Between a Rock and a Hard Place...Magnetic Drill to the
Rescue
Garrison Welding is less than two years old, but
owner Tom Garrison finds his business is literally in exactly the right location
for success while figuratively his business has reached the summit. For just
across the street from the welding and fabrication shop is the North American
home of the world's premier builder of artificial rock climbing walls, Entre
Prises USA. As part of the global Entre Prises organization founded in France in
1983, the U.S. operation has contributed to the design and installation of over
3,500 units worldwide, with more than 800 of the structures in the U.S. alone.
The Entre Prises climbing walls are renowned for their realistic appearance,
quality, safety, and-of course-the climbing experience they provide for both
recreational and professional training purposes. Entre Prises' walls are
installed at universities, military facilities, on cruise ships, and in both
private and community-based recreation centers across the country.
Depending upon the style of climbing wall being
installed, the framework's fabrication and assembly begins at Garrison Welding,
where hundreds of pieces of angle iron, measuring 3" x 3" x 1/4" thick up to 5"
x 5" x 1/2" thick are cut, then welded together to form 20-foot to 40-foot
reinforced and braced frame sections. These sections are then bolted together,
horizontally and vertically, to complete the skeleton of the climbing wall, some
ascending several stories into the air.
"An ordinary day's work for us," said Garrison,
"is fabricating interior storage racks for box trucks, sand and aggregate
hoppers for concrete mixing plants, man-lift buckets and platforms for utility
type vehicles, ornamental gates and railings, and a variety of both shop and
mobile welding for aluminum, stainless steel, structural steels plus the repair
of heavy equipment. But when an order comes from Entre Prises for a new frame
project, it requires just about everybody's attention for a couple of weeks.
"To simulate the overhangs, outcroppings and the
inherent free-form contours of real rock surfaces, the frames have to be a
series of trapezoids and irregular shapes and sizes. Though they look askew,
they follow a very carefully engineered design and are constructed to very rigid
safety guidelines. The welds joining the iron pieces into a frame are thoroughly
inspected for integrity.
"Once the frame sections have been fabricated,
these large sections are laid out on the shop floor and positioned as planned
for final assembly. The units are clamped together, and where they overlap at
designated assembly points, we drill 5/8" diameter bolt holes through both
pieces of angle iron.
"When our work is finished, the frame sections are
taken across the street to Entre Prises where they assemble the entire skeleton,
then cover each section with polymer cement for the rock-like appearance. The
wall is then disassembled, delivered and reassembled on site."
With the addition of handholds, that's the simple
explanation for putting together a complex climbing wall structure. In
operation, however, the challenge for Garrison Welding was in finding a way to
drill the series of bolt holes efficiently. Since the frame sections were too
large-and too awkward to move to a drill press-Garrison's plan was to use a
"portable" magnetic drill: a unit that weighed, according to Mr. Garrison,
nearly seventy-five pounds. "It wasn't portable," Garrison said, "and it was so
large, we had trouble keeping the magnet base secure to the angle iron. On
several occasions-especially when working with the three-inch size angle
iron-the drill would break loose and be a danger to the operator."
During one frame construction project, though, a
solution walked through the door, in the form of a new magnetic drill and a
representative from Hougen Manufacturing. The drill-the company's HMD904
Portable Magnetic Drill-is designed first and foremost for portable use. It
weighs just 27.5 lbs., measures 16-7/16"H x 7-3/16"W x 8-1/4" long, and yet
provides drilling capacities of up to 1-1/2" diameter and 2" depth of cut, the
company reports.
"The representative demonstrated the drill, its
ease of use, its speed, and that's all it took," said Garrison. "I wouldn't let
him leave with the drill. We bought his demo model on the spot, and Hougen
overnight-shipped the cutters we needed to do the job. We were running the next
morning. A single 40-foot frame-to-frame connection will involve up to 20 hole
locations- that's a 5/8" diameter hole through each of the two pieces of angle
iron at any given spot. We can now finish a section in about 20 minutes, whereas
before-with the older drill-it would have taken at least an hour. With any wall
project needing 200 to 300 drilling operations, using the Hougen drill is saving
a lot of time and struggles."
One feature of the Hougen HMD904 that Garrison
appreciates is the high-strength magnetic base that provides a 1,124-pound
dead-lift rating and 612-pounds drill point breakaway force rating. Though
providing powerful holding strength, the base measures just 3-1/8" wide by
6-9/16" long to fit and hold securely on the three-inch size angle iron.
As for drilling power, the drill incorporates a
U.S. made motor with an electrical system rating of 120V, 50/6OHz, 8A, 960W that
helps to maintain efficient cutting speeds and feeds in all types of
applications, including deep holes, large diameter holes and for holes, in tough
alloys," said a company spokesperson.
"The HMD904 also maintains Hougen's efficient
design characteristics including rear mounted, accessible controls and a
reversible feed handle configuration that enhances the unit's ergonomics and
ease-of-use. The unit also incorporates Hougen's exclusive safety features to
insure a safe work environment. These include a lift-dector, which shuts down
the drill motor if lift of the magnetic base is detected. A two-stage power-on
switch prevents spindle rotation unless the magnet has first been engaged and,
in the case of a power interruption, safety circuitry that keeps the drill motor
off after power is restored until the start button is manually depressed.
The IINM904 uses Hougen's Rotabroach
"12,000-Series" Annular Cutters that can improve drilling times by more than two
to three times that of conventional holemakers such as twist drills, according
to Hougen. Because the annular cutters are hollow, there is no center point or
"dead zone" that slows the cutting SFM of twist drills, therefore reducing
potential feed rates. With the Rotabroach tools, however, tool SFM is virtually
constant so speeds and feeds can be set for optimum drilling rates.
For Garrison Welding's application, however,
Hougen provided cutters featuring stack-cut tooth geometry. This stack-cut
geometry prevents the center "slug" of material from the first piece of stock
from binding in the cutter and allows the tool to proceed through subsequent
layers of materials in a single pass.
"The HMD904 has helped us meet our scheduling
goals and deliver the climbing wall interior structures on time," said Garrison.
"We've also found uses for it on outside job sites, especially elevated
locations, where using hand held electric drills could be dangerous. For
example, when Entre Prises has assembled a wall but then wants to make a
modification, the Hougen drill is so easy to use, we can take it right up to the
top of the framework if needed. Its at the top of our list for productivity and
quality."
In addition to the HMD904 unit, Hougen also
produces 12 other models of portable magnetic drills with capacities to 3-1/16"
diameter and 3" depth of cut. Additional products include magnetic drill
accessories, annular cutters for portable drilling and stationary machine tools,
cutters specifically designed for sheet metal and plate work, plus Punch-Pro
Electrohydraulic, single-body, easy-to-use hole punchers with associated
tooling.
For more information contact:
Jim Kaiser
Hougen Manufacturing, Inc.
3001 Hougen Drive
Swartz Creek, MI 48473
810-635-7111
Fax: 810-635-8277
www.hougen.com
E-mail: info@hougen.com
Southwest
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Joe Fuller
Fuller & Associates
P.O. Box 278
587 Marilee Rd
Gunter, TX 75058
800-722-7078
Fax: 877-429-3962
E-mail: jfullerrep@aol.com
NM
Jim VanCoevern
Pro Tool & Machine Sales
7000 N Broadway Street
Building 2, Unit 205
Denver, CO 80221
303-934-2282
Fax: 303-934-2235
E-mail: jvancoevern@comcast.net
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AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA
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Gardner & Meredith
P.O. Box 4837
Chattanooga, TN 37405
423-756-4722
Fax: 423-756-4268
E-mail: dgard80421@aol.com
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David Gardner
Gardner & Meredith
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E-mail: dgard80421@aol.com
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Metal Equipment
P.O. Box 180
Harmony, PA 16037
724-453-0676
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E-mail: mes@verizon.net
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P.G. Tool Company
P.O. Box 619
Woodbury, NJ 08096
856-848-2288
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www.pgtool.com
E-mail: sales@pgtool.com
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978-464-0607
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E-mail: robkcowles@aol.com
Midwest
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Jim VanCoevern
Pro Tool & Machine Sales
7000 N Broadway Street
Building 2, Unit 205
Denver, CO 80221
303-934-2282
Fax: 303-934-2235
E-mail: jvancoevern@comcast.net
KS, MO, ND, SD, MN, IA, IL, NE, WI
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Weinacht & Associates
400 N. Bluff Road
Collinsville, IL 62234
618-345-6565
Fax: 618-345-7799
www.weinacht.com
E-mail: kweinacht@weinacht.com
IL (Chicago Area), E. WI, NW IN, IA
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Impact Sales
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Waukesha, WI 53188
262-662-3000
Fax: 262-522-6467
E-mail: mschimel@tds.net
MI, NE. IN, N. OH
Bill Otero
Hougen
3001 Hougen Drive
Swartz Creek, MI 48473
810-635-7111
Fax: 810-635-8277
E-mail: b.otero@hougen.com
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Bohlman Sales Company
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Centerville, OH 45459
937-435-1786
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E-mail: gbohlman@aol.com