Metal Shear Modification

[PCO6]

I've had this metal shear for a few years and always found it to be a pain in the **** to use. It has to be mounted to something to work properly. A work bench is too high to get good leverage with the handle and it's hard to come up with a lower stand that is anchored to the floor. Besides, I wanted it to be mobile.

I repurposed an old stand I had with a similar shear (same problem) and added a trailer jack to the shear. I still have a bit of welding and metal finishing to do but it now functions. I also need to paint it but it's too damn cold out. The following explanation is probably a bit more clear without paint anyway.

Shear in the "up" position ...
View media item 48934
Shear in the "down" position after a cut.
View media item 48935
Up to down takes about 5 seconds when driven by an electric impact gun cutting through about 6" of 1/8" plate. These shears will cut through 1/4" but I want to finish my welds before I try that!
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The rear of the trailer jack pivots on a 5/8" clevis pin and bracket. I welded 2 axle spring brackets to the jack and bolted the jack to the clevis. The jack is rated for 5,000 lbs. but I don't think that's that critical in this application. I cut the handle off of the jack and welded on a 5/8" coupler nut (15/16" socket).
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The front of the jack is attached to the handle by another clevis bracket. I replaced the clevis pin with a removable pin with a handle (red). If I want to hand operate the shear as originally intended I simply remove the pin.
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The whole thing is bolted to the original shear by 2 bolts through the casting. I fabricated a simple angle iron and metal plate bracket which also serves as a "table" top to put measuring tools, scribes, markers, etc. on. I should add that this picture and the next one show the 4" angle iron clamping surface that I added to the shear. It makes using it much easier. It's attached to the shear by the same 4 bolts that are use to attach the lower stationary blade.
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As well as an electric impact gun, it can be operated by an air impact gun, ratchet, Johnson bar, t-bar, etc.. I also have a steering wheel with a "necker's knob" that slips on for doing sheet metal work.
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So far it works great. I'll check back after I paint it ... and cut up some more stuff!

 

[56rpm]

Nice mod. That ain't no necker's knob, it's a brody knob!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Good job. I'll copy that.

 

[ADSR]

That's great!

 

[PCO6]

Thanks guys.

56rpm - That's the first time I've heard the term "brody knob". I've known them as a "neckers knob" for as along as I can remember. No doubt both are used for making out with your girlfriend while driving.

 

[DenisG]

Nice mod! My first inclination would have been to make a wall bracket to slide into mating ones to hold the back casters from lifting while operating the hand lever.
Are replacement blades available for those or are they as much as a new shear? I've been thinking about getting something like that or the throatless shear version.

 

[akdiesel]

PCO6

That is a great design. Never would have thought to use a jack as a leverage tool.

 

[ilovevocs]

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Trailer jack as a manual ram. Interesting. Could be made hydraulic later if wanted easily.

I'm actually most intrigued by the use of an old steering wheel for a nice rotary handle. That's very clever and gives new use to old steering wheels. I may have to hit up a junkyard to get one for projects now.

 

[PCO6]

Nice mod! My first inclination would have been to make a wall bracket to slide into mating ones to hold the back casters from lifting while operating the hand lever.
Are replacement blades available for those or are they as much as a new shear? I've been thinking about getting something like that or the throatless shear version.

DenisG - When cutting thicker metal (say 1/8") and above before adding the jack that's exactly what would happen - the rear wheels would lift a bit. This was not a problem with sheet metal. With the jack the handle is effectively about 6" long so there is no tendency for the whole thing to teeter on the front casters.

Good question re replacement blades. I'm not sure. My guess is that it could be sharpened though.

 

[PCO6]

Trailer jack as a manual ram. Interesting. Could be made hydraulic later if wanted easily.

I'm actually most intrigued by the use of an old steering wheel for a nice rotary handle. That's very clever and gives new use to old steering wheels. I may have to hit up a junkyard to get one for projects now.

Vegaman_Dan - I picked up this wheel at a flea market years ago and figured I'd eventually find a use or it. It took a while.

Trailer jacks when used on trailers don't have to move that fast. For this I wanted it to move a lot faster. The total stroke is 10" and with an electric impact gun it takes about 5 seconds when cutting metal and less than half of that when not cutting anything. Cutting off the original trailer jack handle and adding the steering wheel gives it a nice fast feel for sheet metal. The "neckers" or "brody" knob allows you to move the blade in to position quickly to cut the metal. I just need to get a better knob with a pin up in it.

 

[Kevin54]

Nice mod. That ain't no necker's knob, it's a brody knob!

I've never heard the term "necker's knob" until today, so I had to look it up. I thought maybe it was slang for "redneck" or something, but it was so you could drive while you had your arm around your girlfriend and getting ready to do a little "necking"

I know the term Brodie, but around here, everyone calls them "suicide knobs", and that is always what I have called them was a suicide knob. Dealers around here (part stores) just call them "steering wheel spinners"

I don't have any on my cars, but they are on the JD and the Cub CUT. Makes mowing a lot easier. You can't mow, listen to jams, have a cold one, with both hands on the wheel

 

[Techie1961]

Very clever! They say that lazy people come up with the best inventions and I have come up with some GOOD ones.

 

[PCO6]

... so you could drive while you had your arm around your girlfriend and getting ready to do a little "necking"

Must be a Canadian thing. We're good at that kind of stuff up here.

 

[PCO6]

Very clever! They say that lazy people come up with the best inventions and I have come up with some GOOD ones.

That's true and I take no offence to your comment.

 

[22george]

Cool idea

 

[kerrynzl]

I just inherited a metal sheer, so thanks for the idea! [plagiarism is great]

I was originally going to use a Rack and Pinion [with 1 tie-rod removed] and a "Harbor Freight" electric pipe threader to power it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-electric-pipe-threader-62203.html

apparently these pipe threaders are "the schit" for modifiying ring rollers.






now back to the debate over "Wheel spinners" [the correct term downunder]

 

[SilverSS1969]

Never used a metal shear but would a air over hydraulic jack work to? Or do you think that would put too much force on the shear arm?

Something like this.

 

[sunsation288]

Wow !!!, I like the idea , thanks for sharing picture

 

[txvwnut]

I've thought about doing the same thing with my plate shear, except I was going to use hydraulics since I'm to lazy to hold the drill motor against the drive of a trailer jack.

 

[Zeke]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A brodie knob (alternate spelling brody knob) is a knob that attaches to the steering wheel of an automobile. The knob swivels, and is intended to make steering with one hand less difficult. Brodie knobs are also known as "necker knobs", because they allow steering with one hand while necking with the passenger. One disadvantage of the knob is that after letting go of the steering wheel after going around a corner, the steering wheel spins rapidly and the knob can hit the user's forearm or elbow. Other names include suicide knob (a reference to Steve Brodie, after whom the knob is said to be named), granny knob, and steering wheel spinner.



Everyone is right!

 

[bullnerd]

Very cool!

A guy on the minibuggy site used the electric version of that jack to power his jd style tubing bender, it worked great.

 

[willymakeit]

This idea is stolen and going on mine.

 

[PCO6]

I was originally going to use a rack and pinion [with 1 tie-rod removed]

That was my original plan too but I couldn't find a suitable rack & pinion in my personal junk pile. It pained me to buy a new trailer jack but it turned out to be less expensive than sourcing used car parts.

Funny thing - what got me thinking of a rack & pinion was that I first came up with the idea of using a steering wheel. I can't honestly say the whole thing started with wanting to find a use for a "neckers knob" or "wheel spinner" as you would say.

Never used a metal shear but would a air over hydraulic jack work to? Or do you think that would put too much force on the shear arm?

An AOH jack like you showed would work but you would have to be careful in that it has a much longer stroke than what is needed. The trailer jack I used has a stroke of about 10". Any longer and you could push the blade linkage past where it is designed to go. Something would likely break.

Everyone is right!

A Garage Journal first!

 

[404]

A very nice build. Maybe consider using a non impact power tool to turn it. I expect the impact will break off something inside the jack over time.

Impact produces very high force short duration pulses, compared to lower force continuous operation like from a normal electric drill.

 

[PCO6]

404 - I plan to try it with a 1/2" drill. I just haven't cut down a 1/2" drive extension to insert into the chuck yet. The electric impact gun is working well though for the 1/8" plate that I have sheared. It drives the blade with very little effort.

 

[juiced10]

I made a snowmobile lift and used a trailer jack for the ram. Using my air impact ruined the jack in short order. I have since replaced the jack and use a drill. No problems.

 

[VOH]

PC06: any idea who's shear that is? The idea is awesome and will be put to good use on more that just this application I'm sure.

 

[PCO6]

I made a snowmobile lift and used a trailer jack for the ram. Using my air impact ruined the jack in short order. I have since replaced the jack and use a drill. No problems.

juiced10 - Can you show us your design? I'm kind of curious as to why that would happen. I would think that lifting a snowmobile would require a lot more force due to the weight and it would take longer.
An electric impact gun in this application works pretty much like an electric drill up to the point when the cutting occurs and that's over with in seconds. So far I have don't even have 5 minutes of actual cutting time on this because they happen pretty quickly. Time will tell.

 

[PCO6]

PC06: any idea who's shear that is? The idea is awesome and will be put to good use on more that just this application I'm sure.

VOH - I bought this one at Princess Auto but I know several places sell them (Harbor Freight?). The price is about $170 but they go on sale fairly often for about $110 to $125.

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/12-in-metal-hand-shear/A-p8096000e

 

[Zeke]

VOH - I bought this one at Princess Auto but I know several places sell them (Harbor Freight?). The price is about $170 but they go on sale fairly often for about $110 to $125.

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/12-in-metal-hand-shear/A-p8096000e

HF currently has the beverly type shear but not that.

 

[bullnerd]

Found the bender version I was talking about if anyone is interested.

Watch the second one first...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QvndFi6vdKI

 

[PCO6]

HF currently has the beverly type shear but not that.

Zeke - I have one of those and, although definitely not a Beverly shear, they aren't bad for the money. For those who aren't familiar with throat less shears, these are for sheet metal only.
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I'm high jacking my own thread here but if anyone wants to cut sheet metal in a long straight line this is a good type of shear to use. I've cut 16 gauge with no problem.
View media item 49038

 

[PCO6]

bullnerd - That's pretty slick ... and simple!. Thanks for posting it.

 

[bullnerd]

bullnerd - That's pretty slick ... and simple!. Thanks for posting it.

Yup, I thought it went with your idea pretty good.

 

[VOH]

Zeke - I have one of those and, although definitely not a Beverly shear, they aren't bad for the money. For those who aren't familiar with throat less shears, these are for sheet metal only.
View media item 49037
I'm high jacking my own thread here but if anyone wants to cut sheet metal in a long straight line this is a good type of shear to use. I've cut 16 gauge with no problem.
View media item 49038

What is the second picture of?

 

[PCO6]

What is the second picture of?

VOH - It's a larger version of one of these ...

http://www.stakesys.co.uk/product/sta124_sheet_metal_mini_shear/

 

[lilredex]

If you find that stand unstable when you try to make manual cuts, add a low slung under belly shelf and load it up with patio stones, welding rods or even scrap metal to keep it in place.

Here is the same shear that came from Busy Bee Tools, which is very stable, in all it weighs in around 200#. I have never cut more than 14Ga with it and these days it to tends to do more "folding" than shearing.






I also have a smaller rotary version, the pin on the drive sheared off cutting a bit of 18Ga.

This one:

http://www.busybeetools.com/products/cutter-sheet-metal-16-g.html

 

[PCO6]

lilredex - I only plan to manually cut sheet metal so stand stability shouldn't be a problem. I do plan to fill the vacant space in the stand below the shear with something though - probably a shelf with few electric shears or something similar on it. Having unused space drives me nuts.

I see the steering wheel on the side of your stand. Do you use it to drive your bead roller? I've mocked up a stand for mine and I plan to drive it with both a 1/2" electric drill and the same wheel that I have for my shear above.

 

[bullfrog123]

Hmmmmm

Brody knob
Necker Knob

Never heard of those terms. Around here they are "Knuckle Busters"!!! Used on old farm tractors with no power steering....... when you hit a rut or rock the dam steering wheel would spin like a top and "bust yo knuckles"!!!!!!!

I really like the mod you did. I have the same shear and the handle is a royal PITA with thicker than 1/16" material. I happen to have a spare jack so this might be the next project. Thanks.