I have been looking for one of these for 200.00

http://www.zhongyang-engrg.com/catalog/hz2410-11.htm


"Gary Coffman" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 08:41:43 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:
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

Shear blades are angled, so they only engage a small amount of the
material being cut at any given instant. Thus the width of the piece
being cut doesn't affect how thick a piece it can cut.

The forces required by the brake to bend a piece do depend on
the width of the piece. So I'd expect you could bend a somewhat
thicker piece if it isn't full width. I'd proceed cautiously, though.
The limit might be in the fingers, or the piece holding them. Since
an individual finger doesn't extend full width, it will see the same
force when bending any given piece equal to or greater than its
own width.

Mine hasn't arrived yet, of course, but when it does I'm not going
to force it. At least I'm not until I get a feel for how stressed it
actually is when making a bend. It is, after all, only a 300 pound
$200 machine. You can't expect it to do the work of a heavy
industrial machine.

I did buy it with the idea of mostly cutting and forming aluminum.
I do expect it can handle a thicker piece of aluminum than it can
steel. But even so, I doubt it'll be happy shearing 11 gauge
aluminum rack panels. Not gonna force it, wouldn't be prudent.

Gary