I’m at the very tail end of a several month project and my mental state – at least in regard to the writing process -is best described by the piece of steel jammed beneath the jaws of this hydraulic shear.
Just a quick note on safety: don’t cut two-inch ship steel at home (with or without a hydraulic shear). But if you do, this guy’s methodology seems to be the best one. It goes something like this: slide steel between the jaws, hit the “on” switch, and then run backwards until the grinding, screeching sound stops and the shear is no longer shaking the bolts that keeps it from dancing across the floor. At that point, you’re either fatally injured, or … you’ve got a smaller piece of ship steel.