Foot Shear Repair

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My kids at school tore up our new shear.  It is a Dayton and I am less than impressed with it.  I am going to replace the 3/16ths arms on the footpiece with 3/8ths.  There is plenty of room for 3/8ths material.  They were just being cheap when they built it.  The round tubing is 1 1/2" and I figure I will get a couple new hole saws to cut for the tubing.  I also plan to re-enforce under the foot pad.Does this seem like the right way to do it?  I am sure they bent it by having two kids on the footplate and coming down at different times, instead of the same time.
Reply:I would guess 2 probably jumping up and down on it. i would also tie the arms together somewhere,couple different places, try to eliminate lateral movement. maybe a nice sized gusset on each corner.tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:I'd use angle iron instead of the flat bar on the two outside arms. Drill the middle flat bar to pass a pipe between the two outside arms. You can use angle for the middle if you wish. That should tie everything together.What if you used square tube or c-channel? You'd have to add some tabs for the pull rods/spring mechanism but it would be strong. Are you going to make the repair part of the class?
Reply:Angle would be stronger if it would work. Might be able to cope the ends out .
Reply:I'd go with angle as well if not rectangle tube. Looks like a fairly light shear, what material sizes does it see normally?
Reply:Make sure you look ahead to what the next weak link might be to be sure you'll be okay with it when that gets tweaked. "The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Originally Posted by SandyMake sure you look ahead to what the next weak link might be to be sure you'll be okay with it when that gets tweaked.
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTI'd go with angle as well if not rectangle tube. Looks like a fairly light shear, what material sizes does it see normally?
Reply:Originally Posted by Crabo16-18 gauge sheetmetal and aluminum..
Reply:The ancient foot shear I have at work has been repaired the same way. If I can remember I will get a pic for you tomorrow.I think mine is rated for 16ga steel, and if you are cutting a longer piece of 16ga (say 30" or more) it takes more than my 240lbs of fat a$$ to shear it. If you cant fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem."Boy, everyone starts with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."-Grandad circa 1990ish
Reply:I think my shear is to old to be "rated". Mine has been repaired about 12 or more times over the years it looks. I got it cheap because, well, it needed to be repaired. lolBoth ends where the rods connect tot he foot stomp have been repaired more than a few times, the center has been repaired, the one rod connection to the shear head has been repaired, I repaired the head and I also had to repair a foot. Poor shear...
Reply:I got to spend some time on the shear.  I had my students cut the arms out, cut the holes for the tubing with a drill press and holesaws, clean up the foot piece, and cut a new pipe for the pivot piece.Here's where we started and the problem.Every piece of this foot assembly was bent from the pivot pipe to the diamond foot plate.  We cut new arms first.  They are shown above to the factory piece.I know you want to see welds.  I even have some ugly ones.  I was tempted to grind them out and reweld, but it wouldn't make any difference anyway, to anyone but myself.  (and some internet welders)Here is the finished project.  We need to prep it and paint it and then install it.  I need to weld the floor stops on, but I am going to wait until I have installed it to do that.Last edited by Crabo; 01-28-2013 at 12:15 AM.
Reply:should last forever
Reply:I painted and installed it.It feels completely different now.  We did a little adjustment and it is cutting great.  Going to do the fine tune on it tomorrow.
Reply:That is much bigger than I thought it was. Looks great!
Reply:Nice repair and truly better than factory. Good job.