Subject: 30" sheetmetal machine question

From: "Curtis W. Mead" <[email-masked]>
Date: 19 Sep 1996 02:03:09 GMT

hey-
Is there anyone out there with experience with a 30" combination sheetmetal
machine, shear,brake and roll.  One of the used machinery dealers i talked
to today said they are junk because they don't roll evenly , the won't bend
a crisp 90 degree, and they roll the edge when they shear.  Can they really
be that bad?  Is $415 a good price for an enco?  
-- 
Curtis W. Mead
[email-masked]
http://top.monad.net/~cwmead

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From: Doug Von Gausig <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 08:54:21 -0700

Curtis W. Mead wrote:
> 
> hey-
> Is there anyone out there with experience with a 30" combination
> sheetmetal machine, shear,brake and roll.  One of the used machinery
> dealers i talked to today said they are junk because they don't roll
> evenly , the won't bend a crisp 90 degree, and they roll the edge when
> they shear.  Can they really be that bad?  Is $415 a good price for an
> enco?
> --
> Curtis W. Mead
> [email-masked]
I have one, in addition to the real thing in each case. They're OK in a
pinch, but aren't suitable for production use. Each function (shear,
brake, roll) is a bit substandard, but OK for the occasional need.
They're also difficult to adjust and slow to use.

You get what you pay for - and remember that a 30" shear alone, even a
used one, will run you well over $1000, and a 12" brake costs $700 new.

Doug
Look Ma! Custom Etching
http://www.tucson.com/clarkdale/lookma

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From: andy popky <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 20:36:29 -0400

it is little high for scrap metal

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From: [email-masked] (James Wilkins)
Date: 19 Sep 1996 19:35:00 GMT

> be that bad?  Is $415 a good price for an enco?  

They need a lot of adjustment but the sheetmetal worker who showed me how
to use one didn't have much trouble. Mine will slice office paper cleanly
(after stoning the blades and about half an hour of fiddling with it.)
There is an adjustable brace on the back of the shear to control blade
deflection for cutting "heavy" stock. Better models have a big square bar
back there. 

The square cutting guide is a joke but it makes a good clamp for a 6"
ruler. The hold-down is worthless except as a finger guard. Use wood and C
clamps. 

The male bending dies are not well made. The upper die holder on mine had
been factory shimmed to attempt to center the upper dies in the lower die.
It was still off and wouldn't bend a good corner until fixed. 

Better models have separate female die sections. Mine is from Central
Machinery and the female die is just the upper edge of the blade holder.
The design does lend itself to modifications and home-made male dies made
>from  scrap plate stock. 

The shop guy spent a while playing with the rolls before getting good
results. Apparently even professional machines are hard to set up.
Gingery's sheet metal book says that the pro's still use hand methods for
small jobs to save set-up time. 

One possible advantage of the 3-in-1 type is that both the shear and the
brake are open ended. You could trim a rough cut edge off a very long
piece of sheet metal, then hem it. 

I would have a real shear and finger brake if they weren't each twice as
expensive second hand as this one was almost new. (The first owner was
shearing something abrasive and the blade wouldn't hold up.)