Above: The 2150A-PC3S-60 has a cutting capacity of 20 in. by 25 in. and a blade width of 1.5 in.
A Midwestern steel fabricator relies on tried-and-true results
March 2020 - For 16 hours a day, five days a week, Sawing and Shearing Services Inc. keeps its Amada Marvel 2150A-PC3S vertical tilt-frame saw running. The relentless pace wears on the equipment and, after years of 80-hour weeks running, it eventually is replaced in order to start the process anew.
Through the years, the machine’s controls have changed but the model’s cast iron construction remains constant. “We’ve had the 2150 since forever,” says Anthony Sambo, owner of Sawing and Shearing Services. “We just buy new models every few years. Amada Marvel takes back the old one and we don’t miss a moment.”
Sawing and Shearing Services also runs an 800A-PC3S vertical tilt-frame machine as well as five Amada models including three HFA400s, an HFA500 and HFA700. The job shop processes a wide range of materials for customers large and small. “We offer shearing, burning, machining, tube cut-off, lathe work and plasma cutting—we run everything,” Sambo says of the family run company.
Amada Marvel saws’ PC3 controls are user friendly. The saws use AC servo drives and precision ball screws instead of old-school hydraulics.
Increased capacity
The 2150A-PC3S is a workhorse, and Sawing and Shearing Services invested in the 800A-PC3S to increase its capacity.
“We can cut up to 60 degrees instead of the more typical 45 degrees,” Sambo says. “This way, when I get a drawing for a tube to be cut at 55 degrees, I don’t have a problem. In the past, we had to compensate with special setups. Now, we just program the job in the machine and it goes.”
The 2150A-PC3S-60 and 800A-PC3S-60 are automatic indexing, heavy-duty, hydraulic, high-speed band saws. The 800A-PC3S-60 has a cutting capacity of 31.25 in. by 37.5 in. and a blade width of 2 in. The 2150A-PC3S-60 has a cutting capacity of 20 in. by 25 in. and a blade width of 1.5 in.
Sambo says the ability to cut 31.5-in. diameters on the 800A-PC3S up to 60 ft. long offers increased opportunities. “Not a lot of other shops can do the range of sizes we can do,” Sambo says. “Other job shops are cutting more along 20-ft. pieces whereas we can unload 60-ft. beams and channels onto our equipment without a problem.”
Other job shops cut 20-ft. pieces “whereas we can unload 60-ft. beams and channels without a problem,” Sambo says.
The latest in controls technology is featured on these saws, including advanced programming and diagnostics. These controls, combined with rigid construction and new designs, such as a ball-screw feed, increase productivity and ease of use.
“Our machines are meant to be worked, so wear and tear eventually take their toll. When that time comes, instead of replacing parts piecemeal—like with an older car that starts to go—a few thousand dollars to replace the transmission or another couple thousand to replace other parts—it’s time to get a new car,” says Ross Ploecklemann, national accounts manager at Amada Marvel Inc., Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Amada Marvel saws’ PC3 controls are user friendly. “We use AC servo drives and precision ball screws where many of our competitors are using old-school hydraulics,” Ploecklemann, says. “Jobs can be downloaded using ethernet connections. People can sit at their desk and create parts and send them down to the controls and the job gets going.”
Sawing and Shearing fabricates racks for holding steel pipe and tubes and solid bars.
Amada Marvel has been designing and manufacturing metal cutting saws since 1904. Amada Holdings Co. Ltd. acquired Marvel Manufacturing Inc. in August 2018. Since then, the relationship has proven a solid fit. “We’re excited about the relationship with Amada,” Ploecklemann says. “Between the two companies, our market share has about doubled.”
Metal fabrication runs through generations at Sawing and Shearing Services which operates in an 80,000-sq.-ft. facility in Blue Island, Illinois, just south of Chicago. “I’m second generation and worked here through high school and college,” Sambo says. “My father picked these saw models 29 years ago, and we’ve been using them ever since. They’re our go-to sawing machines. Add that to the support we receive from Ross Ploecklemann, and we’ve just never had a reason to look anywhere else.” FFJ
