[Amps] Building an Amp 101

[peter chadwick]

Although a good sized shear is nice, you do need to watch the Chinese ones. 

Mine came with no guard so you could slide the metal sheet in and then your fingers. Having stood on the treadle with one foot, not only could you lose fingers but the treadle came so far down you would then break your foot.........

It also doesn't have a clamp that clamps the sheet to the bed as the blade comes down so you have carefully hold the sheet metal. I must see about fixing that - however, I did immediately fit a length of angle iron as a guard so fingers can't be chopped off and a 4 by 2 to stop the foot getting crushed.

Indeed, all the Chinese machinery I've seen has some corners cut, but that is why it becomes affordable, and often those corners affect convenience rather than operation. Such as calibrating metric lead screws with  markings suggesting 0.05mm is .002 inch.....

Peter G3RZP