Harbor Freight vs. Beverly for a throatless shear

I have a "Beverly " at work when we shutter the plant in the next few months,,,, that shear will end up home,,,,,,,,,, guarnteeeeeeeeeed!

 

This is great information, have been using a borrowed beveriy shear for almost 30 years ,will send blades in after the first of year,for sharpening

 

no it wouldn't, I work at an aerospace machine shop. name, proof of citizenship and leave your cell at the front desk or you don't get in for any reason.....

 

The B-3 is a big bastard isn't it? We have a customer who uses his HF as a paper weight now and says the B-3 he bought could be used to hold down the rest of the building! At 58 pounds, it is a bugger to grind and polish too!

 

Beverly Shear Mfg - Any chance that FREEDOM promotion is still going on (or something similar)? I have saved my pennies and it took a little longer than expected but I need a B-2 and I would rather get straight form you guys.

Thanks

 

I'm a "Cheap" old man.You won't be sorry you bought the BEST !!!! TOM (Tired Old Man)

 

yeah I got pretty used to the B-1 we had at the shop I previously worked at. Although Its probably more than I need for my own shop I'm starting, i think a B-2 will suit me well. I'll buy Harbour Freight for plenty of stuff, but not something like this.

 

I just picked up a nice vintage B-2 at our company auction of surplus crap .... for $25 . Fortunately for me no one else really knew what the heck it was.
A great addition to the shop over my Chinese straight cut shears. I'm a happy guy ......

 

falcon man, I'll give ya $50 for it! you can double your money! lol

 

25 bucks is what i paid for mine b-1 at a estate sale, they did not know what it was.......the sheetmetal shops i worked at in the air force had them and that is all i would use some times.

 

I may rerun the promo in May when we start to assemble a new batch of shears. I will let you guys know.

 

I would be interested in one!!

 

Hello Everyone

I hope nobody minds me jumping in here, but I need some help with a throatless shear.

I've bought a very large and very old (1950s?) throatless shear. The makers mark is cast into the machine and rather corroded - I think it's a Besco, but I've not been able to find any information on it. I assume it's an English make. It's similar in size and design to a Beverly B-3. The main difference seems to be the clamp that holds the lower blade.

Anyway, it needs new blades and I'm trying to find out if Beverly B-3 blades will fit, or could be made to fit with a bit of machining. Would it be possible for someone on the forum with a B-3 to measure the length/width/depth of the blades and let me know what the dimensions are? Also it would be useful to know the spacing of the three attachment screws for the upper blade.

I hope there are a couple of images attached to this message, but I'm a bit new to this so it may have all gone wrong!

Cheers

Matt

 

Matt, remove the blades, and lay them out on the bench, next to a scale of some sort, (read: a ruler, preferably in inches), and photograph them....................The Beverly guy, or someone else may chime in, as they cant really tell what you have there.

Good Luck!

 

Ask machinery sales people to locate a used one. Look in your yellow pages for local industrial machine sales to find them. I bought my used Beverly through Southern Minnesota Machinery Sales several years ago. Still works like new. Some dealers don't want to fool around with small stuff so be persistant or try another dealer.

 

Hi! Thanks for the replies.

Stealthcruiser, I can't get the upper blade off the tool - I think it will have to be removed by an engineering shop. So I've measured in-situ:

Lower blade, L: 5 3/8 inch , W: 2 1/2 inch , D: 1/2 inch
Upper blade, L: 6 1/2 inch, W: 1 1/2 inch, D: 1/2 inch

The mounting holes for the upper blade are at 1, 3 1/4, and 5 3/8 inches from the handle end.

The lengths are measured on the cutting side of the blades. The length of the lower blade is the only Beverly B-3 dimension that I've found on the web and it appears to be the same.

Can anybody tell me whether the other dimensions are close to the the B-3?

John, Thanks for your reply. I don't really want to buy another shear. The tool I've got was definitely a quality item when it was made so it would be a shame to scrap it. I'm hoping that with a bit of restoration it will be good for another 50 years!

Cheers

Matt

 

Beverly Shear blades will NOT fit this machine. The hole pattern is completely different from our B-3 model.

 

Is a Hammond B3 better than a Casiotone?

 

Hi Beverly_Shear_Mfg,
Thanks for the information
Cheers, Matt

 

I have a HF Shear...it works fine for what I do, but on the first night I got it the blade chipped. I didn't pay for quality, but it has come in handy around the garage. One of these days it will see the scrapper when I get my Beverly B3. Hats off to you guys for making a quality product in the USA. Now...how about a website?!

 

Thanks guys and keep on with the innovative projects you do!

 

Whats the cost on your 10 gauge slitting shear?

 

I have bought a lot of Harbor Freight tools and have come out 95% of the time very satisfied. The other 5% I attribute to bad choices.

I have had several of my name brand corded power tools get bad cords in less than a year.

I have also worn out several Harbor Freight power tools, but I thought that the work done by them was more than I expected considering the cost.

Reciently I bought a $9.95 electric hand grinder from them. I then put their 4 1/2" cutoff wheels on. I'm tired of burning out the bearings on my good grinders.

The only complaint I have with it is the slide switch and it gets hot after a long time cutting. I will get another put up with the switch and trade off using them as it gets the job done just fine.

I have already gotten my moneys worth out of it.

Some of the high quality tools will last 3 lifetimes. Too bad you can't take them with you.

I am already at least 2/3s to 3/4s of the way thru my life and none of my kids can do much more than change oil.

After I am gone they will sell most of my tools anyway.

I would love to be able to attend my own estate sale.

.

 

i had the h.f version. then i bought the beverly..... hot damn!! that thing rules!!!

 

Me 2, I am sure the real deal is superior in many ways, but the HF version has done everything I've asked of it.

 

$353 for the SS-2