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 but go Pittsburgh on the Radius Elbows. This is a very labor intensive task for the fab shop. A Buttonpunch Flanger has been available for decades—first introduced by Lockformer and then Flagler who followed several years later.
It’s a great investment for any shop doing Snaplock Rectangular duct because it allows the Radius elbows for that Ductwork to also be fabricated with the Buttonlock seam rather than the Pitts which is a significant labor savings.