As I’ve descended into the body portion of my restoration, it is apparent that I will need to fabricate an occasional piece here or there. It’s always good to have good tools on hand, so I picked up a new 12" shear/brake/roll press.
Hopefully it helps the process move along at a good pace.
I just got the 30" version from Eastwood. They all have the same model. I had a few tools in the garage from a buddy who was low on space, he’s now gotten them back so I went shopping! A 3-in-1 saves a lot of space.
A bend brake is a better brake, but the press brake will do just as well as long as you don’t need a very crisp corner. In auto body a slight radius at a bend is just fine. A few bends in you’ll forget there’s a difference.
The book says up to 20 ga. but I’ve used it for smaller parts (2" to 7") at 18ga just fine.
I’ve yet to use the roller. The cool thing is it’ll roll wire.
About $1,050.00 delivered, freight with lift gate.
I got the Harbor Fright version of the 30 inch about 15 years ago. Looks identical, except grey. The slip roll feature is useful when you want to make a curve or a cylinder. In fact, I think it’s the most useful part of the thing. The shear has trouble locking down the stock as it doesn’t have a separate bar to do that. And the press brake has no provision (except a flimsy device on the back) for accurately lining up where the bend is to occur. I’m not complaining, but I paid around $200.
I thought about the 30" version but at 400# and my limited shop space, I just went with the 12" version. Now if my son, who works as a foreman for a sheet metal company ever moves down here, we will certainly get a bigger and better one. He wants to start his own company if he moves here and I’ll help him get started with equipment.
