Bam! That’s the first and last thing you hear when a shear makes a cut. Holy mackerel, this process has Newton’s Law written all over it. Old Newton said (very loosely translated) something like, “If you bring enough mass (or force or weight) to bear on a small area, things will begin to get physical in a hurry.” Spoke in understandable English, in reference to our discussion of plate shears, here is what we mean: Equipped with a good set of cutter blades, a solid hydraulic plate shears from Bud’s Machine Tools will flat out, in one second or less, part the maximum thickness across their entire working length.
Whether a guillotine shear or one with a swing beam design, plate shears really don’t seem to be much more complicated in function than paper cutters. Both kinds of machines are fairly rudimentary if you picture how these machines operate internally: it’s all about the pressure at the point where the two slightly offset parallel blades come together. That’s where everything happens. They don’t call these machines “shears” for nothing — don’t forget, these machines shear through plate metal, and man, they do it quick, fast and in a hurry.
It just so happens, we here at Bud's Machine are blessed with the opportunity to present not one kind of plate shear, not two kinds of plate shears but rather — you guessed it — three distinctly different shearing machines, each with a different slant on shearing.
We don’t know why, but around here we tend to look at a piece of metalworking equipment and categorize the machine by how it would affect production. Generally speaking, the more built-in capabilities the machine tool has, the more productive it would be, thereby having the most impact on end product production.
With that vein of thought in mind, the first and most productive hydraulic plate shear in our line-up is the variable rake CNC shear. Basically, the main feature of this plate shear allows for correct blade angle or blade gap each and every time the shear is cycled. When you load the material, and then specify the type and thickness of said material in the control, the CNC controller will automatically set the blade gap for the exact material type and classification and thickness. These plate shears have thickness capacities between ¼" to 1" and shearing lengths from 10 feet to 30 feet. All manner of sheet feeding accessories are available upon request.
The next and probably most popular shears are the swing beam CNC series plate shearing machines. Designed to be the world’s most heavily-built swing beam plate shears, these machines are, in fact, just that. With an up-to-date touch screen CNC controller, these machines are ready to produce. Efficiency is maintained with the single point blade gap adjustment easily accessible to the operator. Adjustable hold downs are liberally place all across the cutting length, but are closer together at both ends.
Lastly, we come to the economical powered plate shear. This plate shear is easy to set-up and cuts accurate blanks to your specs (well, as accurate as the person operating it is). These plate shears are all direct-drive machines, so maintenance is kept to a minimum.
Well, the long answer and the short answer are the same answer: Bud's Machine Tools, located in Salt Lake City, Utah! Bryan "Bud" Jorgenson's family has been in the fabrication machine tools sales business for many a decade and Bud's Machine Tools can provide any type of metalworking machine you are after, be it a fabrication machine or a chip maker. Our experience in all aspects of sales and service are sure to put a smile on your face as well.
