Mild steel shear? Capable of 1/4”x24-36”?

[Elbow87]

Ok guys, brand new member. Wanna start a small fab shop, have everything I need more or less, but would like to add a small shear capable of 1/4” and down mild steel, around 24-36” lengthwise. I don’t care if it’s power or manual. I can’t find one anywhere. I can find MANUAL ones up to 10”, and just don’t understand how you can gorilla arm 10”, but can’t find a hydraulic one that will handle twice or three times that length, for a reasonable price. I’m willing to spend around 1,500 bucks, the manual one I found for 10” was only 180. Am I missing something?? Why is the jump in price from like a couple hundred bucks to 5k from too small to too big? Does anyone know of a machine that fits those pirameters?

[latoracing]

You have to consider the mass of the plate you are wanting to shear. Once you get out of the thinner gauge "stomp" shear machines, hydraulic or mechanical may be your only solution. I do not think that you will get anything worth while for $1,500.00 that is not ancient or junk that would handle 1/4". Most shears will be able to cut at least 48" wide (hopefully) and for a HD shear, that size will be very odd.

For the money you are speaking, I would look at a plasma cutter. I don't know how often you will be manufacturing with 1/4" and I don't know what you are wanting to build, but you can definitely get a quality (non harbor freight) machine for close to your budget. It will be more versatile and will not take up a ton of floor space, especially for someone starting out.

[dhutton]

Plasma for 1/4” and a quality stomp shear for 18 gauge. I also have a Beverly B2 shear that I use for cutting thicker material.

1500 is a tight budget for a quality stomp shear.

Don

[dontlifttoshift]

Also worth noting is that a shear capable of 1/4" material will not do well with 18 ga at all. Blade clearance is too large to get a decent, burr free cut on thinner material. There are shears that have very easily adjustable clearance but they are rare on the used market. The last one I passed on was listed at $5,500 and only had max capacity of 10ga.