Question what kind of metal shear should we buy?

[netsol]

i want to buy a metal sher to cut brass and other metal plate, assuming covid will one dy end, and my. engraving/awards business will begin (no one ever thought of me as a cock-eyed optimist!)

we will want to cut down to fairly small sizes (the size on a plate on an award)

question: what style shear:

perfect world, something like this?

https://allentown.craigslist.org/tls/d/fleetwood-niagara-foot-shear/7244707247.html

something like this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VEVOR-Manu...491289922f1a09a12c8c|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2334524

harbor freight has a 36" shear with a BLADE STYLE like the niagra, ( i have nightmares about buying a blade with a cutting edge from harbor freight, although, in general i am a big fan, for tools that are rarely used

SO, THE QUESTION IS:

smaller pieces will be hard to cut, without bending and distorting the brass. which style will work out better,
a blade that hinges at one end, or one that simply moves straight up and down, contacting the entire width of the brass at once. we will build a table round the sher, do the metal is supported evenly, like we did with our daige laminators we use for mounting

 

[unclebun]

I don't think the one you linked from ebay would be very easy to use for brass award plates. There's no table to hold things flat. I've used a stomp shear in the past, but it was only a little more than 24" wide. I'd wonder about the accuracy of that old 6 footer on Craigslist. The awards companies have tabletop shear units specifically for cutting the brass plates in the sizes they sell.

 

[netsol]

unclebun

i only linked to that one to show the blade style

granger has some, with that style.

harbor has one with 2 handles, but the blade comes straight down

which type would be more forgiving?

either type we fabricate a lead in panel, so the whole sheet is supported

 

[GB2]

I believe they make quality products at AccuCutter and they have a line of shears designed for small scale awards type work. Here is a link:

http://www.accucutter.com/Overview.htm

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

That ebay one would be crap. I tried one of those and it was horrible and ended up throwing it away.

 

[CanuckSigns]

I believe they make quality products at AccuCutter and they have a line of shears designed for small scale awards type work. Here is a link:

http://www.accucutter.com/Overview.htm

As someone in the awards and engraving industry as well, get the accucutter, when we started we went through cheap shears like underwear, they suck and cutting small pieces square or straight.

The accucutter has a built in hold down that works great, ours gets used all the time to cut everything from plastic, card stock, aluminum, brass and even stainless steel up to 0.030" thick.

You can also use it to cut down decals into individuals if you like.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

It kind of depends on how small of things you plan to do. You may be better off with both styles. We had a stomp shear and replaced it with a hydraulic one last year. The blade lasts about forever when you just use it on soft metals. Most can be flipped and each edge used. The stomp shear would be tough to work with a bunch of tiny cuts

 

[CanuckSigns]

It kind of depends on how small of things you plan to do. You may be better off with both styles. We had a stomp shear and replaced it with a hydraulic one last year. The blade lasts about forever when you just use it on soft metals. Most can be flipped and each edge used. The stomp shear would be tough to work with a bunch of tiny cuts

Most of the plates in the awards industry are around 3"x1" and a large shear is pretty useless for this. The edges all need to be nice and burr free.

 

[netsol]

thanks, everyone!
accucutter sounds like the way to go

we stil.provide tech support for some machine shop customers & they all say niagra, but if i wanted to cut diamond plate, i already know how to do that