Just bought a set of these today from Princess Auto (Canada's answer to Harbor Freight). I've wanted these for a long time, but they've always been either a) way too expensive, or b) sold out.
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Their new "Price Smasher" sale online flyer came out today, with the set offered at $149CDN (roughly $117USD
). The first thing I noticed was that the sale showed them as "sold out" within seconds of the flyer coming out
In a fit of pique (or, perhaps, stupid, blind, hopeless optimism), I phoned my local store, just on the off chance (I don't think they've had a set, at any price, in-store for the past couple of years - I've kept checking). The girl on the phone said she'd check...then told me they actually had one set, buried at the back of the shelf!!! I asked her to put it aside for me & said I'd be there in minutes. Sure enough, when I got there it was waiting for me! Woohoo
The price was amazing - I haven't found them anywhere, ever, at that price. To make it even better, I had several gift cards (from my kids, parents, etc.) in my wallet - in the end, the set was free!!
Anyway, these are the exact same as the Eastwood ones, and seem to be pretty solidly made. I tried the set out, and quickly made a nice, flat, 24 gauge flat-steel donut on my first try. I was surprised how little surface deformation there was in the steel - nothing that won't sand out, if a smooth final finish is desired.
As my bench space is severely limited, I made a couple of 1"X2"X6" 6061 T6 aluminum bolt-on bases for them (had a couple of chunks of bar stock in my metals bin), which can be clamped in my enormous, old, US-made machinist's vise. This makes for a VERY solid mount, and switching from shrinker to stretcher and vise-versa (LOL - see what I did there?) takes but a second. What's nice is that the set stows neatly on a shelf under the bench, so they're out of the way, but ready right when I need them.
I have a couple of projects on the Locost that have been waiting for a stretcher/shrinker set to come along. I need to make a couple of curved boxes for the undersides of my front cycle fenders (they'll be glued to the fenders themselves with 3M 5200, and bolted to the fender supports), and I want to make a couple of very large "U" shapes to beef up the mounting flanges of my CMC (i.e., cheap & flimsy) rear fenders. These will be 18 or 20 gauge steel, formed into angle iron, and made into U shapes using the shrinker so they beef up the inside of those willowy flanges.
I suspect these will be kind of like my lathe - everything I look at, I'll be considering "I wonder if that could benefit from a pass or two through the shrinker...?"
That's it! Now I have all the tools I want!!...Well, except for an English wheel. And a bead roller...a large press brake...TIG welder...plasma torch...milling machine....louver press.
Okay, there are still a LOT of tools I want & need!! My wife is standing behind me, rolling her eyes...
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Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.
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