cutting sheet metal

I was watching the American Chopper vs Jesse James build off last week. I know the Teutuls and their choppers are a joke and their show is lame but I wanted to see what Jesse would build. When Jesse was fabricating his gas tank he was using a powered hand shear of some type that was cutting through the sheet metal with ease and seemingly leaving a relatively clean edge while cutting a curved line. Does anyone know the brand and model of tool he was using and do they really work as easy as Jesse made it seem? I had a really good Plasma cutter that I sold because I really wasn't set up for a shower of sparks in the attached garage when cutting metal (also messy). I have a metal cutting vertical bandsaw which will do the job but it seems slow compared to the tool Jesse was using. I thought about buying a Beverly shear. The Beverly shear is expensive, probably somewhat slow, and more awkward to use than what Jesse was using. So, the question is, "what was Jesse using"? For those that didn't see the show, Jesse built another beautiful bike that you can actually ride. The Teutuls built another pile of "dog pooh".

 

didn't see the show. there's all sorts of fun ways to cut metal. I like the ways with sparks.

 

I didn't see the show you are talking about (because I don't watch TV), but this is an electric shear I just love to use. Picked it up used on Ebay. I paid less than $50 for it.

I think it's rated to 14 gage mild steel and cuts like butter in 18 gage. Because the cutting head is exposed, you can cut right on your scribe line with ease. Makes a fairly tight corner too:

 

i didn't see the show, don't watch 'em. but i do have a set of shears that are based on a power drill body, they cut a thin strip out as they go and leave a clean, flat cut edge, and can do curves pretty easily. of all places, i got them at harbor freight. they cut through old Falcon body metal with no trouble, and have replaceable cutter blades.

 

Are you refering to a electric hand shear. It looks like a drill with a triangle shaped head on it?

 

I saw the Woodward Fab manual shear demo at the NSRA show in Louisville last summer. Cut 16ga with very little effort. Straight cuts, curves easily done with no warping. Looked like it would cut off fingers with very little effort too.

 

I don't watch the show so I can't say. I use a 41/2" grinder with a 1/16" cut off wheel that I get at Big R store.

Lee

 

No TV here, but was that the blue one he likes to use? That one rocks. I need one.

 

http://www.trumpf-powertools.com/en/products/cutting-slitting-shears/trutool-c-160.html

 

That's the one!

 

i saw jesse use those in another show, and even he said they are expensive, i cant find a price, but if JJ says they are expensive......

 

I was wonderin what he was talking about, now I see. Guess I'm gonna have to go buy another tool.

 

$384.00 for the one without the chip breaker, $430.00 with, $578.00 cordless.

http://www.bluetools.com/Trumpf-Electric-Tools-Slitting-Shears/c203_207/index.html

 

dont watch the show , but the aboe mentions about drill like cutter -hand held shear, is without a doubt one of the best tools for sheetmetal....

 

a corded one on epay is 375!

 

Is this what you are talking about? I have one it works great http://www.toolking.com/milwaukee-6852-20-18-gauge-shear/

 

Wow! I think I will stick with my Malco's for now.

 

You need to see the Trumpf one in-action. Stupifying.

 

I have the 'Bosch Pro' elec shear. Man it does a killer job for section shaping and trimming. Love it. Think about how much you would use it before shelling out the cash.

 

Daily.

 

I have a Bosch one like in teh picture above and a cheapie pnuematic with the same action as the Trumpf - it distorts the metal much less, but I prefer to cut 1/4" away and trim with hand shears for accuracy anyway.
Old timer in England who I learnt some stuff from, says with Gilbows you can choose which side of the scribed line you want to trim to....

 

Here ya go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdpzilW9JVA

 

Don't know which one Jesse used but I picked this one up, Bad Dog Biter

http://www.baddogtools.com/dotnetnuke/Tools/BadDogBiter.aspx

http://hardwareaisle.thisoldhouse.com/2008/02/from-ibs-bad-do.html

Quality bit of kit, works as advertised

 

Trumpf is the tool Jesse was using on the biker build off. That tool is absolutely amazing! In my past I have built and helped build several all metal airplanes so I know something about working with large sheets of metal. It is all kisses and lollypops until you have a piece of metal that is too large for the shear or requires cutting curves. The Trumpf tool not only makes a beautiful cut, it doesn't make a huge mess, and it is easy to handle. The icing on the cake is that the tool is reasonably quiet. The tool is expensive but so is a Beverly shear, plasma cutter, bandsaw etc. The next question is, where can I demo one and buy it if I like it?