full squeeze. Wiss rates the serration process to cut up to 8 miles of steel.
Stay within 18 gauge
The standard and offset aviation snips are rated for low-carbon rolled steel up to 18 gauge. That handles duct, flashing, drip edge and trim coil with room to spare, including the light-gauge trim and flashing that goes around the steel roofs on so many Montana shops and houses. Broken tips almost always come from pushing a snip past that rating, into stainless, heavy angle or a notch in framing stock. Anything heavier needs a bench shear, a nibbler or a cutoff saw, not hand snips.
Crescent warrants its hand tools, Wiss snips included, against manufacturing defects for the lifetime of the original purchaser, and it pays shipping on a free replacement.
Tin snips, pattern snips and scissors
The Wiss line goes beyond the colored aviation snips. There’s a 9-inch straight aviation snip, a 12-1/2-inch straight tin snip for long straight cuts in thin stock, and a 13-inch combination pattern snip that cuts straight and gentle curves. For household cutting, Wiss makes 10-inch and 7-inch titanium-coated scissors and a 4-inch single-ring all-purpose shear. Aviation snips can leave a small kink along a long finish edge in flashing, so make that cut with the straight tin snip or a double-cut shear.
Wiss snips at a glance
| Snip | Cuts | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 9-3/4 in. yellow aviation snip | Straight, slight curves either way | The one pair to own |
| 9-3/4 in. green aviation snip | Right, tight curves to straight | Curves and cutouts |
| 9 in. straight aviation snip | Straight | A shorter, handier straight cut |
| 12-1/2 in. straight tin snip | Long straight cuts in thin stock | Flat, kink-free finish edges |
| 13 in. combination pattern snip | Straight and gentle curves | Duct and pattern work |
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a Wiss tin snip and an aviation snip?
A tin snip has long blades and no compound linkage, so each squeeze takes a long bite and the cut stays straight and flat. That’s what you want on a long run of thin sheet. An aviation snip uses compound leverage to multiply your grip. It handles curves and heavier stock up to its gauge rating, but it takes shorter bites. The 13-inch combination pattern snip sits between the two, cutting straight and gentle curves.
How do you sharpen Wiss aviation snips?
Leave the flat inside faces alone. The CNC-ground serrations there hold the sheet in the bite, and filing them flat lets the metal skate out of the jaws. If the edge is rolled or nicked, touch up only the outer bevel with a fine file or diamond hone, using light, even strokes at the factory angle. Keeping your cuts within the 18-gauge rating matters more than sharpening, because a tip that’s been sprung on heavy stock won’t hone back true.
Where are Wiss snips and scissors made?
Wiss has made shears and snips since Jacob Wiss opened his Newark shop in 1847. The company started in Newark, New Jersey. It launched a scissor factory there and installed its first power drop-forging hammers in 1906.
Ready to Get Started?
Our tool specialists can help you find the right Wiss products for your project.