WEN Metal Shear, Swivel Head, Variable Speed, 18-Gauge, 4-Amp (3650)

Bought this to fix a mistake (bought to long) with some ridged galvanized roofing sheet metal. I figured for the price of this. It was cheaper than returning the metal and wasting diesel fuel.I decided to test this thing out against some of the comments of negativity.I drew a straight line on the metal with a marker. It DOES cut straight!! However if YOU the operator can't push straight. You're not going to get a straight cut.It will cut over a single ridge. This is where the swivel head comes in handy. Just rotate it 45 degs so you can push down and forward while cutting the ridge. However it will not cut thru a double ridge. Which I kinda knew it wouldn't. So I carried a grinder w/ a cut off wheel.I had 10ft of over lapped at the double ridge sheet metal to cut. Took me about 5-10 minutes. Most of that was moving the ladder and switching out the shear for a grinder.These electric shears are well worth it vs some aviator shears.If you have some detailed cuts to make.Test it out on some scrap metal 1st. So you know how hard you have to push and how much tension to apply to the trigger.

They take just a little getting used to but work great if you hold them at the right angle. The cut is a little rough but none of mine will show.

About 30 years ago I began doing a lot of work with fiber cement and purchased a pro model fiber cement sheer. It performed admirably for many years but finally died while doing a siding job on my house. I needed a new one, but it probably won't get much use, so I decided to give this one a try. So how does this one compare to the old pro model? Both give clean, straight cuts when cutting from the back side with the stationary blades in full contact with the material. The cutting mechanism on this one seems a little smaller and lighter with a shorter stroke. The old one would eagerly chew through anything you put in front of it. You only had to guide it. This one must be pushed hard to make a cut. If you do fiber cement all the time, you may want to shop some more. For occasional use, this one is a great buy. The two stationary blades on the old one could be switched when the cutting edge was worn. That appears to be true for this one, and they can also be reversed. Overall, this is a pretty good tool for an affordable price.

This is an excellent tool. I bought it to cut steel roofing, which has ridges and is fairly thick. Needed something to follow my guideline as well as handle the ridges ok. After reading other reviews I decided to try it.Very nice results.This tool was significantly cheaper than the same version sold by Harbor Freight. And it shipped quickly and efficiently and was in my hands the next day. Since I live in small town west Florida, that’s unusual. I pulled it out of the box, read the brief directions and put it to work. 45 minutes and 8 nice straight cuts later, I came inside to cool off, drink some cold water and share my experience.I’m about to put metal siding on my shop. This will be perfect.

Had never used cement board siding on any project. Purchased this WEN Shear because I had a couple hundred linear feet of cuts to make and had heard saw blades wear quickly and produce a lot of dust.This shear worked flawlessly, cutting through the board faster than I thought it would. The cut edge it produced was clean and the process was virtually dust-free. Also, it is a lot quieter than a saw.All of these type to shears produce thin coils of waste (chips) as you cut which requires you to constantly brush out of the way as you go, but clean up is as simple as sweeping them off the floor when you're done.Overall, very satisfied with this tool. I am not highly skilled at this type of work, but found it to work great and it was simple to use. Highly recommended.

Wrote an earlier review based on operator error (my error). Does cut a smooth edge on both sides of the Hardi board. Had to adjust slope of the cutting angle, with lower slope works well and provides smooth cuts.

A hefty and solid piece of machinery. The cutter is a 1/4" blade between two side blades. Unfortunately, the side blades are offset, one is 1/16" longer than the other so the cut curves easily to one side and not so easy to the other.On flat sheet metal it's not to hard to cut a straight line. After about 4' I was getting the hang of it. On corrugated sheet (the trapezial kind not the rolling kind) it jams and stutters as it's pushed forward. The side blades dig and catch into the sheet.

I purchased the WEN metal shears for a mini barn that I was building. I have not worked with sheet metal siding or roofing in the past so searched for a corded shear to make my flat cuts. These shears are great for flat sheet metal and some small ridges but use caution that they do not cut large ridges like pole barn siding. But these types of shears are not made for that type of cutting and ended up using an angle grinder for cuts that the metal shears could not do. I especially like the swivel option to be able to hold the shears at more comfortable angles and do a great job of creating a clean strait cut when following your lines. Overall the WEN metal shears are very easy to use and are great quality that will work nicely for my next project!