A
Th e
Component Manufacturing dverti$er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$er
February 2020 #12247 Page #10
Sixty Years of Machines: Part III: Table Presses
Joe Kannapell - P.E. Senior VP, MiTek USA www.mitek-us.com
ore CMs are “doing it right the first time” via vertical presses, taking advantage of their flexibility and the quality of their production. But few realize that some of the most successful plants in our industry started with table presses. These presses have always had the following key advantages over roller gantry systems:
M
• Eliminating hammering of truss plates • Reducing assembly time and effort • Embedding truss plates uniformly • Fewer bent teeth in SBCA QC inspections • Finishing truss in a single process • Reducing “touches” • Multiple table widths • Minimizing material handling distances • Less working on top of table Few operated the table press as well as Trussway in the 1970s in their (still-prosperous) Houston plant. Their Gang-Nail Mark V presses cranked out completed trusses in less than 2 minutes. They took advantage of the unique structure of the Mark V tables: a light but durable LVL surface with Uni-Strut jigging channels. Because the press had lower and upper platens, the table could be supported by wooden kick legs, and its width could be varied. While the press head traversed the table much slower than a roller gantry, the time lost pressing plates was nearly recovered by the time saved not hammering them. And each cycle resulted in a finished truss that was stacked in an orderly manner, eliminating downstream processes. In other words, doing it “right” the first time. Today this process continues to be effective at Shelter Systems Limited in Maryland with Auto 8 and Auto 14 Presses.
Continued next page
PHONE: 800-289-5627
Read/Subscribe online at www.componentadvertiser.com
FAX: 800-524-4982