....and their proper use. I've been using tin snips off and on for going on 30 years now, and after watching this video learned a thing or two of how I've been doing things wrong...
.....as you cut the "filings" will fill up the teeth on the snips. Back when I did ceiling work I got many nice pairs of snips that were thrown away simply because they would not cut. I'd pick them up, run my finger/thumb through the teeth and they would be like new. I hardly ever had to buy a new pair. Nice video by the way.
You got that right Alvin, thought that was my own discovery. Whenever I cut, I run my thumb over the jaws and a few times if I'm making a long cut. And, same as you, they cut like new. I always credited it to the fact that there is a little oil left on the jaw by my thumb and that was why they cut so nice afterward. I still use my first set of Malco snips that I got the first day of my apprenticeship. The boss took me with him to G. W. Berkheimer's when he was picking up a furnace and fittings that morning. He filled up a cardboard box with what tools I would need and said he'd take a little out of each pay envelope till they were paid for. I stopped at the local Sears & Roebuck store in Downers Grove that evening and got a tin box to keep them in. Still got the box and the original tools also. I have added some Wiss snipps and other stuff over the years: http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/160048749/large
Ken- again, thanks for linking to a tool; y'all have some good equipment! (I'm still looking for the MBX wheel to be (that can be) modified for a bench grinder- something called the 'Berry Amendment' gets in the way sometimes with one of my parts sources ordering one to try out)
Recently -in my particular situation- those electric shears wouldn't have worked due to the radius of the cut out on an fender panel. They'd have been awful nice, but a set of offset left-hand snips did the trick. I do need to watch this video again to make sure it was actually 'left-hand' snips that I used...
Had one of these on the truck that belonged to the boss when I was in the trade. My partner used it all the time, I found that when cutting only a few holes, by the time he ran the colds and such, it was dang near as fast to use the hand tools. http://www.boschtools.com/Products/Tools/Pages/BoschProductDetail.aspx?pid=1500c The drill motors converted to shears always seemed kind of clumsy to me. Might be ok for a straight cut but the geometry always felt off when cutting shapes.
I have the drill motor type like Ken. Use it for many things on these trucks. It turns corners okay, but when I really need a tight radius, I just get out the old Beverly Shear. That is really about the best tool for cutting sheetmetal (sizes less than 3 feet square). That Bosch unit looks interesting. If I didnt have this issue covered so well, I would look into that.
Denny, Kett makes a shear like Bosch. I bought a used one on eBay several years ago, but its not very often that we use it. I prefer the Kett over the Bosch because so much of the Bosch stuff is made in China these days. Even when you look around at Bosch stuff in Germany, it says made in PRC. Something that I am really proud of is a Fein nibbler that I bought used on eBay. It is like new at 1/3 of the cost of a new one. And it puts our old Miketa nibblers to shame.
I don't doubt that Ken, bout everything we find today is made in the Chin dynasty. Gotta remember, I served my apprenticeship '68-'72 forty years ago when Bosch was the Cadillac of tools, also when Cadillac meant quality.
I use a nibbler once in a while cut they make for a lot of waste and more clean up along the cut. Think the only nibbler that I've got now is one of those cheap twenty dollar pneumatic ones from HF, you know, the one that jams up every time you use it.
Those throatless shears are good for bench work, I'd like to have one, but then again, I'd like to have one of everything. Wouldn't mind having a nice Pexto bead roller with all the dies, an eight foot finger brake, a good four foot shear, a four foot slip roll. If I still had room in the corner I'd add a Rotex rotary hand punch and a Roper-Whitney notcher. But after cutting sheet metal by hand for years, it's my favorite way of shaping a sheet metal part when I'm in a hurr. A good set of Wiss pattern snips and my Bull snips satisfy's my needs most of the time.
I use a system of 1.5 inch holes in strategic legs of tables that use 2 inch legs with 5/32 width, as sort of a telescoping tubing system to allow for all of my bench tools to be interchangeable in these holes all over the shop. The throatless shear sits in a holding area where all of my bench tools sit when not being used. When I need a paint shaker, I put it in a hole, tighten it down, and use it. Same for the shear, extra bench vise, bench grinder, porta band saw, drycut saw, anvil, 4 stage grip cage, whatever I need at the time, I just go get and put in the appropriate hole.
This way, I have versatility in a small area. The Beverly Shear is one of the mainstays. When I am in sheetmetal mode, its the GO TO tool. Its as handy as that Makita grinder thats hanging on the welding bench. Most people just use their tools. I am obsessive when it comes to organizing them for small shop operation. Too cheap to buy stuff I may not use.
Now that's one good idea Deve, usually you're much to finicky for me but using a universal mount on anything that is small enough for an old man to carry from the holding area to the bench really appeals to me. My first 20 x 20 garage was much to small even though I did build a Pitts special in it, then came the 45 x 42 Hanger at the airport and soon it only had room for the Pitts some new machines for the machine shop and the Wagabond, so now I'm into a 42 x 80 building and it's still to small, yep, ya never have enough room. dg
I've outgrown my shop a long time, but I'm gonna make the best of the space I have for the few years I'll be able to supervise truck maintenance. I built a rack for pneumatic tools that we use every day out of angle iron with holes in them.
Zoom in. There are three holes across the front (corresponding to the legs). The rack where other things that go there is above the bench. Lots of the other stuff I mentioned is in other holes in the shop. I use a 3/8" plate with 1.5" (x6 inches w/ 5/32 walls) square tube for attaching everything. Thats just one bench. I have six others around the shop and some carts with that hole receiver and bolts for tightening.
Also Thanks for the picture. I have a POS Harbor freight bar from some 24" squeeze clamps I know how to use now. Should work good for my vice grip storage rack.
THAT is a nice clamp cart Denny. You can never get enough clamps.
My bench is bolted to the floor and perfectly level. The left side with the tracks in it enable me to clamp things to the table. It really is all about proper clamping.
