Any recommendations for metal shears for tunnel mods and cutting sheet metal to fab an extension.
Metal shears
- Thread starter FriscoProx
- Start date
My number one choice is our cnc table router, followed closely by our waterjet cutter, then any of the laser cutters, then my hand plasma, and way way back is a cheapo Chicago Tools made in china $17 air body saw with a 64 tooth metal blade. Butter clean...if it's too slow go with a less number of teeth blade. You can buy a hand scraper that cleans the top and bottom of your cuts for a nice finish.
You can get the body saw at Harbor Freight and they are really nice for butchering light weight aluminum in clean straight cut paths. Blades wear out fast so buy a few replacements for your project. A trick for clean non mar cutting...mask tape of both sides of your cut path mark so the rest doesn't hammer the finish and it also keeps you on a straight edge. Also pull the cutter towards you as opposed to beside or pushing away. I also use a pretty cool air nibbler but its pretty messy and violant and requires easy to reach flat stock. Good for round angles with lots of outside throw away metal because the cut path is as big as the tools mouth.
You can get the body saw at Harbor Freight and they are really nice for butchering light weight aluminum in clean straight cut paths. Blades wear out fast so buy a few replacements for your project. A trick for clean non mar cutting...mask tape of both sides of your cut path mark so the rest doesn't hammer the finish and it also keeps you on a straight edge. Also pull the cutter towards you as opposed to beside or pushing away. I also use a pretty cool air nibbler but its pretty messy and violant and requires easy to reach flat stock. Good for round angles with lots of outside throw away metal because the cut path is as big as the tools mouth.
You can rent a plasma cuttter pretty much anywhere and it's easy.
I don't know about easy. Could have bought two mini plasma cutters for the price of the aluminum I tore up figuring out kerf's, voltage, ground position, pace, depth, and angle. Slag is not your friend and if you have the wiggles it will show!
Also he might have been referring to a shear rather then a by hand cutting tool. I bought a cheapo Grizzly 52" foot shear for the house that is great for reducing thin aluminum sheet to workable sizes. It's a complete POS for anything other then lightweight aluminum. If you want to hack up heavy stock you have to build a leverage extension for the footbar and call your fat lazy neighbor to come over and help you stomp. I think it was a gisel and darn near cost that much again to get it delivered here.
The super cool bad mutha hydrolic shear was a bit cost prohibitive for home use.
Also he might have been referring to a shear rather then a by hand cutting tool. I bought a cheapo Grizzly 52" foot shear for the house that is great for reducing thin aluminum sheet to workable sizes. It's a complete POS for anything other then lightweight aluminum. If you want to hack up heavy stock you have to build a leverage extension for the footbar and call your fat lazy neighbor to come over and help you stomp. I think it was a gisel and darn near cost that much again to get it delivered here.
The super cool bad mutha hydrolic shear was a bit cost prohibitive for home use.
B
Bullheadmoto
Member
Or have a solid understanding of what you want and know how to explain it. Draw it on paper with measurements and angles (bring pics of what it is to go on) and go find a small to medium shop. Most places are extremely cool and helpful, and lots are motorheads too.
Just remember, these places get alot of kooks looking for stupid stuff like Subaru driving greenies wanting to know if the shop can weld the burner on their coleman lantern for free because they don't want to buy a new one (witnessed that one myself!).
So just be respectful of their schedule and whats going on when you walk in their shop, listen to what they tell you, answer what they ask you, and chances are they will do it very reasonably and with a smile. In other words, go see someone like F-Bomb. That way it will be done right the first time, get done way faster, with no waste, and it look professional. Crap, it will probably cost you less in the end.
BHM
Just remember, these places get alot of kooks looking for stupid stuff like Subaru driving greenies wanting to know if the shop can weld the burner on their coleman lantern for free because they don't want to buy a new one (witnessed that one myself!).
So just be respectful of their schedule and whats going on when you walk in their shop, listen to what they tell you, answer what they ask you, and chances are they will do it very reasonably and with a smile. In other words, go see someone like F-Bomb. That way it will be done right the first time, get done way faster, with no waste, and it look professional. Crap, it will probably cost you less in the end.
BHM
don't pass up a metal cutting blade in a skill saw. add a rip guide and it does very well. I have a 50 amp plasma and for a long precise cut I prefer to use the blade/guide method. course I lack a cnc based anything.
N
Nikolai
ACCOUNT CLOSED
Trick-Tools.com has a nice Evolution metal cutting skillsaw for $150.00 + the blade. All of the inexpensive shears/breaks I've looked at aren't rated for anything thicker than .063. I'd be stoked if I could find a 48" table mounted break that could bend .080 without struggling.
I've also hand drawn the dimensions of tunnel extensions and tunnel sides and had them waterjet cut and bent locally.
I've also hand drawn the dimensions of tunnel extensions and tunnel sides and had them waterjet cut and bent locally.
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i use a nibbler but you have to doctor the edge afterwards for a smooth finish
