Here is the tour of Trick Concepts fabrication shop.
This 16" DoAll band saw does most of the contour cutting in the shop. This machine has 2 gear speeds with continuously variable speed adjustments for cutting a variety of materials and thickness. This is the most versatile cutting machine in the shop and can be fitted with a band file or polishing band.
There is a blade welder attached to this band saw that allows for making blades for this and other saws from a roll of blade stock. This also allows for the cutting of internal contours. The nonwelded blade is placed through a drilled hole in the part that needs to be cut, then the blade is welded while it is looped through the part. The band is then put back on the saw. When the cutting is done, the blade is cut to remove the part. The blade can be cut and welded many times because only a small amount of the blade is used up in the welding process, and there is a lot of adjustment for blade length built into the saw.
This is a Marvel Series 8 Vertical cut off saw. This saw does most of the brute force cutting in the shop. This saw only cuts straight lines and can not be used for contour. It uses a 3/4" blade to help maintain straitness. The whole saw head moves on tracks along the saw bed to cut the part. The head tilts 45 degrees in each direction to make angle cuts. Most angle cuts can be made without ever repositioning the work material. This saw was retrofit with pneumatic feed and clamps that were built in shop. This greatly speed up production work. This machine will make a vertical cut 27" tall x 19" deep.
Here is our standby band saw. This machine is only used for wood and some composites. This machine is always set up for wood, so it is not used often, but it keeps us from having to change the blade on the other saws when wood needs to be cut. The above saws will cut wood, but they tend to cut slowly because they have metal blades on them. Also this saw can be used for fiberglass which is very hard on a blade. This prevents ruining a good metal blade.
The 12" disc sander is used to remove material quickly and contour parts. The Rigid sander is an oscillating Drum and belt sander. This is used to create clean contours on all materials.
This 9" grinder is for major material removal on parts that are to large to take to the disc sander or bench grinder.
The plasma cutter is used to cut almost any metal. Our L-Tec Plasma cutter is 50 Amps and can cut 1" plate steel. This cuts similar to an oxy-acetylene torch, but is more precise and does not require time for the metal to warm up. Using compressed air and electricity, a plasma arc is created that vaporizes that metal. The arc is about 50,000 degrees F.
This is one of the most versatile tools in the shop and is one of the first tools that should be purchased be anyone interested in fabrication. An Oxy Acetylene Torch can cut, weld and heat metal. We usually only use the torch for heating because we use our Plasma Cutter for cutting and either our Tig or Mig welder for the welding The Acetylene gas, being fed with oxygen burns at 6700 Degrees, making it the hottest burning gas. This can heat steel to a bright glow quickly. Care must be take not to heat parts that have a heat treatment that will be ruined by heating. The Torch can also be used to heat treat. Typically steel is heated until it is glowing red and quenched in oil. This is not precise, but will do in a pinch. The table shown in the picture on the right is a grate for allowing the plasma arc to pass between and not to shoot back at the user. There is sand under the grate that is used to catch hot metal and sparks.
The bulk of the welding is done with the Mig welder. This Century welder is 200 amps. The Mig welder is wire feed which makes for quick fabrication. The Mig welder is used mostly for steel, but will also weld other metals. For precise delicate welding we will TIG weld the part.
This 300 amp P & H welder is one of the oldest pieces of equipment in the shop. While designed in the 50s, it will will with it's newest competitors. This machine will Weld AC and DC in Forward and Reverse Polarity. It has adjustable high frequency controls for all welding conditions. This machine will both Stick (ARC) and Tig weld. This is the ideal machine for welding up tube roll cages and sheet metal parts. It has the power to do large plate metal also.
The arbor press is used to press in and out parts. This is typically used to press bearings, pins and other tight fit parts. This arbor press will press with a force of 5 tons. This can be used as a production tool for assembly
Shown here are 3 of our welding tables. The first one is our smaller Tig welding tables. This has a 1/2" steel top and is used for most of our smaller welding projects. The Second one is our 4ft x 4ft welding table. This one is used mostly for sheet metal fabrication. it has a 1" thick steel base and a 1/2" steel top. The third table is a large layout table that can be used for large frames, tooling and fixtures. The top is 1" thick cast steel for excellent flatness and stability. The angle plates on the table are used for layout and supporting parts while welding.
You can never have too many clamps. These are used to hold parts while welding, or anything that third, fourth or filth arm is needed. The Photo in the middle is a welding rotary welding positioner, which is used to weld round parts. The part is placed in the three jaw chuck and a motor rotates it while it is welded. This allows for keeping the welder in one place while the part moves. The reduces the need for the welder to also be an acrobat. The photo on the right is a large vice. It weighs a couple hundred pounds and is anchored to the floor.
The Diacro bender is used to bend metal to complex shapes. It is totally manual and relies on leverage to make the bends. A series of pins or custom tooling can be made to create an array of complex shapes.
Our 10 HP 2 stage air compressor feeds the shop. This compressor pumps to 185 PSI and feeds air to the entire shop. There are 2 separate lines running through out the shop. One is an oiled line, which is used to run air tools, and the other is a dry line that can be used for painting, powder coating and sand blasting. The picture on the right is an air cooler. This is basically a radiator and a fan. This cools the air after it leaves the compressor tank. This condense the water vapor so it can be caught by the water trap.
The first photo shows a wall of specialty benders. Most of these are for smaller tubing. The middle pictures is a hydraulic mandrel bender. This is used to make role cages, suspension parts and and any other type of structural tubing needs. The third picture is a hand powered shear, punch, break. This will cut, punch a 1/4" hole or bend steel up to 1/4" thick and 2" wide.
We have most power hand tools available for those jobs that just don't fit into the norm.
The first 2 Photos show some of our raw steel stock. We keep a supply of structural steel for general purpose and heavy bars to make dyes and fixtures. The third photo shows some stacks of aluminum billet, that is used mostly for fixtures. The second row shows some of our rubber stock and engineering plastics. We have the materials in stock to do most small projects and get started on most big projects.
We keep a large supply of Aerospace and industrial fasteners in stock. We also stock specialty items such as clamps, knobs, pins, clips etc.
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