PAMR MX wrote:After a half day of adjusting it will only be ok. My sheer was almost impossible to get adjusted enough to even cut .032 alum. The sheer now works ok with some modification. It will probably be covered in a thick coating of Cosmoline oil that you are going to LOVE getting off.

1. The oil comes right off with WD-40. You need to keep a shear very well oiled to work properly in any case- whether you have a $8000 unit or a $300 unit.

2. PM me if you want some handy tips to adjust things. It takes about 5 minutes to adjust my unit for adjusting gauges...like going from .032" Al to .080" Al. The setup is easy once you get the hang of it.

Lighter gauge material will stay inside .008" runout across 28".. and .080 Al stays within .012" across 28". It is hard to get any better than that without spending like a pro IMHO.

The biggest drawback is that you have to make rounded die accessories....even 062 Al will fracture unless you use an appropriate radius.

Some guys are really proud of their investment in tooling. I have pride in what I make, not the tools I have to get there.

A lot of the time, that means some serious $$$. But having the right tool arrive from HF arrive on my doorstop for $6 in shipping is often enough to exactly meet my needs for the least cost, whether for hire or for my own projects.

I think you guys are all missing the point... For practically nothing, I got me a break and a shear. Dunno for what, but I'm damn sure gonna make something the day after it arrives that I couldn't before it arrived.

Who gives a crap if HF sucks or not. Worth the experiment for me.

I have been a mechanic or a machinist most of my life, it’s true that HF sells some junk, but then there some deals, impact sockets, large wrenches, I purchased several sets of deep 1/2 and 3/4, good stuff, Die grinders, have yet to ware out the first one, ported several sets of heads with it had it for six or seven years, they have screwdrivers made by Pittsburg Forge (made in India) blue handle, shank through handle with hex on top for a wrench, $14.00 a set, GREAT tool, nearly as good as any other I have had, including Snap On and Mac. Now I also have a set of thread chasers from Snap On/ Blue Point, brittle as glass, thier junk, a Snap on swivel head ratchet the ratchet head failed, I no longer work in a shop so I don't see the Snap On man any more, now I need to chase him down to get my expensive stuff replaced, I know how to find HF. PS. Some tools that I carry in the aircraft are Snap On , if I have to trust a tool it will be a Snap On.

Guess I dragged my feet too long. Tried to order this this Am and it has been discontinued.
Oh well
Thanks Greg
Gary

bigrenna wrote:I think you guys are all missing the point... For practically nothing, I got me a break and a shear. Dunno for what, but I'm damn sure gonna make something the day after it arrives that I couldn't before it arrived.

Who gives a crap if HF sucks or not. Worth the experiment for me.

That's the spirit.

Had access to a similar brake when I was furnishing an owner-supplied set of baffling for a rework on my first plane. Very cool what you can do with it after you play around a while.

As for HF, you can buy an entire shop of tools from HF, and the ones that bust you replace with higher quality. Makes sense to me anyway.