My sheetmetal supervisor is looking to buy one for his personal shop and was wondering about the quality. We had a pro-former, which was junk and we don't want to make the same mistake twice. Here's the link. http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0479/images/0
I've been through their shop in Springfield, MO and it almost seemed like Harbor Freight here. A lot of their stuff seemed of a rather cheap quality, but they may have some good stuff. It's been a few years since I was there, so I can't remember exactly. Maybe someone has some experience with it.
I have there 48" Finger brake and 48" Jump sheer. I don't think I'd put them in the Harbor Freight catagory. I'm pleased enough with what I get out of both pieces when I use them. I am in no way a high production sheet metal shop. You do half to get used to the way they turn out parts. The sheer has a Good blade and edge but I did take the drop/hold bar over to the Mill and level out the pads so it holds the sheet from walking. I also re-drilled the bolt holes for the side guide bars so they were perfictly square with the blade. That was 5 years ago and it still works fine. The Finger brake is as it was when new and makes a nice edge, is adjustable for thickness or small radieus. I use them both a lot for a Hobbiest and don't know how I got along before I bought them. Very pleased with both Tools. The Wizzard
The manual was printed in Taiwan, that may be a hint? I have an $800, 400lb asian paperweight of a brake in my garage, broke in half first time I used it.
I, have one of the 48 inch 16 gauge finger brakes. The biggest problem I have is the clamp wanting to move backwards during heavy bends. I have been looking for the best way to correct it and am open to suggestions from other owners.The other problem is the bending capacity might be exagerated slightly. I think 18 gauge would probably be a better estimate and that would probably take sampson to do the full width. pool
I remember some of the stuff being kind of cheaply made, but those were floor models that had been toyed with who knows how many times. I'm sure some of their stuff is great. Just like everything else out there, it has a flaw somewhere.
I also have the 48" finger brake. PISTNBROKE AND POOL summed it up. For Me not being a prod shop it works great. Bending a 48" long piece of 16 ga wouldnt be a good idea. FEDER
That's the problem we had with the pro-former brake. The line moves as you clamp it down. The accuracy ****s.
That looks like a nice unit for the home shop. I have a 48" 16 Ga pan and box brake: http://www.grizzly.com/products/G5769 and a 52" 16 Ga foot shear: http://www.grizzly.com/products/G5772 that got I in a trade. Although they were used, they have worked fine for me and are a lifesaver for fabbing sheetmetal. I use them a lot and they work well but when you are up to their full capacity of 16 Ga and full width they need two people to make them work. As with all Tiawan and Chinese tools they need to be adjusted and set-up to for them to work properly. Use some common sense with them and they work fine.
thats not just a standard finger brake, looks like you can remove the lower fingers i'll call them, that option comes in real handy sometimes, havent seen one like that in 30 years sence i left trade school. would i buy it, i'd have to have a close look and try bending a long 16 ga part, i have a 4ft 15 ton press brake but a hand brake i'd use almost every day, that said i have started plans to build my own 6ft 16ga finger brake, now that i have seen this brake i'll change my plans to have removeable lower fingers. i have more time then money. i'll add this, one of the main reasons a hand brake fails is not being set up for the material thickness being bent, with your part clamped in you should have one and a half material thicknesses between the front edge of the fingers and the front edge of the clamping table.
I'd like to see your plans when finished, so I can build a good brake, instead of the Chinese junk I bought.
I have this one,,,http://www.grizzly.com/products/G5769,,, and it does everything I need it to do. I bought a harbor freight POS and it lasted about a month before it broke! HRP
Grizzly's largest warehouse is just up the road from us in Williamsport,PA. I have one of their wood planers and am satisfied with it. Lookibng over their tools, I think they're the upper end of the Chinese quality spectrum. Pretty heavily made, not perfect. On the other hand,there just doesn't seem to be an alternative other than totally top of the line pro. I think you'd be decently satisfied with the Grizzly stuff.
Mine is also the 48 inch Grizzly pan and box brake . Its a pretty good unit up to 18 guage material. I also have their 52 inch shear. I'm happy with both. I only use them occasionally, so I may not be the best person to ask.
hey Root its the same quality as the pro former you have we have the grizzly modle and we have had to weld braces on the fingers and also replace several parts on it since we got it Brant
I have alot of there stuff,48" finger brake, corner notcher, slip roller been real happy with all of it.
Actually I linked that wrong. The one at the top of the page is the one we are looking at. http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2007/Main/578
Here's one that we are looking at from Enco. They are offering free freight on this bad boy. http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=130-5234&PMPXNO=954122&PARTPG=INLMK3
both look about the same. just figure that it will only do 14 gauge nice. mine says 16 gauge but does not give a real sharp corner. but does great with 18 gauge.
Never owned a Grizzly tool but it sure looks a lot like some of the so called US built machines. Remember they can be ***embled in the US and be called US made. I had a Pexto shear that broke 2x. I have also seen some pics of a new Pexto shear on some web sites that the quality was poor to say the least. In this world where we want to buy American the problem is the MFG's sell out and use all foriegn components and then sell it to us for 2x the cost and it is the same product with a different color and the all important USA sticker on it. Not that this is what Pexto is doing but there is a Co that sells US shears that are identical to that Grizzly shear down to the last bolt and it is 2x the cost. Made in the USA does not mean the same thing it did 50 years ago. It now means made here with all foriegn parts at a higher cost. Wish it wasn't true but most of the time it is. Problem is the web and Ebay has exposed us to resources that we never had before where we can now expose these problems. Hard decision. I just question the guys who said there machine broke?? They have a gaurantee so what was Grizzly's answer to your failure??
Go for the Enco, thats a good price with the free freight included, unless you can find a smokin' deal on a used one. It looks pretty heavy duty compared to my 16 Ga model.
I just installed my enco 12 gauge. Ordered it on monday and picked it up at the freight dock in knoxville wed morning. It looks pretty good for chinese, only time and use will tell the story. The legs are too short for me, im going to set it on some 8 inch i beam. The set screws that hold the counterbalance arms were a little weak, so i tapped them 1/2-13 and put bolts in them. Shortened the counterbalance arms by 9 inches. I bent a few lengths of 16 gauge- like ****er. Its not what i would pick if i had more to spend, but i think it will be good for me. Btw- i now have a 8 ft, 16 gauge, straight brake for sale. Chicago -dreissand crump. About a 7 on a 10 scale. No rust. I'll get my mind right on the price and post up in the cl***ifieds with pics.
The free freight is on UPS items only. It cost me 144.00 to ship the ENCO.----- 1643.95 total weight 1528 lbs.
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