KASTFORCE KF5014 Sheet Metal Shear Throatless Shear Sheetmetal Shear Rotary Hand Shear 16Ga / 1.5mm Capacity

I had a metal guillotine that I used to cut out repair panels for car restoration. It occupied a large patch of valuable bench real estate and while good for straight lines, was not suitable if you wanted a curve. The Kastforce is much smaller and has a clever ratchet system which lets you lift the lever when it reaches the end of its travel so the cutter can be engaged again without moving the work relative to the cutting edges. Serrations on one of the cutting wheels pull the work through so there is no need to make sure it doesn't get dragged to one side, as conventional guillotines tend to do. Since cutting happens at a point and not down the length of a blade, the work can be easily turned to form a curve. I have mounted my Kastforce on a piece of angle iron which allows me to clamp it in a bench vice. This has given me back a load of bench space, especially since I can take it out of the vice and put it away after use. The maximum thickness limit of 1.5mm steel is not a great handicap since most car body panels are thinner than this. If you need thicker material get the angle grinder out. This is a great tool for a good price, highly recommended.

I was initially surprised at the size but having used it once mounted, I was extremely delighted with the results. Smooth, accurate cutting. Brilliant.

The metal in the photo is 1mm mild steel, I could pull it through with one finger. It went through stainless of the same thickness without difficulty.To cut a curve into the center of a sheet requires significant force on the work-piece, realistically you can only deviate from a line by a small amount before the cut-off has nowhere to go.What you can do in some cases however is make two [or more] passes, the first being close to straight, leaving a only a smaller cut-off, the second to more precisely follow the lines.Even with effectively zero cut-off I couldn't get a curve tighter than about a ~50mm radius. I.e. I couldn't take the corner off the template above. I think this is a hardware limitation due to wheel positioning.Compared to using aviation snips, this has sped up my workflow considerably and reduced the hand workout greatly. For the price this has done really well.

For the most this is an excellent piece of kit,much faster that tin snips and you don't get tired on long cuts. The only slight negative is that due to the way it cuts it puts a slight curl on the edge of the cut but it is easy to flatten it back down with a hammer. If it starts to miss behave and won't cut properly the bottom roller most likely needs repositioning which you do by releasing the grub screw and moving the bottom roller closer to the top one.Overall I'm really pleased with this purchase.

Had one of these for years it just wore out. I ike them as you can cut round corners with out a lot of distortion just made a small bracket then I can hold it in the vise and when it's not wanted it can be removed quickly and stored ready for action then setup in seconds 👍

Great tool for the moneyNice sharp clean cutting edges and also good for cutting circles and straight lines in sheet metal

Makes easy work of straight cuts & curved cuts. Much easier to use than traditional hand held shears

Not the best quality but worth it for the price. If you are an are an occasional diy user then this is a great tool.