Hi,

I have been following this thread with interest.

Years ago I REALLY wanted sheet metal capability in my shop. I looked
and studied and talked to alot of people about what options were
available to the home shop. I also repeatily looked at the 30" 3in1
combination machine. The wiser heads of this discussion group
continued to say that even though the Pexto/Diacro route was more
expensive and would take up more space, that these machines are built
for the long haul and are well worth the money. As I continued to
review my options, I started noticing that those who had the Asian
combination machines were either trying to sell them or had broken the
tables using them. Well, it took me awhile to take the hint but I
decided that I would rather buy the machine once instead of twice. I
went the used Diacro route and have never been happier.

I also want to thank the group for saving me from making a rather
expensive mistake.

While I think the Asian combination machine has its place, be sure
that you will be satisfied with the limitations of guage thickness
before you buy it. Over the last five years, I have seen seven of the
combination machines with broken tables. Also realize that you will
need to do the regular cleanup and mods that Asian machines require. I
believe that a contributor to this group has a very good writeup as to
what he had to do to bring an "Asian Wonder" up to his standards.

You also might want to ask yourself why Harbor Freight is closing
these machines out. More than once in the past, I have found that I
would rather have the new machine with more features/capacity that is
replacing the "closeout special".

Good luck with whatever choice you pursue,

TMT






"Keith Marshall" wrote in message .com...
It's spec'ed for 30" of 20 ga (max). Dos anybody have a feel for what
that means for heavier gauge? E.g., how big/wide of a piece of 18 ga
would it shear and/or bend? 16? Bob

I recently bought the 40" version and it's rated at 18 gauge. The shear
blade is slanted so that it "slices" across the metal sort of like scissors
or tin snips closing. In other words, the width won't really make much
difference as far as the shear is concerned. For the brake it will probably
do thicker at less width but I haven't tried it yet.

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"