I have the Warco version, bought new in April. The rolls are ok and also the bender. The guillotine is crap on mine (warped blade) and I am waiting for Warco to get them back in stock and replace it. Is it fine limit machine, in my experience sheet metal and fine limits are more operator dependant unless you are using CNC press brakes etc.

Dave

I purchased a Warco version,the small one, a few years ago. The rolls are reasonable, the guillotine is total rubbish and the vee bender is a total waste of space. On the plus side it makes a good doorstop.

I have a Chester 300mm version.

I was going to buy a "damaged-repairable, includes the replacement parts" machine from one of Chester's Hawarden open days (it had a broken foot on one side frame), but it turned out that Chester only had LH frames in stock & the RH side was broken (or vice versa). They offered me a good deal on a new one, so I went for that instead..

Got it home, stripped it to clean off the gunk & deburr the razor sharp edges on all the ground parts, then found on re-assembly that it wouldn't work properly. The holes in the moving bending vee/ guillotine blade holder for the actuating arms were bored out of postion & as a result it wouldn't do all the functions. I took the offending part back,& explained the situation, but Chester had no spares – they arranged instead for the faulty machine to be collected when another new one was delivered. This one I tried before stripping it !

The guillotine isn't great, as the moving blade beam is poorly held back to the main frame & tends to want to tilt when near cutting anywhere the machine's stated capacity – 1mm steel is hard work & the "real" capacity is less than this. It's OK on thin aluminium, but won't touch thin stainless. The bender is OK-ish – it doesn't give sharp corners, but I have not used it much. The rolls work fine – probably the best bit.

It is a heavy little lump & really needs bolting down to a bench to use safely, as you need to swing on the handle to cut and the base is quite short. I have mine G-clamped to an inexpensive Lidl "Workmate", which has worked so far for the limited use it has had – a purpose made stand is on (but probably a long way down) the "Round Tuit" list.. I tried to get clever & bought a second handle on another visit to an open day (the single handle supplied can be fitted at either side), thinking that two-handed operation would make cutting easier. Unfortunately the lever slots are cut in different angluar positions on each end piece, so the levers sit in very different positions !

I sometimes look at it with a view to improving the method of adjustment & support of the moving bending/guillotine blade holder, which I think in requires to be useable, but thinking about it is as far as this has got . So far, not one of my better purchases !

Nigel B

The rollers are OK, I rolled a 3mm thick smoke box on one and nothing broke.

The castings get miss drilled and so things go out of alignment (also a Chester)

Well BOB, having worked sheet metal for much of my working life, from aviation standards down to agricultural repairs and tried and rejected a large version of one of these some 20 years ago, I would suggest that you, as an ex professional will be sorely disappointed with these 3-in-1 devices.

I think that Baz sums them up quite well with the suggested use as a doorstop, or perhaps as a mooring weight.

I think that you'd be much better off buying used individual machines such as Edwards/Keetona/Crefco etc. If even the smallest, usually 2 foot type, are too big for your needs ( or workshop!) with your experience you'd most likely get better results from home brewed bend bars and rolls.

Trevor

I have a 12" 3-in-1. It's …. OK …. but it's not a quick "whip it in", "whip it out" kind of deal. It needs careful marking out and setup. Often the material needs clamping and not infrequently, test setups on scrap. Experience with the machine helps.

For some reason, people (including me!) tend to think that a machine like this is something that you can figuratively just pick up and use with good results or else it's not fit for purpose. It's generally accepted that getting, say, a lathe for the first time you need time to gain experience before you get decent results. To me, the 3-in-one is the same in perhaps a somewhat lesser sense.

I have an Axminster version (small type). As long as you don't expect to bend, cut and roll thick material then it is fine. It isn't a professional tool, so don't expect professional results.

For thin gauge material it produces a perfectly acceptable job. At the price I paid for mine it was a bargain. A little practice will pay dividends before you use it in anger.

Andrew.