"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
news
On 1/18/2017 8:39 AM, Howard Beel wrote:
I bought a hand held nibbler that has a 1/4" capacity (mild steel) on
ebay
back in the day when they were cheap. I made an adaptor to attach a
couple
of 1" linear bearings to the nibbler, kinda looks like a radial arm saw
setup
but for steel. I get nice cuts that with little edge distortion. I can
zip
thru
8 foot of 1/4" plate in a few minutes. Takes up a lot less room than a
wysong shear, less noisy to. When not in use it breaks down for easy
storage and takes up little room.

Best Regards
Tom.

I have a nibbler that won't get anywhere near 1/4". Just to be sure that
it's the same thing - a "nibbler" cuts by punching crescent-shaped chips,
yes?

Your setup sounds interesting - any chance of your putting up some
pictures? I thought that I had the idea until you mentioned the 8' sheet
& I don't see how that would work.

Bob


The nibbler is an ancient black & decker simular to this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-amp-De...-/271725607607

You take off the handle on the bussines end and replace it with a steel
plate that has a linear bearing
mounted on the left and right sides. I used 1" DOM that i picked out of the
scrap bin at my steel
supplier. Made 2 clamps, one clamp is placed on each end of the tubes. The
clamps are high enough
to allow the nibbler to move thru the work without any binding. You want to
use DOM with a fairley
thick wall so it won't sag if your gonna make long cuts. Sorry i don't have
any pics. Every thing is in
storage at the moment until the new shop gets built.

Best Regards
Tom.