A kinder cut

Jan 1, 2002 12:00 PM

Joe Dvorak invented the hydraulic Ironworker in 1949. Since then, the family business, Uni-Hydro, has carved a niche for itself building machines to cut, bend, punch and notch all kinds of metal, including flat stock, round bars and angle iron. The company's Ironworker uses a “guillotine” action to make clean, even cuts. In contrast, the “scissors” action used by many other machines can lose force at the far end of the blades, resulting in greater metal deformation.

Although professional metalworkers have long recognized the Ironworker as a valuable tool, Uni-Hydro also markets one of its smaller models, the 42-14 SLS, for farm use. The machine can punch a 11/16-in. round diameter hole in ½-in.-thick material. The angle shear handles material up to 3 × 3 × ⅜ in. thick, and flat bar shear use can go from ⅜ × 14 in. to ½ × 10 in. Options include braking, pipe notching, square notching and picket fence tooling. Prices for the SLS range from $4,975 for a three-phase model to $5,150 for the single-phase model. Contact Uni-Hydro, Attn. Brad, Dept. FIN, 310 E. Gemini, Cosmos, MN 56228, 800/328-0036, visit www.unihydro.com to request a video.