After eight years of use, it's been a good tool. The shear needs a lot of adjusting, but once it's dialed in it's very reliable.
Back in 2010 I was looking for a nice 30-40 inch metal shear and slip roll, but had absolutley no luck. Lots of ebay and Craigslist activity on metal fab equipment in California and the mid-west, but in the middle atlantic states, they are not happenin'. If you're lucky enough to find something, the guy selling it is usually a jerk who wants to sell worn out equipment at almost new prices -- at least that's been my experience with five sellers so far. So I did the next best thing and started exploring the 3in1.
I made contacts at swap meets and shows and managed to "invite" myself over to people's garages who had this equipment. As expected, some hated it, others loved it after they made adjustments. I went and saw guys use these machines in home garages and professional shops and took lots of notes. I'm sick of not having a good roll and shear, so last week I used a 20% off coupon and pulled the trigger on an HF 40" 3in1.
I saw a mix of HF, Grizzly, Enco and Wholesale Tool machines in all of my shop visits, and to be honest, I couldn't see an ounce of difference in any of 'em. The fact that it's also a pan/box brake makes it that much better. I set it on a spare Sun cabinet. That worked pretty well. It was packed in a sturdy crate and I had it unloaded in under an hour. This tool was a good buy!
