Guillotine Advice?

[astro_al]

Hi guys, looking for inputs from those who have experience of sheet metal guillotines.

I'm looking to upgrade from my treadle one to a 'proper' one. Prices seem to vary wildly.

1. Any advantages / disadvantages of mechanical (undercrank) or hydraulic? Presume as per ironworker etc, hydro can stop mid-cut?

2. Its hard to decide a capacity to aim for, obviously bigger = more cash. Is it generally better to go wider, or thicker?

3. If a machine is rated at say 2m x 6mm, is it possible to cut thicker stock over a narrower width (like 8mm x 1m)?

Anything I should look for / avoid etc? Anyone know of any cheap ones looking for a new home?

Cheers, Al.

 

[Hitch]

3.... Not supposed too, but you can get away with it., but not by much. We have a 13mm machine, occasionally cut 500mm of 15 in it. Best to do it down the far end ive always been told. Near a fixed end and the beam has plenty of momenteum (sp).
2.... Difficult, only you can answer that, depending on the sort of work you do or aim to do.
1.... Modern hydraulic ones will stop and raise as soon as the pedal is stopped in most cases. Some are programmeable to only cut 200mm into a 4m machine for instance.Old crank ones start cutting and finish cutting at the end of the stroke. Its alright, but perhaps slightly slower for small bits.
And no chance of stopping if you want to double check numbers.

 

[Welderpaul]

Ours is hydraulic with no way of stopping the cut once it is started. You can alter the stroke length for cutting small bits, or full 3m sheets, but once the peddle is pressed, it will complete the cycle on its own. Can't see the need to stop part way through, once its started shearing, its gonna be a sod to get a part-cut sheet out anyway.
We bought a 3mmx2m guillotine, which was fine for a year or so, and have now upgraded to 10mmx3m. Depends what you are doing - we upgraded as we started doing bigger stuff as we expanded - if your intending it for sheet metal work for example then you should probably be looking for a greater length than thickness () and unlikely to need anything greater.
Bear in mind weight as well. Ours weighs 10.5T. you need the facilities to shift it, plus plenty of working space at the front and back.
Spent most of the morning setting up the back stop on ours. Its an NC jobby, but was 350mm out when we got it The backstop was twisted and right up against its stops fpor fine adjustment. Someone had been missing a C spanner and been at the nuts with a hammer and chisel. Covered in grease getting it sorted. Cuts spot on now.

 

[richy_B]

I used to operate guillotines many years ago, mainly mechanical. What I noticed with one of the hydraulic ones was if you tried to cut a large blank against the backbar it took so long it twisted the metal near the final part of the cut. The fitters tried to speed it up, but it was having none. The other hydraulic, an Edwards, was a bit faster and always cut ok.
If you are going to cut a lot of thin steel, try to get one with magnetic supports on the back. Worth their weight in gold.
If you can see them, have a look at the side guides, you know what the top blade carrier thingymajig runs in. 'ell ov a job to fix them when they go.
Rich