Shear refurb

[solemnwarning]

I got an old shear off eBay a few weeks ago and have stripped it down a bit to tidy up. At first I was going to repaint it with blue Hammerite (same as the vice), but since finding some original green paint under the dirt, the rivet counter in me feels bad about it. Can't decide between leaving it alone, painting it blue, painting it green, etc.

As it was:



Since I started fiddling:



The feet are a bit wonky too (you can see one has been replaced in the last picture), which I'm tempted to try and do something about.

Any comments thus far?

 

[the snooper]

what is the significance of picture 3

 

[Parm]

what is the significance of picture 3

Same question here, at a guess I think the OP maybe showing what might be a laser line device ???

 

[WorkshopChris]

what is the significance of picture 3

I think its the start of the metal box the Red push button is fitted in, but what does the button do? and whats in the conduit? Is it a light?

 

[solemnwarning]

Yup, its a laser - you can see it on the edge of the blade in the 4th picture. The button will turn it on/off.

 

[the snooper]

Same question here, at a guess I think the OP maybe showing what might be a laser line device ???

You could be right pic maybe does show a red laser line, thought it was paint at first I font see how a laser would help with that type of cuttet

 

[ronan]

Isn't hammerite rubbish now ? It used to be ok years ago, but i used it to paint a bike frame and it was incredibly brittle, useless for the job.

 

[solemnwarning]

Its been awful on every car/etc job I've used it on, but it worked quite well on the vice *shrugs*

 

[Parm]

You could be right pic maybe does show a red laser line, thought it was paint at first I font see how a laser would help with that type of cuttet

Agreed, from what I know there needs to be a scribed or other marked line that you cut to. It's quite straight forward to align any Mark to the cutting edge of the shears.

 

[WorkshopChris]

I was wondering if a laser would help? As the blade comes down and starts the cut you normally need to steer sheet through to compensate for the shearing action pulling the cut over. I do not think it would help but interested to see.

 

[Parm]

Yup, its a laser - you can see it on the edge of the blade in the 4th picture. The button will turn it on/off.

So, why do you need a laser on this type of cutting tool ?

 

[solemnwarning]

I found I kept lining it up a few degrees off when cutting big pieces out, adds up over time.

EDIT: Or perhaps it got pulled over like WorkshopChris suggested, will be interesting to see if it helps anyway.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Interesting, Samson used to make these, I'll find the ad somewhere

 

[Dieselman 63]

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im194603BTJ-Elliott2.jpg

 

[solemnwarning]

5/16" "sheet"?!

 

[solemnwarning]

Did a bit more on it tonight, pretty sure its been dropped and both the feet on one side broken off in the past - one welded back on at an angle, one replaced with a bit of bar at a different angle with no mounting hole.

Not fond of the idea of trying to cut them off and weld them back on correctly, so I decided to go at it with a file and a couple of flap discs instead:



Far from perfect, but it sits on a surface plate (with a washer under one foot) without rocking, probably as close as I'm going to get:



And for the missing hole:

 

[solemnwarning]

Painted a piece of it with green Hammerite too... I don't think I'll be doing the rest of it.

 

[Dieselman 63]

The way I see it with restoring machinery is if the factory painted it, so should I, and if the factory left it bare metal then there's probably a reason it was left like that. If you do a nice job you're only going to have to do it once and you've injected another fifty years into the product before it needs doing again. If it were me doing it I'd paint the thing up (but not in Hammerite!).

 

[AdrianH]

I tend to use the Hamerite smooth, more like an enamel finish.

Adrian

 

[solemnwarning]

Sorted out a sturdier bracket for the laser, clips etc and trial fitted it all.