12" Shear Instructions

Thank you for your purchase of the newly acquired Oregon Trail Silver 12” Guillotine Shear!

Some things to keep in mind while unboxing:

This tool weighs approximately 70lbs and lifting or moving it on your own poses serious personal injury risks. Dropping this item can potentially hurt you and/or damage the product. So please use your best judgement when removing from the box! We recommend at least a two person lift.
Do not remove the protective tape around the handle or blade coverings until you have your shear in place on your bench where you want it to go.
When moving your shear, lift from the feet at the base. It is top heavy, so be sure to keep it balanced.
Do not lift from the handle and NEVER put your hands inside the blades.
It’s a good idea to bolt your shear to the bench you will be using it on (you must provide your own bolts.) It will prevent your shear from shifting while in use and make it easier to cut your metal. REMOVING THE GUARD WILL RESULT IN VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY!

To use:

This product is best used with the cutting platform at about hip height. This will allow you to use your body weight should you cut a longer piece that needs a little extra force towards the end of the cut, depending on the thickness of the metal.
This shear is designed for non-ferrous metals used in jewelry work only. Recommended maximum thickness is 16G or 1.291mm.
When using your shear for the first time you will find that the handle may be a little stiff – it doesn’t take long to break in with regular use.
Use a ruler or calipers to space our how far you want to cut into the metal. This shear is designed to cleanly cut up to 12” in length of sheet, with a little effort at the end of the cut.
Align your Sheet of metal along the bracing bar at the bottom of the cutting plate and line your pre-measured marks up to the edge of the bottom blade. Be sure to keep all fingers, accessories and clothing clear of the blades.
When shearing, the metal will want to move with the cut of the blades. So be sure to press down firmly and push up to against the bracing bar while pulling the handle towards yourself.
After your cut, lift the handle all the way back into the open position. This is how your shear should be stored when not in use.

Maintenance:

Each shear will arrived pre-lubricated and pre-treated with a rust preventative on the cutting platform. You may find it necessary to re-apply some fresh oil at the hinges or grease moving parts if your shear becomes too stiff over time. We use LPS3 as a rust preventative on exposed metal on the cutting platform: to use you should apply lightly, rub in and WIPE ALMOST COMPLETELY OFF. It should leave a very light film. If you don’t wipe it all off, it will leave a sticky, waxy residue that is difficult to remove and collects a lot of dirt and debris.

Troubleshooting:

Each shear is shipped with the blades pre-aligned and the bracing bar set to square against the blades. Here’s what to do if you have any mechanical issues with your shear.

Metal didn’t cut square	Ensure you are pressing the metal firmly up against the bracing bar. If this is the case and the metal is still not cutting square, then you can level the bracing bar yourself. Simply loosen the bolts holding it to the cutting platform and use a machinist’s square to re-level. Lower the cutting handle so the blades are touching and set the square up against the top blade, leveling the bar against the other side of the square.
Metal is curling after being sheared.	It is normal to have a bit of a curl to your metal droppings, particularly if you are cutting thin and long slices. You are essentially moving the metal while it is being split apart, and it has to go somewhere: in this case, out. You can cut wider pieces or use your metalsmithing skills to re-straighten the sheared piece, if you intend to use it.
Shear lever is stiff.	When your shear first arrives, the handle may be a little stiff at first. Regular use will break it free quickly. If the handle becomes stiff over time, simply apply a bit of lubricating oil to the joints and moving parts and slowly work the handle back and forth to allow it to spread.
Metal will not cut – bends in places instead.	Under normal circumstances the blades should not shift with use. This will usually only happen if you try to cut metal thicker than recommended or metals such as steel, titanium, ect instead of silver, copper, brass. Should your blades become misaligned, you will be able to see a gap between the top and bottom blades with the shear is in the closed position (handle towards you.) indicating that the shear is not going to slice through the metal. Should this occur, please call us at (541) 640-2161 for assistance. We will walk you through the process of adding paper shims between the frame and the blade to re-align.