3-N-1 Metal shear, brake,roller advice

[Kernopelli]

Looking at one of these SOUTHERN-TOOL.COM: JET Combination Shear, Brake and Roll the video gives a good idea of what it's all about...
Kombinowana maszyna do obróbki blachy SBR-30N JET - YouTube and want to know if anyone has experience with one or a similar branded machine. I realize it's probably more limited than a single purpose brake,roller or shear of similar size and I don't do much with light gauge metal but I think I can probably get it for a couple hundred bucks so it seems pretty hard to pass up. 30" width and 20 gauge max. capacity according to specs but wondering if slightly thicker material can be cut/bent/rolled if you aren't using the full width? Not talking about cutting 1/4" with it or anything.....just wanting to know if this 20 gauge max. is chiseled in stone or say you could you regularly shear of bend a piece of 16g that's 6" wide without damaging anything? Also looking for any and all opinions on the unit.

 

[grsthegreat]

Looking at one of these SOUTHERN-TOOL.COM: JET Combination Shear, Brake and Roll the video gives a good idea of what it's all about...
Kombinowana maszyna do obróbki blachy SBR-30N JET - YouTube and want to know if anyone has experience with one or a similar branded machine. I realize it's probably more limited than a single purpose brake,roller or shear of similar size and I don't do much with light gauge metal but I think I can probably get it for a couple hundred bucks so it seems pretty hard to pass up. 30" width and 20 gauge max. capacity according to specs but wondering if slightly thicker material can be cut/bent/rolled if you aren't using the full width? Not talking about cutting 1/4" with it or anything.....just wanting to know if this 20 gauge max. is chiseled in stone or say you could you regularly shear of bend a piece of 16g that's 6" wide without damaging anything? Also looking for any and all opinions on the unit.

I have a dedicated roller, and the main difference in handling the thicker materials is my hand crank is geared down real low. On the one pictured it looks like its a direct feed from the hand crank to the rollers. on 20 GA metal i see no problem. On mine i can handle 12G steel, 48" wide and believe me without the gearing theres no way i could bend this stock. Now if your talking about 1 - 12" piece than maybe there would be no issues...not sure.

I was looking into these all in one units but they just couldn't handle the thickness of metals i work with. I'm in the process of reorganizing my entire shop...what a chore. But i got rid of all the center shelves and boy did that open up alot of room.

 

[TRR]

I only have experience with a stand alone shear. The thickness rating was right on. I had a piece of galvanized steel - it had a great deal of difficulty cutting it, but did ok on a piece that was not galvanized. The shear was 48" wide but only cuts about 3" at a time. As the blade comes down, the slice moves across the steel, just like a pair of scissors. As you go thicker, the length of the steel being cut gets longer so more force is required. Just like cutting thicker paper with scissors.

 

[Kays Supply]

Put it this way, if you don't want it , I do.:licking:

 

[Kernopelli]

If I decide I don't need it, I'll make you the new owner Reed.:thumbsup: I just wish it was heavier. I really like the fact it's relatively small (won't take up much of my limited shop space),multipurposed and CHEAP. I just don't do much with such light stock though, even 16g is really thin for most anything I ever mess with. Maybe I'll find that I will do more sheetmetal work if I get it? I am certain one of my boys will have an occasional use for it though. I'd just like someone to chime in and tell me they have a similar one and they have been able to reliably shear and bend small pieces of thicker stock than 20g. I suspect TRR is right on though, big piece or small, it's taking the same cut at any time so 20g is probably all she will reliably cut.

 

[dstig1]

From my experience using a shear with a 16ga max, and not using the full 24" width (but most of it), I was pulling with all my might to shear that piece of steel. And that was a well built brand name USA equipment. The lesson I took is that the max rating is probably pushing it, in reality. Maybe for very narrow pieces you could go up, but I wouldn't count on it, and you may damage something.

 

[Mace Canute]

CCWKen posted a writeup over in HSM about the modifications he made to his Harbor Freight 40" Shear, Brake and Roll Machine.

For EddyCurr and those following the 3in1 Machine mods - The Home Shop Machinist & Machinist's Workshop Magazine's BBS

 

[Danno1]

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For the roller or brake, what you said is true. Narrower peices you can bend a thicker piece of stock.

For the shear, you can go up a bit on the thickness if you use aluminum instead of steel.


.

 

[chriswheeler]

I have one. Mine is not a Jet, it is a Clarke from Tractor Supply. My understanding is most, if not all, come from the same factory in China with the tags and paint changed to whatever brand they are making this week. I'm a retired machinist, with a home shop. Machine work was poor enough that major parts had to be re-machined to be able to set the clearance on the blades of the shear. At best, after remachining the castings, it's good for 20ga for the full 30" You can shear smaller chunks of 16ga. but not much over a foot wide. The roll and press break had no issues. That said using roll or break for the full 30" is optimistic at best. If you have no way of reworking the parts at home yourself, I'd say avoid these machines at any price. Most folks can't re-machine the castings in a way that they will ever get the proper .002 clearance for the shear blades. Having a milling machine I was able to re-machine the castings and dial in the blades for a proper set up. With all of this negitive said, once re-made properly, this is a handy machine to have in my shop. I don't think a normal person will have the tools to make the changes to this tool to make it fully usefull.
Chris

 

[Brad_Blazer]

FWIW the Northern versions are on sale right now, at prices a lot better than HF. They will ship to store for free.
shear from Northern Tool + Equipment