The Armour Archive

Hey, just getting started here... I made my first set of pauldrons, and can post pictures later if anyone is interested. Cutting 16ga with a set of hand shears built to do 18ga really sucks though.

Looking at a set of electric shears online, but I don't know if these are any good or not- anybody know?

Pro-Line brand
120V/60Hz, 4.0 AMP
Heavy Duty Steel Shear Head Cuts Up To 14-Gauge Mild Steel and Most Grades of Stainless To 18-Gauge
8 Feet Power Cord
Aluminum Head Swivels 360 Degrees
Variable Speed Switch 0 - 2500 RPM
Top Quality High Speed Steel Cutting Blades

Seem to be about $65 or so.

Hello,

do you have a link? I tried a quick search and could not find it. I went through a few styles and brands myself. if it the style that has the 3 "tips" middle one being the actual moving blade, there ok for straight cuts, I broke mine twice on lighter material than it bragged about being able to cut and I was not being rough or trying any curves etc.... mine was about $100 on sale and it was a "power fist". I ended up getting frusterated and bought this throatless one. It is AMAZING in my opinion, the price is not (actually I paid more than that and mine was a re-furb)

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_ ... ductID=167

Here's what I'm looking at, although I'd be more than happy to hear about other types that people would reccomend or warn me against.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4460099855&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1


...but yeah, $500 shears? Outta my league, I'm afraid- I've got a crap job, a mortage, a house that needs work, a toddler and a wife at home, and this is one of many hobbies.

yes, that is very similar to the ones I used at first. I dunno, maybe I was twisting them or somthing but I did not have any luck with them. They were rated for 14ga, and I broke the blade twice on 16ga, but then again, I think I have destroyed every Power Fist tool I ever bought, so maybe my brand was just cheap. At that price it may be worth a try?

From everything I've read, you definately want a throatless design like the Dewalt. Unless I'm mistaken, the kind in the ebay auction can't really do curves that well, if at all.

For something more affordable than the Dewalt, try the Makita JS 1600:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004 ... e&n=228013

A couple of people on the board have recommended it.

The Makita is an excellent choice. I heartily endorse it.

You could also look HF Beverly shear knock off. It represents good value for your money - especially if your armour budget is limited.

Both have their places in a shop.

I got a makita JS1600 it is awesome, and someone on here told it if you are careful it will cut 14ga.

i recomend it highly

Where did you guys buy yours?

I got my js1600 from house of tools, paid about 300$ canadian back when our dollar was worth about .65$ of yours. I just found their heavy duty one rated for 10ga and 12ga SS at a farm auction this week-end, paid 90$ for it and will need maybe 15$ in parts to restore it to perfect operating condition (needs new cord and a set of blade gap guages)

I highly recomend the Js1600, it'll do 16ga like butter, it'll do 14ga with more control and I've pushed through 13ga a few times since I didn't have anything to do the heavier stuff yet, it took some elbow grease but I got some decent cuts and didn't chip any blades. The nice thing with the Makita over the bosch and dewalts is that you have 8 pair of cutting edges per set of blades (blades are square and ground on both sides, rotate 90 degrees, when you've gone all 4 sides on the top, flip it over. Voila) NICE. The HD one has 4 cutting edges on the top blade and 8 on the bottom one. And the blades are relatively inexpensive to replace.

Cheers

fightdesigner wrote:Here's what I'm looking at, although I'd be more than happy to hear about other types that people would reccomend or warn me against.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4460099855&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

That particular one is on sale at Harbor Freight stores for $40 until May 30.

The only difference between the 2 is that HF's says Chicago, and has an orange plastic body instead of black. If you look close, you can see that the body's must have come out of the same mold.

Hm... their only somewhat infamous throatless shear is also on sale, although still for more. Wonder if that would be a better bet.

There are several people on ebay reselling HF tools at a markup, and then you add in excessive shipping charges... The electric shear would easily fit in one of the Post Office's "One Price Shipping" boxes for $8 or so, and that guy wants $25?

find some one local that would be willing to pitch. then once the tool is there make stuff or cut stuff out and sell finished product or parts. Till you have enuff profit to buy out the other persons part of the tool or just watch auctions till one comes up in your price range. Haveing a shop with hard to get tools can make a lot of people start showing up to work on stuff. put a donation can there for wear on tools and supplys Invest in Quality or replace it every few years and pay more in the long run.

well, a fellow i work with has offered to sell me a "nibbler" which resembles the power shears, but it runs on an air compressor. does anyone have any information good or bad about this type of thing. he claims it can cut steel door thickness metal, which is pretty hefty. and he's wanting to sell it cheap


what do you guys think?

From what I've heard about them, DO NOT buy a nibbler for cutting out patterns (or most anything, for that matter). If you want more info on why, refer to Sasha's guide on cutting tools on the Archives: http://www.armourarchive.org/essays/sas ... l_cutting/