Crackers
Crackers Dork
2/10/18 10:31 a.m.

I'm interested in one of these

Anyone have any experience with one? 

I'm mostly interested in the flanger part, as I'm going to need to do quite a few flanges to finish off the wagon, and I really don't want to do them all by hand. 

Mostly 18ga and a little 16ga. Specifically flanges on curves. I have a feeling it will really make a mess of tighter concave corners. 

lrrs
lrrs Reader
2/10/18 10:38 a.m.

I have one I used it to flange some steel that is 1.25 mm thick.

 It worked okay, but not the greatest, I did have to go over the area a couple times to get the full flange. Something a little thinner I'm sure it would have done a lot better.

 I did not try the punch.

markwemple
markwemple UberDork
2/10/18 10:42 a.m.

Works fine, both the flange and the punch side. Plan on going over things 2xs but it will do what it was designed to do.

Jumper K Balls
Jumper K Balls PowerDork
2/10/18 12:21 p.m.

I have the Astro pneumatic version and it is invaluable. I primarily use the punch portion. We don't do a lot of flanged sheet metal joints but when I do I love the tool. I probably punched 200 holes in 16ga in the last two months.

coexist
coexist Reader
2/10/18 1:40 p.m.

Bought one about a year ago. Never failed me. Never used.

fasted58
fasted58 MegaDork
2/10/18 1:47 p.m.

Bought one from Eastwood prolly 15 years ago, HF looks the same or cloned. Much faster than a hand flanger or punch. Recommended.

Used the punch slugs for fill in roof rain rails, dimpled the hole down and MIGed the slug in, then ground flush.

Crackers
Crackers Dork
2/10/18 7:20 p.m.

I'll give it a shot. I'll hold off on it until I have some panels ready so I can beat on it like I stole it. 

NOT A TA
NOT A TA Dork
2/10/18 8:19 p.m.

Harbor Freight one only lasted one day for me, borrowed a buds Sunex I've been using.

NOHOME
NOHOME UltimaDork
2/10/18 9:03 p.m.

I have one and it works fine. Mostly I use it for the hole punching. Seems to work on 18 gauge just fine.

Crackers
Crackers Dork
2/11/18 11:32 a.m.

In reply to NOT A TA :

IME most HF stuff either breaks right away, or lasts at least long enough to get your money out of it. 

That's why I tend to wait until I have a bunch of work lined up for whatever I'm purchasing so I can try to break it before the warranty is up. 

If it lasts that long under frequent use they usually last a while. 

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