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Harbor Freight~30 in. Capacity Shear, Press Brake, and Slip Roll
G’day maties! I have a new tool to share with y’all! This is the Harbor Freight 30″ shear,press brake and slip roll. My husband bought this for me for my birthday! It will cut up to a 30″ sheet of 20 gauge sheet metal once cleaned meticulously, greased and adjusted correctly. Then notice on the sides I have mounted the shrinker/stretcher from HF! I’ll post more on those later;)
NOTE: I used the 20% off online coupon to knock 20% off the 399.oo suggested price. There’s never no need to pay the full advertised price for most things as HF;)
The machine does need to be taken apart as far as you dare to clean it and lubricate! It comes with a light coating which is sticky. Don’t expect this thing to work right out of the box!!! The machine must weigh over 200lbs! I made a stand for it out of some left over material. I feel it’s worth taking time to make it comfortable to work with and I do plan to keep on modifying the stand for additional storage for Allen wrenches and just other necessary things.
http://www.harborfreight.com/30-inch-shear-press-brake-and-slip-roll-5907.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/metal-shrinkerstretcher-set-68897.html
The brake portion is composed of different width plates held in by Allen screws and the long plate to hold the brake pieces in place. All one has to do is loosen the screws and slide out the plates not wanted at the time, or all can be left in for a long Brake.
The slip roll I thought I’d never use, but I have found it to be greatly useful and one will see later in the pictures. I do plan to order another initiator arm for the other side to have equal distribution of cutting. The tool does need maintenance, cleaning, re-adjusting from time to time and has a few quirks, but nothing which can’t be overcame!
Here, I’ve used every aspect of my setup, the slip roll made the curved pieces out of 22 gauge, and the flat panel was made of 20 gauge. Notice the bends in the front piece along the firewall, that was done by the stretcher/shrinker, both are necessary! 😉
This is an air nibbler also from HF which is another valuable sheet metal tool!!
Here I’m still working on a cowl for my TR6. Oh, I forgot, but a pair of left and right handed metal cutters are necessary to have on hand!
A good supply of cardboard really comes in handy for making templates or giving an idea of how to go about fabricating something.
This was just checking the fit under the hood, but is not finished by any means!
I’ll be adding more onto to this blog as I get more acquainted with the tool. As I’ve progressed in life, Fun has a new meaning! I love this machine and has served me well in a short time allowing me to make things I could not have made!
If one should have any questions, please write, I’ll be glad to help!
dne’ 😉
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admin - Posted in "My Tools" Blog Posts
Feb, 25, 2016
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Congrats on your birthday. What a great present. I think the stand you guys made is awesome, sturdy, wont crack.
I was looking at this shear/break/roller on HF and reading the reviews and found this Lady that was good enough to post pictures. There was no contact info other than Dne’ Houston Tx. , a couple of days searching the internet and here you are, ha ha.
I would like to know more about the stand you built for this, maybe some dimensions? Is there anything you would have done differently? Are you happy with the locations of the shrinker and stretcher? I know nothing much about working sheet metal other than the welding but I’m getting one of these soon to customize a golf cart (I plan on turning it into a pickup truck for around the ranch and building it to look old time starting with a ’38 Desoto grill.)
Ernest, thank you for your response to my blog, I’ll contact you soon! dne’ 😉
I have been considering buying one of these, I have read mixed reviews but you seem to like it. How has it been in the long term??
Hi! I must admit I had my doubts about it as with anything from HF. But this ‘machine’ is very heavy, and upon packing, unpacking I should say, the machine really needs to be taken apart, cleaned thoroughly to remove the sticky whatever crap, adjusted using the “instructions” and using good common sense as well in adjusting it. I think many good people think it’s ready to go to work right out of the box, I assure you it is not! I’ve had good luck, an occasional bad cut happens now and then. I believe a second lever would help (I think the Northern tool model comes with two levers), but I never got around to ordering a second one. This would help engage the cut evenly and more forcibly. During the Harvey flood, mine was submerged for 2 weeks and I still haven’t gotten around to cleaning it:( If you do purchase one, be sure to use a 20% off coupon, get it from the local HF so you can inspect it. The HF loader used a forklift to load it in my vehicle. It comes in a heavy wooden crate, so you need a prybar to remove the lid. It’s covered in sticky goo which again indicates cleaning it meticulously for good operation. I removed all screws and ran a tap through each hole to remove casting material. I hope this helps you, it has been a great tool so far, but you and I know may vary~ remember it traveled a long way to get here too! 😉 In the long run you asked? this is the kind of tool in my shop which I used once to fabricate a transmission tunnel for my TR6, after that, it was used infrequently. If you use it everyday and use it many hours, adjustments and greasing would be essential to its longevity.
dne’ 😉
Nice write up. Unfortunately 22 gauge is a non starter for my old car projects, way too thin, gotta have at minimum 20 gauge. Lots of complaints that this machine can’t handle 20 gauge steel in the widths needed for most projects. 18 gauge, don’t even think about it.
Thankyou for sharing specification and capacity level related to shear press brake and slip roll.