I would like some bench shears, however, I am not seeing what I’d
like.
I am thinking of something more like the older guillotine paper
cutters. I’ve looked for some and even bought one off ebay and it
didn’t stand up to the 22 gauge copper I was trying to cut. It pulled
apart. I am still considering attaching the components to and new
hardwood block. I’ve also looked at ones at the standard jewelry
suppliers and they seem short/small. I don’t understand how they can
cut a 12" sheet (or larger) in half. They show rollers so I am
assuming you move it through in 4" to 6" chunks but it makes me
wonder how you can get a straight line.
I’d like to hear input on these types of shears. I also would the
economy shears from contenti be adequate for a small shop?
There is another shear down the page which may be more in line with
what you are looking for. The one I purchased is in the middle
section, the 8" and has worked quiet well, anything that is rated for
1/8 steel will cut thicker silver/copper/aluminum/stainless
steel/gold than I am likely to purchase or make. I created a leaf on
the left side which holds my work square to the blade from old
counter top. It has worked very well for my needs and has yet to need
sharpening. Part of the reason for getting the 8 inch is that it is
moved on occasion.
I bought a knock off from another vendor because the expensive Swiss
one is very highly rated.
The one I bought had problems caused by poor assembly quality
control- this may not be a universal problem. I fixed it rather than
send it back. You may find my comments on this tool in the archives.
It will not cut 8 inch wide-- shears are described by the shear
blade length and this is not all useable. cuts 6 inches wide ok. I
built a feed table like available for the Profiform to cut thin
strips. This works on thinner metals-- most tools are a bit overrated
in advertisements as to cutting capacity. The sheared edge on thinner
stock is acceptable to me – maybe not to all. A sheared edge will
show a very little deformation on the top side. Mine does, maybe the
Profiform does better?? Peter Rowe apparently has the real thing and
likes it. I have two of the paper cutter type an 8 inch and a 12
inch rated.
They are strong but the 12 inch is a bit heavy. I have added simple
infeed tables (on the fixed blade side) used as outfeed tables to cut
square and fixed width pieces. These can cut wider stock than the
blade length by slipping the stock after the first cut.
I bought an 8" bench shear, brand “Shop Fox” off of ebay for about
100 us. I believe the stated capacity is to cut up to 1/4 inch
ferrous. I only use it for silver, and it handles my needs with
ease. I have cut 10 ga. many times.
The footprint of the shear is less than a square foot, though it is
"tall" when you consider the handle sticking up. Drawbacks: there is
no “guide” to hold the metal straight, it is up to you to do that;
the metal “curls” a bit as it is cut.
I see that Harbor Freight is running a sale on their sheet metal
fabrication unit #34104-OVGA. Price was 249.99, now 99.99! It has an
18 inch width and 18 gage capacity-and that would be for mild steel.
I have not seen it and have no further info.
Dr. Mac: in the Puget Sound area where it blew big time, but being
that this is the Pacific side I guess it was a typhoon not a
hurricane.
Don’t believe Harbor frieght when they tell you what gauge any of
their products can handle. I have one of their 30" straight shears
that is also supposed to handle 18ga mild steel ( I work on large
projects). This thing is literally a poor copy of a $1,500.00 Dixon
shear (I mean they USED a Dixon for the actual molds) The
instruction sheets were photo copies of the Dixon manual with the
name not quite whited out.
Anyway, on a good day, I maybe can get it to cut 20 ga copper for a
few inches, usuallly I can get it to handel 22 ga brass and silver
okay (except for long thin cuts) and this is a straight shear not
the rotory unit you mentioned. I would think that with the rotory
you should expect a realistic working limit of 24Ga.