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Black and Decker Rotary Shear

Buyerz

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Nov 3, 2011
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6
I have this Black and Decker rotary shear from who knows when, and it's one of my favorite tools in sheet metal fabrication. It's flys through, can do straight lines, curves, reverse out of binds, and doesn't seem to warp the metal too bad unless you're cutting thin pieces, and doesn't throw little bits of metal all over like a nibbler does. I'm not looking forward to the day when mine gives up on me, as it feels like it's getting a little tired, I haven't ever seen one like it. I've found ones that are manual and bolt down to a table, but none like this. Do they have an inherent design flaw or are they just an obsolete tool? I haven't found that any other company have copied a design like this one.
 
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rlitman

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Oct 18, 2010
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I think they have become obsolete with the advent of carbide blades.

Rotary shears like yours still only cut at the intersection of the two blades. The same cutting action can be replicated with a much smaller blade, and having the entire circular blade is needlessly bulky. The circular blade has a longer lasting cutting surface, because the cutting is spread out over a larger area, but that's not really an issue any more with good carbide.

Look at a Bosch 1500C for comparison. The nice thing about this is that the much smaller foot can fit it a correspondingly smaller hole to do inside cuts. Still not like what I can do with a nibbler, but useful at times.
 
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neophyte

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Apr 23, 2012
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If the OP is refering to the rotary shears I think he's refering to, there was a past thread on GJ about them. Here's the thread.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302177

The Black and Decker shears were model 7975, but the shears supposedly didn't sell well, so they were discontinued.

Another company, P&P Power, was producing a shear modelled of the B&D shear, called the Ving Cutter, at they time of the last thread, but they no longer seem to be around.

The old B&D shears do turn up on ebay occasionally if you're desperate.

There are a number if manufacturers that make rotary fabric shears, but they're not quite the same thing.
 
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rlitman

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...There are a number if manufacturers that make rotary fabric shears, but they're not quite the same thing.

The rotary fabric shears that I'm familiar with have one rotating knife, and one shear blade. They work through a combination of shearing and slicing. The Black and Decker with two wheels works much the same in some materials, but I don't think the slicing action will do anything when cutting steel.

If you're using them as carpet shears, or perhaps cutting tough materials like leather or plastic (and don't have a bandsaw), then I could see where they would be a superior tool. But in sheet metal, you've really got to check out more modern shears with an up/down rather than rotary action. They too can back out easily, and do not warp the metal much (and only do so on one side).
 

rsanter

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Dec 22, 2007
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visalia ca
I used to work for B&D and I remember those tools.
They were a homeowner grade tool not a professional tool.
They did not sell very well and were discontinued.
They were good for light material only.
If I was you I would set up a search on eBay and the like for the model number and description and see if you can buy a couple more for spares or parts

Bob
 

cowboy73

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Feb 13, 2010
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Location
southern Indiana
My dad has one. They work really good for cutting metal siding like on pole barns. Dad used his on the 50x75 and 28x80 pole barns he built in the early 80s. They go for around $250 on ebay.
 
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