The Cost of Labor in the Field vs the Cost of additional deliveries to Job Site? More Mechanicals and Sheet Metal Contractors are moving in the direction of not only Fabricating Duct Sections in the Shop but also connecting and Sealing the Joints. This is a result of the continuing challenge of quality […]
The Cost of Labor in the Field vs the Cost of additional deliveries to Job Site? Read More »
What do contractors mean when they talk about Straight Duct and Fittings in Rectangular Duct Fabrication? Straight Duct One Piece sections of straight duct with Ductmate Flange on ends , corners inserted. When it arrives on job site, the duct film on ends will be removed and the sections will be connected to each other
Bubble Wrap: a cleaner alternative to Fiberglass Duct Wrap View this post on Instagram R8 Bubble Wrap installed on R6 spec means no overlap required. #ductingac #insulationinstallation #externalinsulation #fiberfree #bubblewrap A post shared by hvacusa (@hvacusa) on Feb 18, 2020 at 5:29am PST The idea of removing Fiberglass from Residential Insulation completely and replacing with
Addressing the Money Pit in HVAC Fab Shops: old Plasma Tables If HVAC contractors treated their Plasma Table like one of the Trucks in their fleet, things would be different. Both are run throughout the day every day and are integral to their business, yet contractors will often spend thousands of dollars trying to keep
Degreaser Plasma Table Labels Plasma Table labels are always advertised as “removable” but, once applied they are near impossible to remove easily. In instances where an architect or engineer require them removed (sometimes on exposed ductwork), there’s a lot of effort required to scrape these stickers off the duct. We sell a product
Power Flanger—Snaplock On Radius Elbows, most shops will tell you that doing the Throats in Pittsburgh is no big deal because they are usually small; but, on a Radius Cheek moving from Pittsburgh to Snaplock means a huge labor savings. Yet, on low pressure duct jobs contractors will often make the Straight Duct in Buttonlock
Power Flanger—Snaplock Read More »
Cleatbender—Manual “Turning the Drive” on a manual Cleatbender: The steps required for turning the edge for a Drive Cleat The steps required for turning the edge for a Drive Cleat… What’s your shop’s record on turning drives in a single day period? A Cleatbender turns a flat edge 180 degrees to prepare it
Cleatbender—Manual Read More »
Combi T Gorelocker The speed to make Elbows, Offsets, Reducers, even Ends caps just improved with Spiral Helix’s Combi T machine, a faster process without having change dies for diameters but more importantly, not having to change dies from Gore Flanging to Gore Connecting.. 5″ thru 50″ diameter, 18 ga Galvanized capacity. How is
Combi T Gorelocker Read More »
The most important Hand Tool in a Duct Shop’s Inventory… Tinner’s Hammer The Tinner’s Hammer (aka Setting Hammer) has been a staple in every sheet metal shop for over 100 years. In a Duct Fab shop it’s primary daily use is the Hammer Over Edge on Pittsburgh Duct. Used on both straight duct and fittings
Duct Sealant—Longitudinal vs. Transverse Sealing Rectangular Ductwork: Choosing a Sealant with characteristics that match the Seam/Connection and the point of application Duct Sealant Characteristics Longitudinal Seam: a narrow lock that usually is long and continuous and moves in one direction. Covering this lock with more than 1/2“ width of sealant makes for a messy appearance and a waste
Duct Sealant—Longitudinal vs. Transverse Read More »
Are Mechanical Contractors starting to use third party companies to Install the Sheet Metal Ductwork? In several of our markets we’ve seen an increase in companies that are built around an increased need: Commercial Duct Installation Labor Shortages are forcing many Mechanicals to try something new: subcontract the Installation of the Sheet Metal
SMACNA and Mastic on Rectangular Duct “Rectangular Longitudinal Seam leakage for Pittsburgh and Buttonlock seams is low compared to that in Transverse Joints” SMACNA Duct Construction Standards 2005 But SMACNA also states that “the designer is responsible for determining the pressure class or classes required for duct construction and for evaluating the amount of sealing necessary”.
SMACNA approves 28 ga on 14” diameter Spiral and smaller but fabricators use 26ga instead Here is the feedback we’ve received that makes that understandable: 1. The min of the Spiral Helix TF3600, the runaway top seller of Spiral Pipe Tubeformers, is .016 thickness. That’s on the heavy side of 28 ga which means if
Slit Coil for Spiral Pipe Read More »
Underfed Decoilers Uncoilers are feeders for a duct line or a plasma table. When purchased for a duct line the contractor can buy up to four decoilers, one for each gauge of metal. The underfed comes up a ramp and the pinch roll pulls it in. The downside is it costs more and it
Underfed Decoilers Read More »
Stitchwelder We are big believers in that there are three machines required to “semi-automate” the Spiral Pipe portion of a Duct Shop: the Spiral Tubeformer, the Combi-T Gorelocker, and the Stitchwelder. A lot of shops hold off initially on the Stitchwelder due to it’s $75k+ price tag and instead use a Spotwelder (or free-standing Clinching
Cheekbender—Pittsburgh The Cheekbender turns a 90 Flange that serves as the Male Pitts on a Square Throats of a Rectangular Duct Elbow. Square elbows have two sides, referred to as “cheeks”. While those cheeks are still in the flat, the manual cheek bender turns a 90 degree flange
Cheekbender—Pittsburgh Read More »
Step Bits: What makes them a “step up” over Drill Bits? Using a single bit to drill holes is a big timesaver for anyone who’s constantly looking through their toolbox for the correct diameter Drill Bit. Step Bits solve that bottleneck with one bit stepping up to larger diameters. As it moves, rotating clockwise each
Canvas Connector starts as a 100 ft roll packaged in an orange or red box… …but once fabricated, ends as a Rectangular Frame Connection in between two joining sections of ductwork. There are four Canvas Connection Frames in this picture…can you identify them? Why Safety is the primary reason 4” x 4” x 4” Canvas
Drift Pin Ratchet Tool The “Must Have” Job Site Tool for connecting Ductmate or TDC/F sections There’s a critical stage of the Ductmate connection that’s done on the job site in a less controlled environment than the confines of a Duct Fab shop: aligning and connecting the 2 mating gasketed duct sections. Though
Duro Dyne Magnetic Drift Pin Ratchet Tool Read More »
Power Flanger—Pittsburgh A Radius Elbow consists of 2 cheeks—these are the sides of the fitting and it’s on the top part of this cheek that the Right Angle Flange is turned at a 90º angle. Both the top and bottom edge of the two cheeks (sides) of this Radius Elbow are run on a Power
Power Flanger—Pittsburgh Read More »
The savings of Buttonlock in place of Pittsburgh on Low Pressure Rectangular Duct Lockformer Company Brochure, August 1968 Snaplock Buttonpunch on Rectangular Duct is making a comeback! Even though Snaplock has been a SMACNA standard for the Longitudinal Seam on Low Pressure Duct since 1969, many shops left it behind in favor one method- Pittsburgh-that
Buttonlock Machine Read More »
Cartridged Duct Sealant for the cleaner application on Longitudinal Seam Duct Sealant applied by cartridge gun to Pittsburgh Lock on Duct Interior With a Brush and Bucket this is what sealing the interior duct Pitts seam often looks like…not very good. Feedback is that some contractors apply the mastic to the Longitudinal seam (the Pittsburgh
Cartridged Duct Sealant Read More »
Male Pitts: the often neglected other profile in the Pittsburgh Lock The Pittsburgh Lock consists of two profiles: the Female and the Male. Yet the Pittsburgh Machines run only one of those as standard: the Female. For decades the Male Pitts has been offered as an optional set for the outboard side of a 20
Male Pitts: the often neglected other profile in the Pittsburgh Lock Read More »
Clinching as an alternative to Drill Screws for connecting Ductmate Frame to the duct wall Ever considered the sharp points of screws as a handling risk but also as objects in the airstream that accumulate lent and residue over time? With #3 Die, Clinches Stainless Duct to Stainless Ductmate Flange… Attaching Stainless Ductmate to the
Trumpf TF350 Clinching Tool Read More »
Power Hand Shears Conklin stocks three types of power hand shears—unishears (S series), double cut shears (C series), and nibblers (N series). In addition, the nibbler has a variation in the cutting head that with a quick changeout can convert the round head of the standard nibbler to a square head to become a profile
