 |
Ironworker is a class of machine that can shear, notch, and punch holes in steel plate and profiles. The name is now used to refer to the whole class of machines (made by at least a dozen brands, including Edwards). If there ever was a brand name, it has now become a genericized trademark. Ironworkers generate force using mechanical advantage or hydraulic systems.
Modern systems use hydraulic rams powered by a heavy alternating current electric motor. High strength carbon steel blades and dies of various shapes are used to work the metal. The machine itself is made of very heavy steel to handle the enormous force that can be generated during use. Ironworkers are rated according to the force they can generate in tons; ratings usually start at 20 tons and go as high as 220 tons. Mechanical ironworkers are mostly used in productions with low temperature in winter (up to −20 °C (−4 °F)) and are considered to be faster. Another reason to choose the mechanical construction is when cutting of large profiles (up to 300 mm (12 in) and bigger) is needed. Most hydraulicals can't cut this size. The disadvantages are the higher power consumption (sometimes double for the same job), the noise and the safety concerns.
Ironworkers are built with safety in mind, but they still present hazards that must be addressed and thoroughly thought out before they are purchased. Most of them have at least 4 stations that require boundaries around them to safely produce parts. They can shear flat plate, angle iron, round and square bar stock as well as punch plates, angles, I-beam and channel iron. Some have a station for notching and forming of different materials. The area around each station should be at least 20 feet since that is the common stock length of most materials used on ironworkers.
Operations which can be performed include:
Due to the reduction in the amount of man hours and effort needed to cut or punch steel sections, an ironworker is often an integral part of commercial manufacturing facilities and fabrication shops. They are easily re-tooled for various operations and can be operated by one person.
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: cold forging, warm forging, or hot forging. For the latter two, the metal is heated, usually in a forge. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to hundreds of metric tons. Forging has been done by smiths for millennia; the traditional products were kitchenware, hardware, hand tools, edged weapons, cymbals, and jewellery. Since the Industrial Revolution, forged parts are widely used in mechanisms and machines wherever a component requires high strength; such forgings usually require further processing to achieve an almost finished part. Today, forging is a major worldwide industry.
A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand or rock dust.
Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles, specially designed for executing construction tasks, most frequently ones involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. Heavy equipment usually comprises five equipment systems: implementation, traction, structure, power train, control and information.
A forming press, commonly shortened to press, is a machine tool that changes the shape of a work-piece by the application of pressure. The operator of a forming press is known as a press-tool setter, often shortened to tool-setter.
A die is a specialized machine tool used in manufacturing industries to cut and/or form material to a desired shape or profile. Stamping dies are used with a press, as opposed to drawing dies and casting dies which are not. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create.
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex cross-sections; and to work materials that are brittle, because the material encounters only compressive and shear stresses. It also creates excellent surface finish and gives considerable freedom of form in the design process.
Metal fabrication is the creation of metal structures by cutting, bending and assembling processes. It is a value-added process involving the creation of machines, parts, and structures from various raw materials.
Sheet metal is metal formed by an industrial process into thin, flat pieces. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Countless everyday objects are fabricated from sheet metal. Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil or leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 in) are considered plate steel or "structural steel".
A punch press is a type of machine press used to cut holes in material. It can be small and manually operated and hold one simple die set, or be very large, CNC operated, with a multi-station turret and hold a much larger and complex die set.
A scarf joint is a method of joining two members end to end in woodworking or metalworking. The scarf joint is used when the material being joined is not available in the length required. It is an alternative to other joints such as the butt joint and the splice joint and is often favored over these in joinery because it yields a barely visible glue line.
Punching is a forming process that uses a punch press to force a tool, called a punch, through the workpiece to create a hole via shearing. Punching is applicable to a wide variety of materials that come in sheet form, including sheet metal, paper, vulcanized fibre and some forms of plastic sheet. The punch often passes through the work into a die. A scrap slug from the hole is deposited into the die in the process. Depending on the material being punched this slug may be recycled and reused or discarded.
Die cutting is the general process of using a die to shear webs of low-strength materials, such as rubber, fibre, foil, cloth, paper, corrugated fibreboard, chipboard, paperboard, plastics, pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes, foam, and sheet metal. In the metalworking and leather industries, the process is known as clicking and the machine may be referred to as a clicking machine. When a dinking die or dinking machine is used, the process is known as dinking. Commonly produced items using this process include gaskets, labels, tokens, corrugated boxes, and envelopes.
An alligator shear, historically known as a lever shear and sometimes as a crocodile shear, is a metal-cutting shear with a hinged jaw, powered by a flywheel or hydraulic cylinder. Alligator shears are generally set up as stand-alone shears; however, there are types for excavators. The jaw size can range from 4 to 36 in long. They are generally used to cut ferrous members, such as rebar, pipe, angle iron, or I-beams.
A press brake is a machine pressing tool for bending sheet and plate material, most commonly sheet metal. It forms predetermined bends by clamping the workpiece between a matching punch and die.
Notching is a metal-cutting process used on sheet-metal or thin bar-stock, sometimes on angle sections or tube. A shearing or punching process is used in a press, so as to cut vertically down and perpendicular to the surface, working from the edge of a work-piece. Sometimes the goal is merely the notch itself, but usually this is a precursor to some other process: such as bending a corner in sheet or joining two tubes at a tee joint, notching one to fit closely to the other.
Shearing, also known as die cutting, is a process which cuts stock without the formation of chips or the use of burning or melting. Strictly speaking, if the cutting blades are straight the process is called shearing; if the cutting blades are curved then they are shearing-type operations. The most commonly sheared materials are in the form of sheet metal or plates, however rods can also be sheared. Shearing-type operations include: blanking, piercing, roll slitting, and trimming. It is used for metal, fabric, paper and plastics.
Blanking and piercing are shearing processes in which a punch and die are used to produce parts from coil or sheet stock. Blanking produces the outside features of the component, while piercing produces internal holes or shapes. The web is created after multiple components have been produced and is considered scrap material. The "slugs" produced by piercing internal features are also considered scrap. The terms "piercing" and "punching" can be used interchangeably.
A log splitter is a piece of machinery or equipment used for splitting firewood from softwood or hardwood logs that have been pre-cut into sections (rounds), usually by chainsaw or on a saw bench. Many log splitters consist of a hydraulic or electrical rod and piston assembly and these are often rated by the tons of force they can generate. The higher the force rating, the greater the thickness or length of the rounds that can be split. The log splitter consists of all four major hydraulic components.
There are many types of shears used to shear sheet metal.
Isis Downs Woolshed is a heritage-listed shearing shed at Isisford-Blackall Road, Isisford, Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Kay, MacNicol and Company Engineers and built from 1913 to 1914 by Dorman Long and Company (Melbourne). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 September 2008.