just curious what the prefered brand is. I have a pair of Wiss, which I'm guessing are on the low end,wondering what you guys are using.
Your Wiss are prettygood ones...I have a hundred sets and 95 have the bolt broke,from trying to cut 16 ga C/R....[cannot buy a new one??].... I bought the HarborFreight avaitation LH cut snips and they are just as good for 7.99-dont get the "straight"cutting model...
Wiss work for me. The straight cut(yellow)**** to me in any brand. I have a red pair with the serations ground off just for aluminum.
If you're workin' with the metal at a bench or not attached to the car. Here is a liitle thing for you to try when shearin' sheet metal with aviation snips. First make a rough cut about 1/4"-3/8" away from the line that you're goin' to cut. Then do your final cut with the snips under the piece. Your hand,the shears and the curl are not in the way of your view that way. People look at me like I'm nuts when they see me do that but, it works for me. I'm right handed and tend to use the red handled Wiss most offen. Have fun,Smokey
I have the Wiss brand, red green and yellow (left, right and straight), but I found that they get dull quite easely, granted I've been cutting 50 feet a day or so, lately.
Hey Knocker, I just noticed where you are from. What is your favorite brand of snow shovel? You always get dumped on...
Been using Weiss for years. When I worked as an Iron Worker all of the sheeting guys used Weiss. Most companies bought them 50 pair at a time and most mornings found the workers with a brand new pair in their hands and another in their back pocket. Those guys forearms looked like popeye's and watch out if one of them wanted to shake hands with you. Frank
i use midwest everyday all day(hvac tech) i like em. the grip is alittle bigger than the weiss' and the head is at a more natureal angle to the work surface. but thats just my .02
I have a couple sets of Wiss. The older set has the straight (yellow) snips and like the guys say, they don't get used much. The second set has the blades cast at an angle vertically speaking. Perhaps to make it easier when shearing metal on a workbench. I find this style works very well. Along with making the first cut 1/4" or so from the finished edge as yekoms suggests, you'll find the sheet metal will not bend near the cut near as bad since you're only cutting away a narrow piece.
I've been using the Wiss yellow one's for years while my red and greens sat in the toolbox......Figured i give the red one a try since the yellow was getting dull....Wow!.....I'll never use the yellows again....Red Rules!!!!!!!
The red and green snips have the blades at an angle, and one is left hand, the other is right hand...refers to which side of the metal you cut the small edge off. I would have taken a pic of mine, but they're at the fab shop where the kids are building the robot....I've been showing them the joy of using snips to trim sheet metal parts quickly and easily. Including the 1/4" trick.
for some reason the green ones that I've had don't cut well, there is some problem with too much clearance between the blades. Or maybe I'm retarded. Anyways, I use the red snips 90% of the time.
I'm a Union Sheetmetal Worker, and most of us (around here) have started using Midwest brand snips. If you are only going to buy one pair, do yourself a favor and buy offsets. If you have to make a long cut, the offsets are well worth the extra 2 or 3 bucks, because they don't need a relief cut alongside them. In other words, with regular snips on a long cut, you would use greens in one hand and reds in the other. One cuts the line you have marked, while the other is cutting about an inch away to relieve the set thats doing the accurate work. The same way that a pair of double-cuts work, but most hand operated double-cuts aren't good for much more than 26 gauge. Klein makes good snips too, but if you have to cut any tight curves, they aren't as good as Midwest or Wiss. I had used Wiss snips for years before switching to Midwest, and the Midwest brand seems to stay sharp longer, and cut smoother. Midwest's quality control seems to be a little more reliable than Wiss too.
Looks like Midwest has a pretty good selection http://www.midwestsnips.com/aviation.html where do you buy them?
Squirrel's pic shows the Wiss snips I'm calling my older ones. The one pic below is a Sears (Midwest?) snip very similar to the angled ones I bescribed above. Mine are Wiss snips and labeled M6 and M7. The old style snips are labeled M1 and M2 fwiw. I've gotten to where I prefer the M6 & M7 snips. Some time back, Hot Rod mag I think it was, ran an article on working with sheet metal. They talked about "tuning-up" the snips. Main thing was setting the stop so the snip cutting tips met precisely and didn't go past where they should stop. I've had good luck running a stone on the broad flat side of the garage scissors to sharpen them and am guessing the same thing would work for dull snips. Stay away from running the stone on the narrow edge of scissors. You can get the angle off and they'll never get sharp. You don't have to do much stoning and in the case of tin snips a few strokes should do it.
I am a HVAC installer,I use Midwest red and green offset snips. I get less shark teeth with these than with other brands. The tinners sin, "Cutting wire with tin snips"
I use the red Wiess the most, rarely use my green ones, but I really like my 3 jaw Kleins for cutting around ducts and stuff that is allready ***embled (not flat) just drill a 1/4" hole and take out a 1/8" curl of tin. Dan
i have used wiss for years.a couple of years ago i saw and bought 90 degree snips.red and green.if i had those when i was cutting ducts for takeoffs i wouldn't have had to grow the skin back on my knuckles so much. meat hooks! they work great for patch panel holes. jim
I work as the Sales rep for one of the leading HandTool wholesalers here in New Zealand. We sell both Wiss and Midwest. I have no preference for either brand, but the following is just my experience in the marketplace. The Wiss have been 'the' snip for many years, but now the blades are manufactured in Asia, whilst the handles are manufactured in UK. As international laws state country of manufacture has to be on all components, the handles cons***ute just over 51% of the snip, they can say they are manufactured in UK. The Midwest is completely manufactured in the US In the past 3 years I would be replacing a customers Wiss snip almost every week, whilst I have not had to replace any Midwest snips. The Wiss has a slightly narrower point to the tip which the roofers and guttering guys like, but once they try the Midwest they wont go back to a Wiss. regards Ian
If anybody has access to these damned bolts that hold the jaws together on the WISS brand snips-I want to buy about a dozen please! it is a countersunk,1/4" fine threaded ,Phillips headed, grade 8 or better with a smooth shoulder at the head end.....all I can find are the hex heads,which just will not work on compound shears... Im not kidding- I have SEVERAL pair with only that wrong with them.
I have a pair made by Sandvik. I've used them since 1991 and they still work like new. The Sandvik handtool division is now Bahco. If they're half as good as mine are, they're worth having. See the link for catalog. http://www.bahco.com/us/ Bearings at all three pivot points and solid steel (Not stamped steel) handles with fibergl*** handle covers are some of the things that make these snips better than klenk or any of the others.
Have you gone through the McMaster-Carr catalog? look for their website and go through the pages. Bet you find them there. Brad
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