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Full Throttle
Stories
April 2020
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April2020
a trend publication  Volume 17 Number 4
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Custom Fabrication
Suspension specialist defies the odds, uses fortitude, know-how and technology to modify trucks to ride high or low
Full Throttle
laser technology
Service, quick turnaround and fiber laser-anchored parts production keeps customers coming back and creates new business lines
Opening Doors
Transitions
press brake/tooling
Macro forces drive changes in forming departments and press brake technology
Another Way
Purpose Built
Quick Change
Different Direction
features
welding
Expertise, coupled with the right equipment setup, ensures strong projection weld results
tube & pipe
Custom machine tools provide effective fabrication solutions
abrasives
Discs improve deburring results without deteriorating during the process
bending/folding
A high-volume project entices one manufacturer to invest in a vertical rolling machine
product news
Product news for shop floor replacement products and tools
Consumables
features
Another Way
welding
Expertise, coupled with the right equipment setup, ensures strong projection weld results
Purpose Built
tube & pipe
Custom machine tools provide effective fabrication solutions
Quick Change
abrasives
Discs improve deburring results without deteriorating during the process
Different Direction
bending/folding
A high-volume project entices one manufacturer to invest in a vertical rolling machine
Consumables
product news
Product news for shop floor replacement products and tools
find even more metal fabricating & forming content online
Soldiers of Sacrifice sculpture
/steel
Fast, accurate bending software saves fabricator time and money on the production floor
/pressbrake
Pure physics provides manufacturers with a faster, cheaper, smarter way to shape metal
/stamping
Online
Features
ffjournal.net
/steel
The Soldiers of Sacrifice sculpture represents Den Brotheridge, widely believed to be the first Allied serviceman to die on D-Day
ffjournal.net
/pressbrake
Fast, accurate bending software saves fabricator time and money on the production floor
ffjournal.net
/stamping
Pure physics provides manufacturers with a faster, cheaper, smarter way to shape metal
Man welding
Women artists  take on welding, metalwork and engineering
Facebook
Women artists take on welding, metalwork and engineering
Photo: Cindy Kunst
A foot and a half of an outside corner
Instagram
A foot and a half of an outside corner #welding #tig #tigwelding #weldlife #weldallday #welders #fabshop
copper
Twitter
Union, Missouri, is now home to the new, 24,000-sq.-ft. American Welding Academy
Learn more
Lynn Stanley headshot

From the
Senior Editor

Lynn Stanley

No Limits

T

he British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) calls the Brooklyn Bridge one of the seven wonders of the industrial age. Construction began on the world’s first steel-wire suspension/cable-stay bridge in 1869 and was completed in 1883. The structure boasts more than 14,000 miles of steel cable. Each cable has 19 separate strands each comprising 278 wires. Its granite towers weigh 90,000 tons each.

Because of the amount of steel used in the bridge, it can rise as much as 3 in. during cold weather because metal expands and contracts in response to temperature changes. The longevity of the 5,989 ft.-long span (slightly over 1.1 miles) is credited to redundancies in its support system. Designer and civil engineer Augustus Roebling calculated the structural strength needed to support daily traffic and then designed the bridge to be six times stronger.

Training&Education
BY BILL WEHRMAN, ESAB WELDING & CUTTING PRODUCTS
Apprentices from Iron Workers Locals 40 and 361 showcase their winning “Stairway to Success” project submission for Victor’s Rulers of the Flame student contest.
Shaping character
Rulers of the Flame contest showcases the benefits of a technical education
C

ompetition can build character, influence passion, empower careers and affect daily lives, especially when combined with oxy-fuel processes—cutting, heating, welding and brazing. The 2019 Rulers of the Flame contest, sponsored by Victor, an ESAB brand, offered students the opportunity to shape their own characters by working with oxy-fuel equipment.

The competition was open to students enrolled in a welding instructional program at a secondary, post-secondary, technical or vocational school. Winners from three fabrication teams, as well as three individual essay winners, each took home a $250 cash prize and Victor Medalist 350 outfit, while each school received a cutting and welding package valued at more than $8,400.

The Laser Expert
By Simon L. Engel, president, HDE Technologies Inc.
Focused beam
Laser drilling large-diameter holes
T

ypically, percussion laser drilling holes larger than approximately 0.020 in. diameter in metals by defocusing the laser beam is not typically practical. The demand for laser power is too high to produce the required power density. So, we cut a circular path with a focused beam to drill the holes. (For classification, see Figure 1.) Pulsed laser power is preferred for the following reasons:

  • The high peak power densities achievable even from lasers with modest average power.
  • Good coupling of the laser into the metal (surface effect).
  • The precise control of the diameter of the hole.
  • Good control of the total heat input (pulse width, overlap of pulses and duty cycle)
  • The minimal heat-affected zone.
Guest Editorial
By Lynn Stanley, Senior Editor
Gold standard
Jim Finnerty talks tips on recovering uptime by digitally monitoring equipment effectiveness

T

he gold standard was formalized prior to 1812 to back the value of paper banknotes. This monetary regime is no longer used, but the phrase became synonymous with a benchmark for quality. For fabricators, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is considered the gold standard for measuring productivity.

The classic OEE calculation takes into account machine availability, performance and quality. The resulting percentage score shows a manufacturer how production processes are performing and captures the reason for losses. “An OEE score of 100 percent means you are making only good parts as fast as possible with no unplanned downtime,” explains Jim Finnerty, Wintriss Controls Group LLC product manager.

Jim Finnerty talks tips on recovering uptime
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Toolbox
Wire brake designed for robotic applications
Wire brake designed for robotic applications
American Weldquip introduced a wire brake for its robotic torch line. The new integrated wire brake is designed for robotic applications using wire touch sense. The brake is designed to lock and hold the weld wire, up to 0.062 in. diameter, stationary when wire touch sensing for joint detection, etc. The new wire brake is air activated and is deactivated during the welding process.

American Weldquip, Sharon Center, Ohio, 330/239-0317, weldquip.com.

Discs deliver consistent performance
Discs deliver consistent performance
New Tiger and Wolverine flap discs deliver varying levels of performance, depending on the user’s needs. Composed of ceramic alumina and zirconia alumina grains, the 6-in.-diameter Tiger X standard density, conical flap discs provide maximum performance and aggressive grinding on flat steel and stainless steel surfaces. For general-purpose applications, the 6-in.-diameter Wolverine standard density, conical style (Type 29) and Wolverine high-density, flat style (Type 27) flap discs, made with zirconia alumina, offer a fast cut rate and consistent performance.

Weiler Abrasives, Cresco, Pennsylvania, 800/835-9999, weilerabrasives.com.

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What’s Happening
Walter acquires ArcOne
Walter acquires ArcOne
Walter Surface Technologies, Windsor, Connecticut, has acquired ArcOne, Taunton, Massachusetts, a provider of industrial safety products. Through this acquisition, Walter adds a personal protective equipment product line to its offering, complementing its metalworking products and workplace safety seminar program. ArcOne will continue to operate under its own brand.
Beckhoff expands regional office
Beckhoff expands regional office
Beckhoff Automation LLC, Savage, Minnesota, moved its Charlotte, North Carolina, office to a larger location to meet constant growth in customer base and market share in the area. The new facility enhances workspaces for sales and support engineers, includes a showroom and customer training room. Beckhoff also plans to open new facilities in 2020 and 2021 in or near Denver, Los Angeles, Houston, Milwaukee and Orlando.
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Eye on People
Denis Zayia Headshot
Denis Zayia
Renishaw appoints president
Renishaw Inc. chose Denis Zayia to become president of its USA operations. A 33-year industry veteran, Zayia started with Renishaw as coordinate measuring machine business manager in 1995 and became national sales manager for industrial metrology in 2008. His most recent position was vice president sales and marketing.
Dale Harshman Headshot
Dale Harshman
AIDA announces new hires, promotions
AIDA-America promoted Dale Harshman to team leader, mechanical assembly; and Leslie Bastress to inside sales support, service parts. It hired Gustavo Canchola as the AIDA de Mexico general manager and Steve Mirrlees as the AIDA Canada customer service manager.
Shannon Morris Headshot
Shannon Morris
Sales reps join MC Machinery
MC Machinery selected Shannon Morris as a regional sales representative for North/Central Texas and a portion of East Texas, Mark Kauffman as regional sales representative for Southern California, Nevada and New Mexico, and Craig Barbeck as a regional sales representative for Northern Ohio.
Jacob Schieffer Headshot
Jacob Schieffer
Beckhoff appoints sales manager
Jacob Schieffer has joined Beckhoff Automation LLC as central regional sales manager. Based at the subsidiary’s headquarters outside Minneapolis, Schieffer will oversee sales development throughout the Midwest, covering automation markets and centers of innovation.
Leanna Chapman Headshot
Leanna Chapman
Customer communications expert hired
Bystronic Canada, Mississauga, Ontario, has appointed Leanna Chapman as a customer service representative. Chapman will manage all communications, releasing technical updates, ordering consumables and overseeing service cases.
TPMG
trend publishing
metals group
Coming in August 2020
FFJ - The Metal Fabricators Directory
Reach a print and digital audience of metal service centers, OEM/End Users, and other fabricators.
Display advertising closing: 6/26/20
Advertising material due: 7/3/20
For display advertising, contact your sales representative.
Custom Fabrication
By Lynn Stanley, Senior Editor
Suspension specialist defies the odds, uses fortitude, know-how and technology to modify trucks to ride high or low
I

n his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul said, “I discipline my body and make it my slave.”

For Scott Bisi, owner of Cougar House Garage, the statement is an apt description of his daily routine, which begins at 9 a.m. with an hour-long massage by a therapist to unlock stiff, cramping muscles in his neck, shoulders, arms and legs. Willing his body to move, the suspension specialist then tackles routine tasks like breakfast before heading into the garage.

Bisi was 14 years old when he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The rare genetic disease prevents the production of dystrophin, a protein the body’s muscles need to function properly. The chronic condition is irreversible and progressive.

As tough as the metal he fabricates, the 32-year-old continues to defy the odds. “Being disabled is not in my personality,” he says. “That’s not my way.”


If you want to change the attitude of a vehicle, you have to change the altitude.


scott bisi,
cougar house garage
Custom Fabrication
By Lynn Stanley, Senior Editor

If you want to change the attitude of a vehicle, you have to change the altitude.


scott bisi,
cougar house garage
Suspension specialist defies the odds, uses fortitude, know-how and technology to modify trucks to ride high or low
I

n his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul said, “I discipline my body and make it my slave.”

For Scott Bisi, owner of Cougar House Garage, the statement is an apt description of his daily routine, which begins at 9 a.m. with an hour-long massage by a therapist to unlock stiff, cramping muscles in his neck, shoulders, arms and legs. Willing his body to move, the suspension specialist then tackles routine tasks like breakfast before heading into the garage.

Bisi was 14 years old when he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The rare genetic disease prevents the production of dystrophin, a protein the body’s muscles need to function properly. The chronic condition is irreversible and progressive.

As tough as the metal he fabricates, the 32-year-old continues to defy the odds. “Being disabled is not in my personality,” he says. “That’s not my way.”

Laser Technology 
By Lynn Stanley, Senior Editor
Ermaksan’s Momentum Gen-3 2kW fiber laser allows Olmar Supply Co. to make parts three to five times faster
Opening doors
Service, quick turnaround and fiber laser-anchored parts production keeps customers coming back and creates new business lines
Fiber laser-anchored parts production
W

riter and historian James Truslow Adams coined the term American dream in his bestselling 1931 book, “Epic of America.” He described the ideal as “a land in which life should be better …for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”

It’s a story with which Mike Baryla, CEO of Olmar Supply Co., is familiar. “My dad, Mark Baryla, started the business in 1999,” he says. “He immigrated from Poland in the 1980s with nothing, worked a few jobs and then opened the company in a 1,000-sq.-ft. commercial garage space with a couple of machines.”
Press Brake/Tooling
By David Bray, Product Manager, National Press Brake, MC Machinery Systems Inc.
Transitions
Macro forces drive changes in forming departments and press brake technology
T

hree macro forces drive significant change in the world of forming. They don’t necessarily paint a rosy picture, but there is good news to come.

The introduction of fiber lasers about a decade ago injected excitement and optimism into the profiling sector of fabrication, but faster speeds and higher throughput has created new issues downstream. The long-held standard for CO2 lasers was two press brakes for every laser. With fiber, that number can double depending on the part makeup.

OEM and job shops alike are being challenged to find profitability in low-volume/high-mix manufacturing environments. An easy task for a laser but, without the right technology in place, this type of manufacturing environment can significantly reduce the efficiency of the bending process due to increased setups per day on the press brake.

Welding
BY Gretchen Salois, Senior Editor
Another way
Expertise, coupled with the right equipment setup, ensures strong projection weld results
R

esistance welding, long viewed as a stepchild in the family of welding, is finally gaining the attention and respect it deserves by manufacturers of metal parts, says Tom Snow, chairman of T. J. Snow Co. Inc.

This is especially true in applications such as resistance projection welding of nuts and studs to the high-strength steel alloys now being used in the automotive industry to reduce weight.

Founded in 1905, The Ohio Nut & Bolt Co., Berea, Ohio, advises customers on resistance welded fasteners and produces a wide selection of styles, which include parts designed to be either spot welded or projection welded. Spot welding can be done successfully with a rocker arm-type resistance welder, whereas projection-welded nuts and studs are best attached with a vertical action press-type machine.

Tube & Pipe
BY BILL ATKINSON, TRI TOOL INC.
Purpose
built
Custom machine tools provide effective fabrication solutions
A comparison of a standard tube squaring machine on the left, with a customized version offering rapid cam clamping and the ability to cut variable angled ends.
O

ver the years, a wide range of portable equipment has been developed to perform metal cutting in-place, where it was not feasible to take the workpiece to a floor-mounted machine. For example, magnetic-based drills can accomplish drill-press accurate holes anywhere they can be attached. Similarly, portable powered threading machines quickly and easily generate excellent pipe threaded ends in the field without the need for a machine shop.

For work on tube and pipe, portable machine tools that were primarily designed for simple end preparation for welders, are being custom repurposed as dynamic and practical fabrication solutions that offer many significant advantages over conventional machine shop equipment.

Abrasives
By Adam Woodrey, executive director of marketing, Arc Abrasives
PREDATOR Resin Fiber material features self-sharpening grains that provide a long-lasting, aggressive cut and integrated grinding aids that reduce heat and grinding temperatures.
Quick change
Discs improve deburring results without deteriorating during the process

A

n auto manufacturer needed better performing ceramic quick-change discs. Previously, the ceramic disc’s material would fail to withstand the extreme grinding temperatures. The disc’s material also would become too hot and glaze over, causing the disc to shell and deteriorate. This meant frequent disc changeovers and poor efficiency.

The automaker turned to ARC Abrasives in Troy, Ohio, to conduct a performance test using Predator Resin Fiber Quick-Loks and the manufacturer’s current ceramic quick-change discs. Both discs were tested in a typical workday scenario using a right-angle grinder to deburr aluminum automotive door trim frames. The long life and aggressive cut of Predator Quick-Loks resulted in saving an hour of labor a day.

Bending / Folding
by gretchen salois, senior editor
The SweBend QF series of rolls come in various model sizes, in vertical or horizontal configurations, and can roll thin to thick materials in manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic modes.
Different direction
A high-volume project entices one manufacturer to invest in a vertical rolling machine
F

atigue is a concern for heavy manufacturing companies, especially when running through processes that require workers to move hefty material to and from multiple stations manually.

At Production Fabricators Inc. (ProFab), each part took a total of two steps on two separate machines to complete. ProFab operators would bend large batches of steel blanks, first by pre-bending each blank on a press brake. The blanks were then formed again by inserting the pre-bent ends one at a time into a manual three-roll plate roll to complete the shaping process.

Using a SweBend QFV-1 vertical quick roll that was sourced through Trilogy Machinery (SweBend’s North American distributor), ProFab automated its bending process.

Consumables
Metalworking Replacement Products & Tools
AccuLock S Series Consumables
NOZZLES
Nozzles designed to reduce downtime
AccuLock S Series Consumables include additional diffuser and nozzle types and sizes, as well as new contact tip options. The offerings now feature a new slip-on diffuser, along with a copper 3/8-in. bore tapered nozzle. Two new diffusers that allow small AccuLock S Consumables to be installed easily, including thread-on and slip-on versions—plus compatible brass and copper nozzles with 5/8-in. and 1/2-in. bores and brass nozzles with 3/8-in. bores. A variety of tip recesses are available within the selection of nozzles.

Bernard, Beecher, Illinois, 855/644-9353, bernardwelds.com.

Monster #10, Arc-Zone
WELDING
Nozzles designed to improve weld-quality
Now with the Monster #10, Arc-Zone offers six different TIG welding nozzles, sized from 5/8 in. (#10) – 1.5 in. (#24). Each is designed to improve weld-quality, lower gas consumption, and enhance the welder’s overall experience. Monster nozzles are made of durable, non-reactive ZTA ceramic with integrated diffusers. This proprietary combination delivers a coherent stream of shielding gas and allows for a longer tungsten stick-out, resulting in improved visibility and access to hard to reach joints. The nozzles are available as complete ready-to-weld kits or in replacement cup packs.

Arc-Zone.com, Carlsbad, California, 760/931-1500, arc-zone.com.

Now with the Monster #10, Arc-Zone offers six different TIG welding nozzles, sized from 5/8 in. (#10) – 1.5 in. (#24). Each is designed to improve weld-quality, lower gas consumption, and enhance the welder’s overall experience. Monster nozzles are made of durable, non-reactive ZTA ceramic with integrated diffusers. This proprietary combination delivers a coherent stream of shielding gas and allows for a longer tungsten stick-out, resulting in improved visibility and access to hard to reach joints. The nozzles are available as complete ready-to-weld kits or in replacement cup packs.

Arc-Zone.com, Carlsbad, California, 760/931-1500, arc-zone.com.

available for difficult to finish materials like high nickel alloy steels
ABRASIVES
Abrasives designed for difficult to finish materials
Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) abrasive is available for difficult to finish materials like high nickel alloy steels. CBN combines the highest hardness with excellent toughness to provide the optimum surface finish in materials like Monel, Inconel, Incoloy, Hastelloy, Invar and Rene. Sizes from 4mm to 20mm are standard in three different mesh sizes.

Brush Research Manufacturing, Los Angeles, 323/261-2193, brushresearch.com.

Custom Fabricator
Know a great CUSTOM FABRICATOR? Tell us. Email Mark Koenig at mkoenig@ffjournal.net.
Bunny Foo Foo
“Little Bunny Foo Foo” is a children’s poem, involving a rabbit harassing a population of field mice. The rabbit is scolded and eventually punished by a fairy. Craig and Katherine Hall would recite the poem to the tune of the 1948 Lee Ricks and Slim Gaillard song, “Down By The Station,” to their children when they were young. A 30-ft. by 15-ft. by 7-ft. grade 316 polished stainless steel sculpture commissioned by the Halls in honor of Little Bunny Foo Foo now leaps from the vineyard at their Hall Winery, St. Helena, California. The mesh-like design of the figure was inspired by the vineyards, designer Lawrence Argent said, and the size and material of the project would significantly impact the vista surrounding the property. BFF, as it’s called, has made his way onto the Hall’s wine labels. At this time of year, you’ll find him toting a giant basket of Easter eggs.
Learn more about this and other Custom Fabricators at www.ffjournal.net/customfabricator
PHOTO: Lawrence Argent
Bunny Foo Foo sculpture by LAWRENCE ARGENT
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Michael D’Alexander
Editorial
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