I've been lusting after a sheet metal shear for some time now. Every time I need to cut sheetmetal I'm either wrestling with the band saw, a cutoff wheel, or running down to Shinya's to use his. A couple of weeks ago I won this power shear on ebay from a local equipment seller. It's a old machine, made by Whitney Jensen. The company is now called Whitney Roper, and my machine dates from the late 1940's or early 1950's. It has a crack in the bed which was repaired at least once, but it doesn't affect operation one bit.
It is a power shear, it works by a 3 horsepower electric motor which spins a big flywheel, probably 100 pounds at least. The motor uses a leather belt to spin the flywheel until you're ready to make a cut, then you step on the foot bar, a clutch is engaged and BANG! a clean cut.
This is a great tool to add to my arsenal, and an old one as well. It weighs 1750 pounds, they don't make 'em like this anymore!
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