5-in-1 versatility:
Universal Ironworkers
[excerpt]

These multi-purpose machines offer efficiency and versatility to fabricators ranging from the corner shop to the Big Three auto makers.

In an era of specialization, the ironworker machine offers a wide range of versatility – punching, shearing, notching, coping, and forming. Ironworkers come in a variety of sizes based on the force they can exert.

       There are to general types of ironworkers: mechanical and hydraulic.

       The units are similar in that they usually have two or more workstations that can, depending on the unit, operate independently.

       One workstation is generally dedicated to punching, the other to shearing. In most cases, the workstations are located on opposite ends of the machine.

Mechanical and hydraulic
       With mechanical ironworkers, a flywheel stores energy from an electrical motor. The flywheel's rotational energy is released as each metalworking operation is performed. Flywheel energy is restored by the motor between the powerstrokes of the ironworker. The mechanical unit's electricity consumption is less than that of a comparably-rated hydraulic ironworker and, in general, a mechanical unit's operation is faster.

       Hydraulic ironworkers use no energy-storing flywheel, instead they use hydraulic rams to perform their operations. There are two type of hydraulic ironworkers: single and dual hydraulic. The dual-cylinder ironworker has two hydraulic cylinders, one devoted to the punching operation and the other dedicated to shearing / coping tasks . . .

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