Silverback
Member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 6
Anyone have one of these? Anyone compare more than one... I'm looking for recommendations... There's a bunch of reasonably priced, what I'm guessing are imports out there and I can't seem to figure out which is the best deal/will work the best for me. The thing is that they all seem to be a very similar design, they all seem to list their specs differently (and I'd be surprised if they really are that different), and I can't seem to figure out if there is a real difference between them besides the holddown type (and if it matters) and the size of the port for cutting round stock. What's worse is that most of them seem to list their cutting capacities as different in different locations.
Intended use: mostly brackets and similar pieces out of 1/8" mild steel, I may occasionally want something a little thicker (some specify that they can cut up to 1/4" in 2.**" flat bar).
Contenders (in no particular order, in most cases I'm looking at a 12", but if it will cut heavier stock better I'll consider a shorter blade, it will be a hard sell to go smaller than an 8"):
Help! (and before someone says it, I wish I could afford a genuine made in the USA one, but they appear to go for about 4x these... that's basically the difference between having one and not)
Intended use: mostly brackets and similar pieces out of 1/8" mild steel, I may occasionally want something a little thicker (some specify that they can cut up to 1/4" in 2.**" flat bar).
Contenders (in no particular order, in most cases I'm looking at a 12", but if it will cut heavier stock better I'll consider a shorter blade, it will be a hard sell to go smaller than an 8"):
- Wodward Fab- about half way down on http://www.woodwardfab.com/sheet_metal_shearing_tools.htm the funny thing is that it lists the specs totally different on there, their ebay ad, their videos and in their instructions
- Enco- http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INLMKD&PMPXNO=953107&PMAKA=130-5700, this is where I started
- Grizzly- http://www.grizzly.com/products/T23100 this one is annoying, it looks like it has some of the best specs of the bunch, but it looks like one of the cheesiest in the pictures, and it looks like they've discontinued the 12" model
- Jet- http://www.jettools.com/us/en/p/ss-12t-bench-slitting-shear/755112K by far the most expensive of the ones that I'm considering, also the only one that seems to clearly specify that the cutting capacity is lower for the 12" model than the 8" (the enco ones seem to go up in capacity with longer blades)
- Northern Tool- this one is the only one that looks worse than the grizzly one in the pictures, but also has the best specs and the reviews all love it but list things like paint rubbing off in their hands, and a bunch of them list it as arriving bent and straightening it with a hammer, one said they shipped 3 before it was right...
Help! (and before someone says it, I wish I could afford a genuine made in the USA one, but they appear to go for about 4x these... that's basically the difference between having one and not)
