Review Claxton Metal Shear (Makita Clone)

[Richiew]

I've bought the above shear off Ebay. The ebay seller ID is j4s_r2h5aqhsd-9 which is of course a Chinese company but they were advertising the stock from the Czech Republic. £64.99 delivered.

I fancied getting a shear to cut aluminium and also to generally cut down on the amount of metal dust in the workshop from saws and grinders that might damage my machine tools and welders. The fact that this shear was cheap and looked very much like the Makita one they charge around 300 quid for also played a consideration.

Ordered late on 28/09/2020 and delivered today 01/10/2020 just before lunchtime by UPS. The delivery was much quicker than advertised. I would have been very happy about this if UPS hadn't sent me an email on the 29th saying they were going to deliver on the 30th.They resheduled it by email at half past six that evening after I had been expecting it all day. Just as well I work from home.



The shear arrived in a taped up white box, OEM fashion. No padding whatsoever and the box was a bit battered. The allen screw on the side of the foot had poked a hole through cardboard box. There was no damage that I could spot fortunately. This is the box after I tore it open. The box damage was in the bottom left corner but the photo is only there to illustrate that there's no protective padding.

The shear is double insulated which is just as well as it only comes with a 2pin plug and no earth. A UK adaptor is supplied.The cable is 2m long so you might have trouble cutting 8' by 4' sheets out of the box.

This is the shear next to a genuine Makita Nibbler. I know they are not the same tool but they share a the same lineage so I still think it is handy for a side by side comparison. The aluminium casting on Makita is smoother. The foot on the clone is quite a scabby casting. (See later picture). The electric motor and gears sound very alike on both machines. If you have an 1980's Black and Decker corded drill or similar you will recognise the high pitched whine. When the trigger is squeezed there is no noticable difference in vibration or smoothness. The cheap one does not feel rough in comparison.

This the bottom of the foot on the shear after some test cuts. The casting has picked up some aluminum already. The splodge on the casting is a bit of a curiosity and the two hardened cutting teeth have a bit of a poor alignment There is some adjustment of the bottom tooth to line it up correctly. I gapped the teeth to 14 thou. (Edit. I Guess the splodge is where they cut the sprue off the casting.)

There's some aluminium rubbing evident on the top tooth butIthe edge is crisp. I've done the Forged in Fire file test and the teeth are very hard as expected. I think we might be at the mercy of the foot casting for tooth alignment though

Continued......

 

[Richiew]

These are the cut edges of 3.2mm mild steel on the left and 2mm ally on the right. The steel was pretty flat before the cut but you can see a curve that has been introduced. The ally is much straighter in comparison. Technique or lack of it almost certainly comes into play here.

This is what the shear does to the offcuts. The longer or thicker the offcut the more curl is introduced. There is one piece in the middle of the photo that shouldn't actually be there. There's a small wedge of round tube that has found its way in. The big bits of ally are 3mm thick. The bottom right piece is the 3.2mm steel strip cut off from the photo above. The flat bits are 0.5mm ally which remain fairly straight. You can cut that with scissors though.

This is a bit of 3mm ally I decided to cut up. It has warped slightly due to the weld. The foot got caught on the thick weld bead and mangled it up a bit. The marks on the weld bead show up in the second photo.

I've only had a cursory go with it this evening. It cuts steel and ally as advertised. Any small offcut is likely to be useless due to the curve it introduces. I think longer or bigger offcuts might get away with it though. The tool is very quick, relatively quiet and clean to use. The foot is quite large so it won't get into places a jigsaw blade would. I don't think it is a finesse tool but it will cut and remove metal quickly. Not bad for 65 quid. It should be useful for some jobs in the workshop. I assume and hope that Makita blades fit this machine.

(This forum always duplicates a photo or two at the end.)

 

[Windy Miller]

Good review. Thanks for taking the trouble to write it!

 

[Aff]

Nice one. I bought the £55 one with the long body.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272367276555

Max cut of 2.5mm so looks like less than yours.
Been impressed so far for the price.

 

[nickk]

Why is it that cheaper (clones)power tools always come with spare brushes,being a bit cynical .

 

[Wallace]

Why is it that cheaper (clones)power tools always come with spare brushes,being a bit cynical .

They’re soft and wear out quickly.

Great write up.

 

[Richiew]

I thought that the last cut I did with the butt welded alluminium joint was a poor example to show. It was was the adjusting screw on the side of the foot that caught the raised welds and it made a bit of a mess as everything got stuck. I thought I should have another go with fresh material.

3mm ally. 200mm ish long. This piece had originally been cut to size using an Evolution saw a while back so take no notice of the cut edges.

Straightness.

Results of a freehand cut using the bench as support to start off with. One side is pushed over the foot and the other is pushed under giving opposite curves on both pieces. Cutting small pieces lengthways is a bit of a faff as there's nowhere really to hold the workpiece except in your hand as the foot travels just about the whole length and width. Bigger pieces could be clamped to a bench which might also reduce the curve on the clamped piece. The curling of the material wasn't as apparent in my earlier post where I trimmed the ends of some steel and ally strip as the strip was held in a vice.

I tried again with 2mm ally again freehand.

You can see it cuts neatly but the curl that is generated might cause an issue.

 

[Richiew]

This is the nibbler for comparison. It leaves the material straight but removes a wide chunk out of the material. The material was held in the vice (For most of the cut) but due to the design of the nibbler it cuts flat regardless as it creates its own clearance. Apologies if this is all really obvious but if you haven't used either of these tools you might not know and I think this might help with any buying decision.

Evil crescents of pain and marital disharmony. (If brought into the house) Produced by the nibbler.

 

[Wallace]

There is no real substitute for a big guillotine, unfortunately in a small business or home workshop compromises have to be made. Over the years I have tried plenty of ways to get a good flat shear at home and the closest I have come is a Gabri Notcher. I tried a 3 in 1 machine that had great potential for its size but turned out to be poorly made rubbish. In my search for a small shear, slip rolls and bender I stumbled upon the Gabro notcher and bender I had not seen before. The notcher is wasteful as it operates like a nibbler removing a 3/16” section but will cut a strip off an 8’ sheet and the material stays flat.

Those crescent are the devils spawn! I fixed a puncture on a mobility scooter and found a huge crescent embedded in the tyre. I went back a week later and took another one out his wife’s identically scooter, same wheel!