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So I found this old Shear-in-the-weeds.....

dkmc

Diamond
And it interests me mildly. The tag says 10 BWG which is a wee bit thinner than 10 gauge USG. I'd be a lot more interested if it was 48" width not 42". I'm probably not the only guy wondering why the hell they made the width 42" and not 48". And yes, I'm going to look it over closer and 'see' if it looks feasible to install top and bottom blades that are 3" wider on each side. After that insanity moment passes, I'll have to decide if its just to odd to mess with. It'd be more or less a hobby-tinker acquisition.
 

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42 wide would allow a 36 inch wide sheet cut at 31 degrees from my rough trig..... or would allow a 36 wide sheet to be rolled in a 42 inch wide rolls at 31 degrees.
This kind of problem presented itself when I was operating a ten foot wide shear and needed to cut the ten foot side at an angle. It was not possible so we made the piece in two parts.
 
I'm totally dumb when it comes to sheet metal fabricating. But it seems when standard sheets come in 4 x 8 and 4 x 10 sizes, the first thing a guy would wanna do is get it in the 48" (minimal) or wider shear and cut blanks. Or.......get it on the CNC plasma table and do same, and/or cut out entire part. Don't have one of those......yet. Maybe someday.
 
In the old days, 36" was a very common sheet size, and a lot of equipment was made between the late1800s and the second world war that was just slightly overwidth (like 42") to work with 36" sheet.
No forklifts, and quite a bit of sheet metal work was on pretty small stuff- vents, buckets, ductwork.

I have seen, back in the seventies, several older sheet metal shops where not a single one of their tools would fit a 48" wide sheet. I once tried to buy an entire shop from a guy, all 1920s or older equipment, and it was all 36" width.
I have never seen a 48" bar folder, for example. I know they made some, but they were not common.

Also, older stuff is almost always rated for thinner stock than you would think. In an all hand operated sheet metal shop, 22 ga was often the heaviest stuff they worked with.
 
OK, I had another look. This time I remembered to take a tape measure instead of having to use a stick laid end to end, then guess the width. Model is 642, and the 'catalog number' stamped on the build plate is 6-42. I was guessing it was 42" width, but it actually measures 46......with the blades that are in it.
Now what IS interesting, is after I looked closer, the blades don't look right.....

Maybe it's visible in the pic, the bottom blade is a bit short, and there's an additional inch (at least) missing. Same for the other side. I measured across between those corners, and it looks to be about 49" !! I'm not sure why there are what appears to be 2 series of mounting holes on the blades, maybe that's required when they are flipped end for end as they appear to be 4 sided. And the top blade is short as well, with one mounting hole visible past the end of the blade that's in the machine.
I still need to get a better look and pictures of the top blade. But it would appear it MIGHT be possible to install full 49" wide blades on the machine. There are no obstructions I could see to prevent a 48" sheet from being passed between the end housings.
Now, this is getting interesting indeed.
Anyone have a source of a supplier of shear blades where they could provide me with adequate sticker shock on a price for (2) one each top and bottom ?
I also found an identical machine and write up online from 2010. Owner said he spoke with a parts supplier and they dated these series of machines as made between 1906 and 1939.
 

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And it interests me mildly. The tag says 10 BWG which is a wee bit thinner than 10 gauge USG. I'd be a lot more interested if it was 48" width not 42". I'm probably not the only guy wondering why the hell they made the width 42" and not 48". And yes, I'm going to look it over closer and 'see' if it looks feasible to install top and bottom blades that are 3" wider on each side. After that insanity moment passes, I'll have to decide if its just to odd to mess with. It'd be more or less a hobby-tinker acquisition.

That looks like an open throat shear. you can adjust the blade travel so the wide end of the blades don't pass. You can actually cut an 8' or 10' long piece lengthwise. Usually only about 15" or so wide. The power for that shear comes from a big flywheel, mine had a giant 2 phase motor with a big open gear driving the flywheel. When some knucklehead puts to thick a piece of metal in it it will stall with the blade only part way through as the flywheel only stores just so much energy. That is what the "Pipe wrench Knurl" is from, you have to turn it back to get the metal out or re shear it.
 
Pffttt........is that the best sarcastic response you can come up with??
I'm disappointed.
:confused:
When are you coming to Elmira again? Fly in to 533 for the pancake breakfast you cheapskate.
I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic.

And Why would I want to travel to Elmira with that response ?...:nutter:
 
I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic.

And Why would I want to travel to Elmira with that response ?...:nutter:

It's called sarcastic humor. Just a bit of 'ribbing'. It's in response to your 'put it back' comment which provides no useful input to this thread.
You must be one of those guys that can dish it out but can't take it I guess.
Other wise why even post a comment?
I certainly don't need your infinite wisdom to suggest I 'put it back'. I haven't taken it out yet.
 
That looks like an open throat shear. you can adjust the blade travel so the wide end of the blades don't pass. You can actually cut an 8' or 10' long piece lengthwise. Usually only about 15" or so wide. The power for that shear comes from a big flywheel, mine had a giant 2 phase motor with a big open gear driving the flywheel. When some knucklehead puts to thick a piece of metal in it it will stall with the blade only part way through as the flywheel only stores just so much energy. That is what the "Pipe wrench Knurl" is from, you have to turn it back to get the metal out or re shear it.

Yes, I've heard of being able to use an open sided shear like scissors as you say. Didn't look to see about how wide a piece could be cut off that way. Given the size, some jockey probably thought it'd cut 1/4" no problem.....then the 'Knurling' ensued.....

;)
 
I have a much more modern shear, set up and operating. If something happened, I would not spend any money to fix it, but replace it with a CNC plasma table.
 
I have a much more modern shear, set up and operating. If something happened, I would not spend any money to fix it, but replace it with a CNC plasma table.

Even for cutting 8' long .050 or .032 aluminum? I need to decide whether to fix or replace my 8' shear.
E
 








 
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