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| Winter 2015 |
| SUCCESS STORIES |
| NEW-AGE HEAVY METAL By JoAnn Bortles I remember standing in a dark, cold, cluttered shop two years ago looking at a car project with unlimited potential. It was one of those projects that gets a gear-head’s heart beating fast. There was just one problem: the fabricator. He was a young guy who wanted to do things the way they were done back in the 1950s and ’60s—the days of “real hot rodding,” he said. I smiled but inside I was cringing. Anyone who was doing sheet metal fabrication and restoration back then knew just how restricted the techniques were, due to the limitations of some of the equipment. Plus, automotive sheet metal back in the ’50s was completely different from sheet metal of the ’60s and later. Equipment needed to change with the material. There are some pieces of automotive fabrication equipment that are timeless and if properly taken care of, are actually as good or better that most of what is currently available new. Bending brakes, shears, English wheels, planishing hammers, bead rollers, shrinkers, Bridgeport milling machines and Logan lathes are examples of older equipment that perform as well as newer equipment. But when it comes to equipment with electrical circuitry, there is no equal for equipment with the latest technology. And I have some experience in this area. Back in the mid-1980s I worked at several companies as a welder/fabricator. At a hot rod parts manufacturer in Wallingford, Connecticut, my first job was to cut out parts using a plasma cutting system. I immediately hated it. Not only did the loud machine produce sparks that flew everywhere, the edges of the parts were so rough, I had to spend hours grinding them smooth. After two days I’d had enough, so I screwed up some parts and they moved me to a welder. I never wanted to plasma cut again. Twenty-four years later I tried out a new-technology plasma system and was blown away by the difference. The quiet machine produced cleanly cut edges and the sparks were kept to a minimum. Of course, the quality of the equipment can make all the difference in the results. I was using Hypertherm’s Powermax45 Plasma System manufactured in the U.S. One big difference between old and new plasma technology? Powermax systems have a patented drag tip torch, which means you can drag the tip right along the surface of the metal. No more shakily holding the torch just above the metal. It makes it so much easier. I found that the Powermax45 served all the plasma cutting needs of my custom shop and I have had great success using the Powermax45 for the past two years. What I like most about it are the three different settings: regular cutting for most cutting duties like completely removing a quarter panel or floor pan, chopping a roof and trimming the ends off a bumper; gouge mode for carefully carving away rusted bolt heads and old welds; and expanded metal mode for cutting away rusted sections of panels, which comes in very handy for restoration work. Plasma systems also make it easy to cut out new metal pieces like new panels or brackets for custom projects quicker than a band saw. Need to cut a rectangular section from a large piece of material? Measure it off, clamp any straight metal edge along the desired cut line and run the torch along the line. The result will be perfectly straight, smooth edges on the newly cut piece. Last year Hypertherm released the Powermax30 XP, which can cut up to 5/8-inch metal. It has the capability needed for thick metal cutting, yet it can also be used for fine detailed, thin metal with its FineCut consumables. It’s a 30-amp machine that plugs into 110. It’s a very portable unit that can accomplish most of what the bigger guys do. Hypertherm also came out with its HyAccess extended consumables for the Powermax torches that are longer and have narrower tips than regular consumables. It makes it easy to get into tight places with limited access. Plus, the narrow tips make it even easier to use templates when cutting out shapes. And that’s what it’s all about—making our job easier and more enjoyable. Excerpt from Performance & Hotrod Business, February 2015 Read the full article. |
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