over here in australia we dont seem to have these 3 in 1 bench machines that you guys have over there, so me and a mate wanted to buy a couple in the US and have them shipped over in another mates containers that come over pretty regularly. the ones that i have seen for between $300-$500 US are only 40 inches wide. that is not wide enough to fit an uncut sheet of steel in, needs to be about 49 inches. anybody know of something that will do the job? also if you have any coments on one of these machines please share, as by the time it gets to australia it will owe us about $1000 a machine, so would like to know if they are any good thanks craig
Could be wrong but I don't ever remember seeing a combination Brake,shear/roller over here. Just saw one for the first time here. http://www.irvansmith.com/catalog2/parts/enco_3n1_shear_roll_brake.shtml
I own one of the smaller 3 in 1 units from Harbor Freight.... http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=5907 It works great... On light stuff. They say 20 gauge.. I can do 18 gauge pretty well. The shear hates stainless, and it needs adjustment to get it right. The brake is handy, as long as your piece is less than 30" wide. The roll works ok...Same width problem. But for the price? I am not bitching. I use it a lot in my shop. Jeff
We have one of the combo machines and for the light stuff it's fine.. We used it on expanded metal sheets for guards and jigs for jobs.. But we did have to buy a shear to cut the full sheets and then bought a brake to do the same width goodies.. If we would do it again we would wait to get the seperate machines and buy them used.. I know in the US we have many companys selling off goodies because of lost work.. Their is a few places on line that sell used sheet metal stuff.. Bottom line is how much you are going to use it and what width and gauge you want to use.. If I can help please let me know.
For that kind of JAKE - I'd pony up and get the REAL STUFF. I know a coupe guys that are happy with them - and a common comment amoung them is, "For the money.......they're not bad." And they have NO WHERE near invested compared to what you're talking. Any chance you can find good USED IRON here????? Doubt you'd be dissapointed.
i was hoping to get a 3 in 1 just because it would save a bit of space in my shop, which isnt very large. if i cant get a 1220mm wide sheet into the guillatine, i will have to cut it by hand so i may as well cut the whole thing by hand. all of the used machinery that i have seen over here is normally 1800mm wide which would take up WAYYYY too much space in my shop. when they say 20 gauge what thickness is that in m's? normally i work with 1mm sheet
The 3 in 1 machines you are talking about are available here. Hare and Forbes in Syd and Melb import them, as do GasWeld in SA and NSW. They are the same crap I have seen in Harbour Freight when I was in NorCal. They are chinese made, same as all the cheap lathes, hacksaws etc we get here. The 1200 wide one will set you back arround $1300. They will do .9 or 1.0 CRS or HRS, but 1.2 will give them a hemorage. Save the money and grab second hand good stuff. Put them on wheels to conserve space, or keep them outside and oil them down regular. I know what you mean about space.......my workshop is only 170 m2....don't know how I survive
Here's a good conversion chart that will get you halfway there.... http://www.engineersedge.com/gauge.htm Hope it helps... Jeff
Chinese crap...they break when you least need the problem...buy some good, old real steel stuff and you'll be much happier...there ain't no free lunch...
think i might start hitting the auctions over here and seeing whats available second hand. thanks for all your input craig
I bought one of the Harbor Freight 3 in 1 tools like the one pictured in a earlier post,,,,,from my experence they are cheap made and I thought it's not going to be used everyday,,,,right,,I used it less than a week when it failed,,,,,,using 18 gauge sheet metal,,,,poor quality ,,,,HRP
Ya' danged hot rodder! Their book says the max is 20 gauge! Did'ja take it back? My Harbor Freight guy is pretty cool about stuff that breaks. He's never hassled me, especially on their 45 day air tools.. (Oh, and their nibblers HATE stainless ) Jeff
I had one of the 30" models. For me it was pretty useless. I know some guys have them and like them, but most are using it for body gage metal. The shear doesn't do all that well even when cutting the recommended max in mild steel. (A rough rule of thumb on stainless is, about two gages lighter than the shear's stated limits. IE: mild steel max gage = 18, stainless should be 22. The bender does not bend like a regular sheet metal brake. It forces the metal into a V-shaped anvil with a V-shaped - whatever the heck you call it - upper piece. 90 degree bends come out so sharp that many times the metal - within gage limits - ruptures at the bend. Not to mention the metal is scored due to sliding inside the V-shaped anvil. The slip roller was somewhat useful, but not worth the space the machine took up. Did make a good place to hang a jacket though....
C9, Our best bender at work bends metal the same way as you described and we have encountered the same troubles as you've described. Mostly on aluminum. A few things you can do..... I think one of the pieces is called a die and the other a set. But I'm probably wrong and it doesn't matter anyway. Take two long pieces of scrap and bend them lengthwise in the brake. One at a time. You can leave one bent piece in the bottom the other piece will be fed between the top part of the bender and the material to be bent. Now when you make the bend these scraps will take the beating and decrease the severity of the bend. If you want a more rounded bend, repeat the previous steps, stacking the scraps in place as you go. You may want to put double-sided masking tape between these layers as you go. You will notice that the more pieces of scrap you bend on top of each other, the rounder the bend. Did that make sense? Also, anyone bending aluminum for simple brackets or whatever,,, 5052 bends the easiest and you want to be sure to bend against the grain. Bending with the grain weekens the bend and will most likely fracture at that point. If you look at the edge of a piece of sheered 5052, you will notice what appears like two different colors or layers of aluminum. This is how you know it's 5052 you're dealing with. I'm no technical writer so I'm sure that was just enough info to land someone in the ER.
I concur with what you are saying... Mine hates shearing little chunks of stainless. And... I was in a Harbor Freight today using the spam discount page the send me hourly for some stuff... I looked at their 30" 3-1 unit and the arms were gone off of it... Must be common. Jeff
Thanks Rashy. Interesting, but I'll probably spring for the real thing if and when.... Anyhoo, something to think about, if you are making something simple you can cut it to size with the HF air drive shears. They work pretty well. For cutting to size with hand tin snips or - preferably - with aircraft snips cut about 1/4" - 1" away from the cut line to the outside and then make a second cut right on the line. That stops the piece from getting too bent up by the snips. A little experimentation on a scrap piece will show you what's required. For real thin "cuts" like removing a 1/16" or so from the end of say a hood side panel, clamp a piece of straight 1/8" x 1 1/2" angle to it and use a 4" grinder with Pearl wheel (the many lateral flaps wheel) to bring it to the size you want. Makes an accurate and straight cut when a snip or shear would simply bend the metal over without cutting. In fact it pays to have at least 2"-3" excess when shearing. Especially if the shear is a touch worn. If you try to cut too narrow a piece, it will fold over without cutting. Another option is if you're only doing a few bends, get the piece sheared to size or shear it yourself, lay out where the bend goes and have the sheet metal shop bend it for you. Most times $10. or less will do it.
Craig, a mate of mine bought one three months ago for around $800 au. I will find out more, I know it can't do a full sheet, but has worked quite well for him. He fabbed rust repair sections for a 50 ford ute (floor, sill, pillar).
http://stores.ebay.com.au/ozmestore1 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/40-3-IN-1-SHEETMETAL-WORKING-MACHINE-NEW_W0QQitemZ7573460958QQcategoryZ105827QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem http://www.hgrindustrialsurplus.com/ More importantly hows this for an FC UTE http://www.kiwidragracing.com/multimedia/11_Dec_05/Dsc08256.jpg
Defintely Aus, was at a tool supplies (cant recall the name)... I will give him a call and get some more details. 97 thats either an FX or FJ not FC
Yeah you are right, I was not thinking straight at 2 am, it is an FX. Just another bloody old Holden . lol. It should do 7s or better this year with any luck.
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