Shearing is a metal fabricating process used to cut straight lines on flat metal stock. During the shearing process, an upper blade and a lower blade are forced past each other with the space between them determined by a required offset. Normally, one of the blades remains stationary.
The shearing process characteristics include:
Its ability to make straight-line cuts on flat sheet stock
Metal placement between an upper and lower shear blades
Its trademark production of burred and slightly deformed metal edges
Its ability to cut relatively small lengths of material at any time since the shearing blades can be mounted at an angle to reduce the necessary shearing force required