Hi. I’ve been wanting to buy a shrinker stretcher tool for more than a year. I feel it will help make my work easier. I enjoy sheet metal work, and I’m always playing around and experimenting with something. I’ve never used a shrinker stretcher tool before so I’m looking at entry level systems. Found this shrinker stretcher combo system by woodward fab. I wanna know if this tool will be a decent investment. I have a few questions about this particular tool, and I wanted to know if any of you guys has used it before? Did you find the jaws strong enough to shrink or stretch metal easily? It’s supposed to be used on mild steel and aluminum. How has your experience been on both these metals? Woodward Fab Model WFSS101-2 Shrinker Stretcher Combo System (2 bodies, 2 jaws and 2 handles) http://www.woodwardfab.com/product/wfss101-2/
I've never used the Woodward ones before, but I'd bet they are the same as the eastwood ones which I have used a lot. It will be a good investment, they will work great in a home shop for sure. Eastwood has them on sale right now for a bit cheaper then those ones. I would advise also getting a stand to put them on that makes them foot operated, makes them much easier to use.
Buy a Lancaster, not much difference in price, but a lot in quality! Oooops, checked prices, and there is a huge difference now, not like when I bought mine!
You need to practice the shrinker, more than the stretcher IMO. When you shrink a 90 degree flange of 18ga, you don't want to bury the metal to full jaw depth and abuse the jaws with too much force. That will chip the super brittle teeth. Practice with just the metal part way in, and you will feel how easier it goes
We are having a sale on the shrinker / stretcher set. Please visit www.woodwardfab.com to see all the different models or call us at 1-800-391-5419 if you have any questions.
I have a Woodward Fab unit. Bought many years ago, gets used often and is very handy for making patch panels.
I have a Woodward, worked great til I broke it (my fault). saw them at a show, explained my problem, guy gave me a new set of jaws. i'm happy with them.
I have a cheap HF unit and it works OK for me. I only use it for making small curved patch pieces like windshield opening corners. I only bought one so if you need to go back and forth between shrink and stretch you have to change the dies. If I used it more I would buy two of them and not have to switch. The dies get dirty with metal grit and slip so you need to clean them often. I spray some brake cleaner through them and it seems to work. Mine is bolted to the corner of a heavy fab table but a foot stand would be a good idea. If I was doing this work for a living or was much younger and looking a long way down the road I would buy the best quality I could get.
As aaggie said, buy the best one you can afford - the problem with buying cheap fab tools is that the price for them is usually close enough to the difference between cheap ones and quality tools, which you end up buying anyway. I got mine from Ron Covell and built a stand so I could use my feet, just seemed a lot easier to be in front of the jaws than behind.
you're wasting your time with any offshore one honestly. for an extra $100 or so you can get a set of lancasters.. my HF ones the pivot pins and bar wore out from being not hardened/inadequate material. assuming baileigh/woodward/eastwood will be identical. bought lancasters and they are 100x better. Buy the original, not the copy.. you'll never be mad.
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