Blade replacement can be time consuming and dangerous, consult any available fact sheets before attempting to replace shear blades.
The following page contains the “Resulting Angle” method of table shear squaring. The basic theory is if your shear is cutting a perfect 900 , then all four internal angles will equal 1800. Rotating counter-clockwise and cutting 3 sides one time will yield a resulting angle.
There are several different cutting techniques associated with a shear. Pick the one that best suites your application. Some techniques include the use of a 30-60-90 triangle, a perfect square arm, adjustable back stop and several rule variations.
One of the problems with many of the shears on the market is scale. Most are 1/8” thick with a overlay legend for the scale markings. The problem with this is the thickness usually is 1/16”, not 1/8”, which gives a parallax error. Other possible problems are the legend piece wearing away at the edge, and the silk screening can often be inaccurate.
The only necessary maintenance steps are light oiling and blade cleaning. Always keep your blades free of gummy deposits which result from cutting through double-back tape and protective materials. Use a single edge razor to remove big deposits and use solvents with a rag to clean them off. Blade sharpening can be done at a local blade sharpening house and does not need to be done at the manufacturer.
