Should I Get This Manual Sheet Metal Notcher?

[Susan_in_SF]

Hi guys,
I ran into someone who is interested in bartering for one of my little 6" vintage Craftsman metal lathes in exchange for his manual Jet sheet metal notcher.
Here is a pic of it.


This man says that he only used it 3 or 4 times during the last year.
I told him that the lathe's gear door needed to be reattached, and that I needed some time to go gather all the tooling and the change gears for it. So, I have a little bit of time to back out of getting this notcher, should I decide against it

So, after he told me that he didn't use this notcher much, I wondered if I were making a mistake to do the barter. Would I be trying to get rid of this in a year or 2? On the other hand, I do want to make my own controller boxes for potentiometer knobs, tachometer readouts, on/off/reverse button, etc, but I won't be making a ton of them. However, being able to cut perfect angles would be great.

Also, even though this is a benchtop notcher, it isn't tiny, and it weighs a 165 lbs.

Here is some info on this model that retails for $839 off the Amazon website:

-Jet’s high quality cast iron sheet metal Notcher is ideal or any garage or sheet metal shop. It's compact design makes it perfect for on-site use. The cutting Angle is fixed at ninety degrees and can notch up to 6” x 6” in one manual Stroke
-Made of heavy-duty cast iron
Capable of notching virtually any shearable material
-Can notch angles of more than 90° through a 2-step process
-Easy-to-read front gauges
-Heavy-duty cutting blade

If I were to barter my little lathe with motor and tooling, then at least I wouldn't have to deal with trying to sell this one off Craigslist (aka Flake Central) where people ask a million questions, then drop off the face of the planet, or give a sob story in an effort for the price to get lowered to practically nothing.

I have several dc pwm chassis' from KB Electronics that I plan on making controller boxes for. I also eventually would like to share my workshop with a few select poor folk. When my workshop is complete, I am hoping to make small, simple tools/adapters to sell on ebay
Given all I just mentioned, plus the fact that there is no such thing as spare space in my 1 car garage, is this notcher something I should go ahead and get?

Thanks in advance for your friendly feedback.

Susan

Being broke doesn't stop me from tool hoarding, lol ;-)

 

[mmcmdl]

Are you going to notch or just looking to trade ? I would think the lathe would be more valuable and used more often than the notcher . Plus , a notcher isn't hard to make .

 

[Susan_in_SF]

Are you going to notch or just looking to trade ? I would think the lathe would be more valuable and used more often than the notcher . Plus , a notcher isn't hard to make .

I have 3.5 of the 6" Craftsman metal lathes. I was originally going to keep 1 and fix the other 2 with a free 4th metal lathe that was missing the tailstock. I got these lathes at super cheap prices, the the one that is missing the tailstock I got for free and was going to cannibalize it to supply the parts that the other 2 were missing

 

[mmcmdl]

You have the 6" lathe market cornered ! You're talking to the wrong person when coming to tools and machinery . I just buy it if I like the looks of it ! I may never use it , but it's fun to stare at it when I'm relaxing !

 

[Latinrascalrg1]

Honestly unless you plan on making more then a few boxes and such I think you should take a pass. I feel that you are trading down and if I understand correctly trading off that lathe will stop you from reviving 2 others that are occupying your valuable floorspace for a tool that will end up collecting dust in the corner taking up even more of your shop space. So there's my Opinion since you asked.

 

[whitmore]

... this is a benchtop notcher, it isn't tiny, and it weighs a 165 lbs.

I have several dc pwm chassis' from KB Electronics that I plan on making controller boxes for. I also eventually would like...

It's still possible to buy boxes in a variety of sizes, but the distributors' offerings are not usually the exactly right size/shape
for the task: you end up buying oversize, and the result is often unaesthetic. For a sheet metal shop (shears, brakes, and
everyone wears gloves to handle big sheets of metal) the corner shear will get a lot of use. For a few boxes, you might
need a brake (to make good corners) but the cuts can be done with nibbler, or sabersaw/hacksaw, or mill... I'd keep the
floor space, if it were my shop under consideration.

Even with the corner shear, my boxes took file work and fiddling, and mainly the corner shear was quicker than
dykem/scribe/follow-the-line with snips, not different in the results.

 

[Mark Needham]

Have you got my address.
Yes, swap it, be a good deal. Pay the freight to my place, and I'll love you forever.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

I can't beat the previous message, but then I'm an old man on the other side of the country. Won't even try. As far as a "swap", my take is, don't. Period. A "3 in 1" shear, brake, and slip roll of 40" might be a good start. But a notcher is a dust gatherer for a home shop. Unless, of course, you were doing a lot of sheet metal work. It might prove useful, IF you had a brake and maybe a shear. But stand alone, nah... ... Swap the lathe if you must, but get a few hundred kicker if you do. Straight across, nah, try next door. They may need one. You can use snips, or a jig saw, or even a mill to do what that thing does. It needs a production shop to be worthwhile.

Bill Hudson​

 

[Cooter Brown]

I would love to have one of those, I have a 6" craftsman lathe that I'd give up without even thinking about it if I had an offer like that...

 

[bhigdog]

Lets see 3.5 lathes, 2.5 of which are just taking up space, vs one notcher you will use from time to time. Do the math...........Bob