The title basically says it all, doesn’t it? We’ll take a guess here: If your company is in need of either a “plate processing machine” or a “structural steel fabrication machine,” one thing is probably going to be evident, you’re into big projects. (That’s really a no-brainer. Any company that needs to process full sheet steel in any manner or a company that needs a machine to process structural steel — like steel beams — is probably in the business of making bigger things.)
The first thing that comes to mind is shipbuilders — shipbuilders need big machines because they need to produce really big piece parts. We would suppose both machine regimens mentioned above would be alive and thriving in a modern shipbuilding company. Some shipbuilders have their equipment outdoors because they are too big to put inside. Plate processing machines in these environments can be as long as 200 feet in the X axis, and 40′ wide in the Y axis! Structural steel machines could accommodate the largest mill-produced “H” beams in lengths commonly at 40 feet or more, only dependent on the machining requirements.
What about companies that make water towers? Wow, both machine types would be prevalent in this setting as well. The major industry list could go on and on, such as huge construction companies that build the biggest infrastructure projects like dams, bridges, stadiums or skyscrapers. We will discuss in further detail below the main differences in these two combined machine types, as each one of them does a distinctly different job.
Well folks, this category might be bigger than you think. We will start with everybody’s favorite, the machine most people associate with this category, namely, the beam line (also commonly referred to as the drill line). Newer designs of these machines make them absolute powerhouses of production. Now, nothing you need done to an “H” beam or any other kind of beam will have to be moved to a different set-up. The modern beam line can do it all right down to marking (or “scribing”) the parts with relevant information. All activity is controlled by a sophisticated CNC controller that controls tool changes, coping, punching, drilling, tapping, or marking the beams, as well as material movement and positioning. The end result of all this technology? Unparalleled accuracy in the production of machined beams, the likes of which have never been experienced in the construction industry. What else do we have in this segment? Next up is the horizontal straight or miter cutoff band saw. In this segment, we are talking band saws that start at 20" capacity and go up to 80". After that we offer an assortment of angle line production machines. Here the technological influence is readily seen in these machines, as the level of automation is bounded only by one’s imagination. The angle line Bud's Machine Tools represents offers three models of angle lines with varying capacities. These machines can punch, drill, notch, cope, and shear front and back.
Another staple of the structural steel machinery grouping is the larger ironworker. In this product line, Bud's has been involved almost from the beginning of our company’s history, some 50 years ago. Again, we would be referring to the larger sizes ironworkers like the Durma IW 80, 110 and 180 which have, respectively, 90-ton, 120-ton and 180-ton twin hydraulic cylinder force. The machines discussed above are certainly not all the equipment available to Bud's Machine Tools in the machine tool segment we commonly refer to as the “structural steel machinery segment,” but they are a start.
Why yes, there was a second segment of machine tools we had left to discuss. They are a group of machinery we refer to as “Plate Fabrication Equipment.” In this segment, probably because of a combination of productivity and initial cost, the leader has got to be the plasma plate cutting machines. Due to a high level of CNC integration on these machines, a plasma can make all the holes a drill or punch can make. The spindles frequently have multiple heads, so a plasma, after burning a hole in a piece of steel plate, can go right ahead and index a tapping head to tap that same hole, before moving on to the next function. Of course, one should list all the other “plate fabrication” machines that have their own place in today’s modern fabrication industry. Bud's Machine Tools also offers fiber lasers, CO2 lasers, oxy fuel plate cutters as well as water jets.
Bud's Machine Tools, nestled in the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City, Utah, is where you can order all the structural fabrication machinery you need. Back when Bryan "Bud" Jorgenson's father, Roger Jorgenson, got into the metalworking machinery sales business, he handled just a couple specific lines of fabrication equipment. As time went on, he expanded his offerings to cover virtually every kind of fabrication machine tool under the sun. A generation later, we carry on that tradition at Bud's Machine Tools, where fabrication and other metal-forming machines are sold through competent sales engineers who can make the right recommendations for each customer the first time. Supporting that activity is our well-respected service department, ready, willing and most certainly able to install and service what we sell. In addition, we maintain a well-stocked parts department with both standard parts and optional tooling for certain machines we represent. Bud's Machine Tools is the “total package” in fabrication machine tools and your one-stop shop for all things metalworking!
