Hi Steve,
I bought a larger 24" cheap Shear/Brake/Roll from Harbor Freight and had similar issues. the casting even broke at the base.
I repaired the base by mig welding( carefully ). Then I found that the problem was the angle of the blade was not enough to create the shearing action needed. I increased this by shimming up one side almost 3/16ths. I cuts thick PCB like a champ now. When I have time, I'm going to remove the shims and cut/mill the the other end down.
The shimming brought the blade too close and reduced the effective width of usable cutting.
-Lee
Rant of the day: Never listen to people who say you can't do something until you've tried and failed yourself. Many times they haven't either and are spouting stuff they've heard from others.
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Steve <steve65@...> wrote:
> From time to time, there have been threads on this list regarding >how to cut PCB material. Thought I'd pass along my experience with one
> particular tool.
>