Welder’s anthrax, also known as metal fume fever, is a common occupational disease affecting welders and other metal workers. This condition is caused by inhaling fumes produced when welding certain metals, such as zinc, aluminum, and magnesium. The fumes produced by welding contain metal oxides that, when inhaled, can cause a variety of symptoms that can range from mild to severe.
Development and Symptoms of Welder’s Anthrax
Welder’s anthrax is a type of pneumonia and is caused by a bacteria that produces anthrax toxin. It is generally a short-term condition that usually develops within several hours after exposure to welding fumes. The most common symptoms of welder’s anthrax include flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, chills, nausea, and fatigue. In extreme cases, the symptoms can be more severe, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, and coughing.
When to Seek Medical Treatment
Though the symptoms of welder’s anthrax are similar to those of a common cold or flu, they typically appear more suddenly and can last for several days. In most cases, the symptoms will resolve on their own within a few days. However, in some cases, the symptoms can persist and may require medical attention.
Your doctor may perform a physical examination and take a blood sample to check for metal fumes in your bloodstream. In severe cases, you may be hospitalized and treated with medications to relieve your symptoms and prevent further exposure to welding fumes. If you suspect that you have welder’s anthrax, it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
The Importance of Proper Ventilation
To prevent welder’s respiratory health hazards, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the sources of fumes and dust generated during the welding process. This can include the type of welding being done, the type of base and filler materials used, and the work environment. Based on this knowledge, appropriate dust collection systems can be designed to effectively collect the hazardous particulate.
Welder’s anthrax is not a long-term condition, but it can cause discomfort and can impact your ability to work. If you employ welders, it is important to take steps to prevent welder’s anthrax. Speaking to professionals to help determine the best solution for your facility is a good first step.
Partner with Imperial Systems to Help Prevent Welder’s Anthrax
Imperial Systems can partner with you to design a system tailored to your system and facility. We assess your work environment and design a system that integrates with your workflow while ensuring that employees are staying healthy.
Welder’s anthrax is a common condition that affects welders and other metal workers. Inhaling welding fumes can cause a range of symptoms, from flu-like chills to more severe issues in serious cases. The best way to prevent welder’s anthrax is to ensure any areas where welding takes place are properly vented with a fume extractor.
Plasma cutting is a powerful tool for metal fabrication, but it also creates a significant challenge – dust. Above all, fine metal particles and harmful fumes can pose serious health risks to workers. They also contaminate the shop environment and even damage equipment. But fortunately, plasma cutting with zoned downdraft tables offers a strategic solution for effective dust control.
The Zoned Advantage: Targeted Capture for Airflow Efficiency
Unlike traditional flat-surface tables, zoned downdraft tables partition the cutting surface into individual sections, each equipped with its own damper to allow or restrict airflow. As a result, this targeted approach provides several key benefits:
Reduced Airflow Requirements: Zoned tables require significantly less airflow compared to single-chamber designs. This is because only the active zone where cutting is occurring needs airflow, significantly reducing energy consumption, noise levels, and the size and cost of the required dust collector.
Enhanced Dust Capture Efficiency: By focusing airflow on the active zone, dust and fumes have less opportunity to escape. This targeted capture approach improves air quality, protects worker health, and minimizes environmental pollution.
Flexibility for Different Workpieces: Zoned tables can accommodate different-sized workpieces by activating only the zones covered by the workpiece. This eliminates unnecessary airflow over empty areas, further optimizing energy consumption and noise reduction.
Design Options in Zoned Downdraft Tables for Diverse Needs
Zoned downdraft tables are available in various configurations to cater to different workshop needs and workpiece sizes:
Grid Zoning: Ideal for smaller tables, this layout divides the surface into evenly sized squares, each with its own duct connection.
Sectional Zoning: This is perhaps the most common layout, and dampers can be adjusted based on where the cutting head is working. This maximizes surface coverage and minimizes airflow needs.
Custom Zoning: For complex shapes or specific cutting patterns, custom zone layouts offer ultimate flexibility, ensuring optimal dust capture for any project.
Optimizing Dust Collection for Maximum Performance
Effective dust control in zoned downdraft tables goes beyond simply dividing the surface. Several key elements work in concert to ensure optimal performance:
Ductwork Design: Properly sized and strategically positioned ducts are crucial for ensuring smooth airflow and efficient capture. Further, duct diameter, bends, and connections must be carefully considered for optimal performance.
Damper Systems: Automated dampers can open and close individual zones, further reducing unnecessary airflow and optimizing energy consumption. Depending on the size of the cutting head, multiple zones may be open at a time.
Airflow Velocity: Maintaining the correct airflow velocity within each zone is essential for efficient capture without excessive energy usage. So, balancing airflow velocity and energy efficiency is key.
Investing in a Cleaner and Safer Future
While zoned downdraft tables may require a higher initial investment compared to traditional flat-surface tables, the long-term benefits are significant. Reduced energy consumption, smaller dust collectors, improved worker health and safety, and a cleaner work environment all contribute to a positive return on investment. For shops prioritizing efficiency, safety, and environmental responsibility, zoned plasma cutting tables offer a strategic and sustainable solution to dust control challenges.
As the demand for minerals and other resources continues to rise, so does the need for more mining. It has become crucial to prioritize the implementation of proper safety measures to protect both the environment and miners. One key aspect of ensuring operational safety in mining processes is effective dust collection. The generation of hazardous dust in mining, such as silica, coal, and asbestos, poses significant health risks to workers and can contribute to environmental pollution.
By implementing effectively designed dust collection systems, mining companies can minimize the release of harmful particulates into the air, protecting miners’ respiratory health and reducing the potential for long-term occupational diseases. Prioritizing dust collection in mining operations ensures the well-being of workers and the preservation of the environment, leading to sustainable and responsible mining practices.
Mining Processes and Dust Challenges
Various processes such as drilling, blasting, crushing, and grinding produce a substantial amount of mining dust. Let’s discuss the different types of mining and the specific dust collection challenges they pose.
Underground Mining
This involves extracting minerals and ores from beneath the earth’s surface, which poses unique challenges for dust collection. Dust is generated during drilling, blasting, and cutting of rocks and coal, which can cause respiratory issues for miners. Additionally, the confined spaces of underground mines can make it challenging to manage and maintain dust collection systems. It is essential to have specialized equipment that can effectively capture and control the specific dust being generated, such as a heavy-duty dust collector.
Surface Mining
The surface mining process involves extracting minerals and ores from the surface of the earth, also generates a significant amount of dust. Dust is produced during the excavation, crushing, and transporting of materials, which can cause respiratory issues and eye irritation for workers. In addition, surface mining can have a significant impact on the environment, with dust and other pollutants affecting nearby ecosystems. Proper dust collection systems can help mitigate the impact of surface mining on both workers and the environment.
Open-pit Mining
This is removing minerals and ores from an open pit or borrow. The excavation and transportation of materials can create significant amounts of airborne dust, which can affect not just the health of workers, but also the health of local community members. Like surface mining, open-pit mining can have adverse effects on nearby ecosystems. Effectively designed dust collection systems will keep the environmental impact of hazardous dusts to a minimum and keep employees and residents safe and healthy.
The CMAXX Dust & Fume Collector: Built for Mining’s Tough Demands
Because of the hazardous nature of dusts produced from mining, a heavy duty dust collector is essential. Our CMAXX Dust Collector includes as standard, 7 ga. and 10 ga. steel construction, abrasion-resistant inlets complete with UHMW lining, baked-on powder coat inside and out, and many more features to address the harsh mining environment. DeltaMAXX Prime cartridge filters are able to remove silica, coal, asbestos, lead, mercury, and other dusts from the air meeting the strictest environmental regulations for permitting.
Dust collection is crucial in the mining industry to protect workers’ health and safety and minimize the impact on the environment. With specialized equipment and systems designed to capture and control dust effectively, mining operations can operate safely and sustainably. Contact Imperial Systems to discuss your mining dust collection solution today.
This is the last Dusty Jobs Podcast episode from Fabtech 2023. In this episode we talk with Luke Surratt from Mazak Optonics Corp. Luke talks about some the new laser cutting technology Mazak has to offer as well as new automation. He also talks about their service and installation offerings.
Narrator: Welcome to the Dusty Jobs podcast from Imperial Systems. Industry knowledge to make your job easier and safer.
Donovan: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dusty Jobs podcast. We’re still at Fabtech, day four. Joining us now is Luke Sarat from Mazak. How you doing Luke?
Luke: Good. How about you?
Donovan: Well I am – I’m glad to be sitting down. It’s been a long show. How about you?
Luke: Yeah, same. Ready to go home.
Donovan: Exactly, yeah, yeah. So we’re finally wrapping it up here. Do you guys have a good show so far?
Luke: Excellent show. One of the best in in my tenure here at Mazak. You know a lot of good boot traffic, a lot of good leads, a lot of new stuff, a lot of exciting things to see.
Donovan: Yeah, yeah, and we’ll get into it in a minute why a lot of people came into your booth. How did you get into this industry? Today we kind of have a lot of students walking around and what’s your role over at Mazak? What do you do there?
Luke: So I’m general manager of customer service. Been at Mazak Optonics almost 22 years. Started out of college as a field service engineer. Did multiple jobs throughout our service group.
Donovan: So field service engineer. What’s that?
Luke: So traveling, installing, servicing our equipment Monday through Friday. Seeing the country on Mazak.
Donovan: Yeah there you go. There you go. So some of these young people that might be a career they would be interested in something like that. So yeah sorry keep going.
Luke: Yeah so did that for about 10 years or so. Then ended up having a family. So moved more into an in-house role. Service supervisor, was training supervisor. I ran our installation group for about eight years. So I was installation manager and then moved to general manager of customer service. So service, support, basically anything customer facing is underneath me.
Donovan: Well that’s incredible. That’s great because that just shows that one, if you’ve been with a company that long – great company.
Luke: Yep.
Donovan: Two, that they promote from within and guys like you who are now in upper management, you got there because you know what’s going on below. You know everything your guys are going through you’ve gone through it yourself and that’s just great when you can see that in a company that you know you can really relate to the guy who’s out there traveling. You’ve done it.
Luke: Too well sometimes. But yeah I mean it’s it’s been a great company. It’s been a great ride. You know one thing that’s kept me there is our technology. Constantly advancing. Constantly changing. There’s always something new, always something you can learn.
Donovan: So well well let’s get to that something new. That’s why you probably got a lot of people in your booth. You guys had something to come out this year, right?
Luke: Yeah. So we showed a couple new things this year at the show. First – sorting robot. So it’s a pick and place robot. We have it on the… we have a seven kilowatt Neo.
Donovan: Pick and place?
Luke: Yeah. So we got a seven kilowatt Neo. Seven kilowatt fiber laser with a KST automation which is your raw material and your skeletons end up right above the two PC. Small footprint and then it comes out to a third position with an actual robotic arm that is taking the parts out of the skeleton and placing them on pallets.
Donovan: Okay so unlike some other tables, table’s gonna you’re gonna have a piece of metal out and then it’s gonna slide in – it’s gonna get cut. And then and then it’s gonna slide back out. And then once it gets back out of the unit there’s gonna – you guys have a robot now that pulls all those parts off.
Luke: Yeah so it actually comes out your standard laser has two pallet changers. So it comes out to your cutting position and then like a loading and unloading style position. So it comes out to a second position and you could put the whole nest back up in the tower. Traditional kind of loading and unloading of a laser. Or it can come out to a third position where the robot is and actually pick the parts out of the sheet. Once it’s done picking the parts it’ll go back into that second position and unload the skeleton into the automation.
Donovan: Oh, so does it know from the program how to organize those parts also?
Luke: Yes. Yes all out of the programming software. So the same software that’s driving the laser, the NC code, to cut the parts is driving the sorting program.
Donovan: So I could have possibly three or four different pieces on one cut and the robot will know how to sort them and put them in the appropriate piles or places.
Luke: Correct.
Donovan: Wow that’s got to save some time there.
Luke: Yeah. Yeah I mean that’s you know in this industry everybody’s hurting for one thing right now and it’s people. Skilled people. You know most shops you go to have two or three people with a lot of lasers that are shaking and sorting parts all day long and this is just a solution for our customers to eliminate the manpower of sorting parts.
Donovan: Right. Right. And then it’s it’s uh it’s gonna keep things safer a little bit too, right? Oh you know not not as much handling not as much attention for people cutting or dropping something on themselves.
Luke: Yeah I mean it it’s not gonna call in sick it’s gonna show up. Yeah it’s gonna work. Nights and weekends.
Donovan: Yeah. Well the shop can that work lights out.
Luke: Yes it can.
Donovan: So you could you get at the end of the day you could load that up and then come back in the morning and all your parts are sorted there.
Luke: Yep. Ready to go for next process in the next morning.
Donovan: So we were talking to a couple other people earlier in the day about plasma tables. And when we talk about a laser table, how hard is it for someone to learn how to use that table? Is it is it pretty easy? I mean if there’s someone out there that one of these young people and they’re listening they’re going oh I never thought I could have a job as a laser table operator. I mean is that something that would require a college degree?
Luke: Most, no. No, it would not require a college degree even to come you know start out with us you know we promote a lot like you were talking earlier from within. You know a lot of younger generation you know know what they’re doing, got a good head on their shoulders. They’ll come into Mazak and we’ll start them on a path to become a field service tech. We do a lot of training and growing from within, as well as going into the workforce. There’s really not a big difference from operating a plasma table to a laser. It’s a different technology. The M and G code, the programming, most of it’s all the same.
Donovan: So but it’s not it’s not overly complicated is what I mean. Do you think I could do it?
Luke: Yeah.
Donovan: Well if I could do it probably a lot of people out there could do it. So, well that’s great because that’s just another opportunity for you know young people coming out of high school, coming out of trade schools that they could learn this job, learn this field. And I mean you guys are selling a lot of these things, right?
Luke: Oh yeah.
Donovan: So there’s gonna be a need for people to be out there and running them.
Luke: There’s a need for running them. There’s a need for people to service them. There’s need all the way around. You know, manufacturing has kind of gotten a bad wrap in the industry, you know of you go in to your guidance counselor showing you a Ford Model T plant. But that’s not manufacturing these days. You know shops are clean, very environmentally friendly and safe, and you know most shops we go into now painted floors very nice facilities, you know. It’s not the manufacturing what people think about there’s a ton of technology in manufacturing. You know many of the shops got a AGV’s running around moving the material from place to place, things that you wouldn’t even think about.
Donovan: Well and I don’t I don’t think we’re ever gonna go backwards either. Everything is just gonna keep getting more advanced. And I’d say if you’re a young person coming out of school right now it’d be a great field to start looking into.
Luke: Oh yes, for sure.
Donovan: Because you can learn it now and keep going because like you said things just keep getting better. You guys just came out with the sorting robot that wasn’t even a thing six years ago that people were thinking about. And you guys – did you guys come out with a new laser this year?
Luke: Yes we did. We also debuted here at Fabtech our larger platform laser. It’s a 4.2 meter bed by 2 meter bed so 4.2 by 2 larger platform.
Donovan: That’s big.
Luke: Yes it is. And 20 kilowatt. So up until this week you know the highest laser power Mazak was doing was 15 kilowatt. So now we’re up to 20 kilowatt.
Donovan: So what’s that additional kilowattage? What’s that allow you to do?
Luke: So it allows us to do more capacity – thicker material, you know, that two inch aluminum or that two inch stainless but that’s not really the core of the market for that machine. The core is to be able to take your mid-range material so I’d say 3/8’s up to 3/4 and cut it faster. You know 10 years ago if we were sitting here everyone was cutting with oxygen to help accelerate the process to help the melding process of the material. That’s what you need to use on a lower powered laser to cut thicker material. Now in that leaves an oxide edge on the side of the part. So everyone would have the second process in it for paint or powder coat. You know get that oxide off the edge. Where cutting it with nitrogen or shop air for an assist gas. You don’t have the oxidation. So now as the power increases the capacity to nitrogen or oxygen cut increases and it’s much faster.
Donovan: That makes a lot of sense. So you can cut faster and cleaner.
Luke: Yes.
Donovan: So if you bought a new laser from you guys with the robot basically you could go right out of that process into powder coating if you needed.
Donovan: So you can almost eliminate with your guys new system you can eliminate three steps in the process. Of what it takes to get things done.
Luke: Yeah. Or not have to invest much in your powder or your paint system. You know it not always was a secondary process to get the oxide off. A lot of places would put extra steps in the wash cycle for their paint system. Which costs money and time as well.
Donovan: Right. Right. Yeah. And everybody’s trying to be more efficient. Nobody wants things to take longer. Well that’s that’s exciting stuff. That’s exciting stuff. So just trying to think through anything else that you guys might… you guys do all your own service work like we were talking about earlier. Yep. Guys are install service full turnkey.
Luke: Yeah. Full service. You know Mazak we’ve had lasers in the US since 1986 and we still service and support everything back to 1986. Full part stock service. Capacity people.
Donovan: Oh wow. That’s impressive.
Luke: Yeah. So you know you buy something from Mazak you know a lot of the competitors other industries will throw you to a third party after seven to ten years. Not us. We are a hundred percent will work on everything we’ve ever sold.
Donovan: Well that’s great. That’s great. Well hey I know it’s been a long week.
Luke: Yes it has.
Donovan: We’ve all had a long week and I appreciate you just giving us a couple minutes to come talk.
Luke: I appreciate you guys taking the time.
Donovan: Yeah. Yeah. And so is there anything else you want to share about if anybody’s trying to get a hold of Mazak, if they’re interested in a laser. What’s the best way to do that? What’s the best way to look you guys up?
Luke: The best best way generally is to jump on our website. You know MazakOptonics.com. Can connect with us there.
Donovan: And you guys have a showroom locally, too, correct?
Luke: Correct. We have a showroom. It’s in Elgin, Illinois which is about 30 miles here from downtown Chicago.
Donovan: Yeah. So if someone wanted to come out and actually see one working in person, and they didn’t make it to Fabtech they could come out and see you guys.
Luke: Yes they can.
Donovan: So that’s great. Well Luke, thank you so much for coming on. Go check out Mazak on their website. I bet you guys got some stuff on YouTube and other things too.
Luke: Yes we do.
Donovan: They’re on LinkedIn and you can find us on all those platforms too. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok. We’re on them all. So feel free to check us out on those and until we talk to you next time stay healthy stay safe.
Luke: Okay. Thank you.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Dusty Jobs podcast. Breathe better, work safer.
In this episode of the Dusty Jobs Podcast Fabtech 2023 Edition, Donovan talks with Chris Phillip from AKS Cutting Systems. This is the second time Chris has been on the podcast. This first time Chris was on he told us about the history of AKS Cutting. On this episode Chris talks about their new developments on display at Fabtech.
Narrator: Welcome to the Dusty Jobs podcast from Imperial Systems. Industry knowledge to make your job easier and safer.
Donovan: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dusty Jobs podcast. Today Chris is back with us again from AKS Cutting Solutions. How are you guys doing over there?
Chris: Good we’re doing really well. This has been no joke the best show that we’ve had in the last four or five years.
Donovan: That’s great that’s great. Now if people aren’t familiar with AKS they can go back and listen to the other podcast that you and I did together but give us a little information a little sum up about what AKS is and what you guys do.
Chris: Sure so we are based out of Cleveland, Ohio. We have a pretty large facility there, 55,000 square feet. We’re a fourth generation family owned business. My dad is currently the president. My great-grandfather bought the company. My grandfather ran the business for 50 years. So he just retired a couple of years ago. We talked about him quite a bit in our last one. So we manufacture CNC tables, right? We know how to move a tool really well and put it in the right spot. Right now the tools we integrate are plasma and water jet. And then we have all sorts of different little add-ons and features that we can put on top of that to increase the capacity and capabilities of the system.
Donovan: So yeah. So anybody who’s not familiar the big sheet of metal comes in. Lots of parts and pieces need cut out of that. And then instead of doing it by hand you guys can program it into a machine that cuts it out.
Chris: Exactly.
Donovan: That explains it pretty simply right?
Chris: Right. You got that right. So basically every weldment in the world is going to start with big pieces of material that you got to make smaller. Yeah. And then you’re going to put them back together. Right. Right. It’s kind of a weird little thing. Additive manufacturing really is just welding. And then there’s also 3D printing. It’s mainly welding. Subtractive manufacturing. Cutting stuff up and sheening things down. Doing stuff to a big piece and making it smaller. That’s the side that we play on. So basically any shop in the world, any fabricating facility in the world, they’re going to bring in bar stock. They’re going to bring in sheet. They’re going to bring in their raw materials. And the first thing they want to do is make it small. That’s why you put a plasma table right next to your back door. So you bring in the big stuff, toss it on there, cut it out, make it small, and then give it off to the welders.
Donovan: Yeah, that is the workflow of a lot of shops. So what’s new with AKS in the realm of plasma tables?
Chris: Sure. So we’ve released two new products in the last year. One being the Plasmatic and the other being the Plasmatic Pro. We’re demoing the Plasmatic in our booth A3525, and it’s been received very well. We’ve actually sold a couple of them here at the show.
Donovan: So what makes the Plasmatic different than just the standard table that you guys have had in the past?
Chris: Not much actually. Other than the price point. It’s quite a bit cheaper. So what we’ve done is we’ve reduced some material weight. We’ve centralized some elements like the electrical cabinet and the drive package and whatnot. And we are using some smaller drives because we know that we’re not going to load up the machine with as much weight of tools and stuff. It is a dedicated plasma cutting system. And it’s definitely going to be a big player in the light industrial market.
Donovan: Nice. So you guys have figured out how to make a machine that’s geared towards a certain size of application and really just make it as economical as you can. Not sacrifice on any quality, just taking everything you can and making it a really economical for those small shops that maybe are just getting into their first plasma table. Is that what you’re looking at?
Chris: Exactly. You’ve got a shop and you want to get a plasma table and you don’t want to get a bolt together machine. You want to get something that’s solid, but you don’t want to have to spend $300,000, $400,000. That’s exactly what the Plasmatic is for. It’s for that shop that has 10, 15, 20 guys or a maintenance facility for a large shop or all sorts of those guys that are going to maybe use it 10, 15 hours a week. But they want to know that they have the durability that if they bump it with a tow motor, it’s going to be okay.
Donovan: There you go. So someone who’s thinking about getting a plasma table, what’s some of the things that maybe they’re a little scared of that really they shouldn’t be? Like what are some concerns you guys hear a lot about getting a plasma table?
Chris: I think the biggest one that they shouldn’t be concerned about is how difficult it is to operate the system. I can take anybody here and in about five minutes they can be running a Plasmatic.
Donovan: Oh really?
Chris: Yeah.
Donovan: So sometimes people are intimidated by the controls, but with you guys, not a big deal.
Chris: No, not a big deal at all. If you got a guy who wants to work and use that machine, I can teach him how to do it very, very quickly. New guys straight into the from the, you know, right new to the workforce. No issue.
Donovan: So what’s the big difference between the Plasmatic and the Plasmatic Pro then?
Chris: So the Plasmatic Pro is going to include fully encoded servos. And that’s going to allow us to utilize the Hypertherm XPR series of plasma power supply. The Plasmatic, the base model, that’s going to utilize the PowerMax sync series of handheld torches. And then we get the mechanized ones for the, for our CNC system. The Plasmatic Pro is going to have a little bit more powerful drives, a little bit bigger motors, and that’s going to allow it to have the necessary XLD cell to get what you want out of an XPR series.
Donovan: So it’s kind of like it’s saying it’s the pro it’s stepping it up a little bit one more level. For when you have a heavy, more heavy duty application.
Chris: Yep. So that’s going to go the power, the Plasmatic is limited to the Max Pro 200, which will give you about two inch mild steel piercing capacity. Okay, the XPR 300 is going to get you to around three inches. It’s also going to be your high def or as Hypertherm likes to call it their extreme definition of plasma cutting. And it looks pretty good. I’ll put it against any laser part past half inch.
Donovan: Oh, wow, that’s great. So you were talking a little bit earlier about that it’s not, it’s not the hardest thing in the world to learn how to run a plasma table. So today with the show, we usually have a lot of students that are walking around and a lot of them are welders. And I mean, do you think that there’s for how many tables you guys sell? I mean, this is a legitimate occupation someone can be for certain, right plasma table operator?
Chris: You just gave me a really good idea. Actually, I’m going to 100% grab multiple students today and video teaching them how to run the Plasmatic that I can that would be great cut apart in three minutes. Yeah, watch them go. Wow, I can do this. Yeah, because they 100% can. Anybody can.
Donovan: Yeah, because I mean, when I was in high school, that wasn’t something my guidance counselor was telling me about, right? I mean, they’re occupations. But I know we’re always looking for guys that have somewhat of an experience in that, you know, in a plasma table. And what do you think would be the if someone’s out there thinking about maybe I could do this, what would be some advice you would give them is there places they can learn.
Chris: If they’re in Cleveland, Ohio, give me a call.
Donovan: Okay. So, so you can, well, how would they do that? How would they get ahold of AKS? What’s the best way to get ahold of you guys?
Chris: Best ways right through our website. Okay. Yep, 100%. I actually get all those emails. So I’ll see it. If you want a job with a plasma table, and you’re in Cleveland, please give me a call.
Donovan: And then, but do you guys have resources too? Maybe someone just wants to look into what it’s like.
Chris: We actually have a whole training library on our website of how to set up and install a Plasmatic system in particular. And they’re all chopped up in the two three minute videos, we’ve about 30 of them on our plasmaticusa.com. And right there, you can access those videos. And you can see what it actually takes soup to nuts to install a plasma table. And you’ll realize, takes about three hours.
Donovan: Yeah, well, that’s not, that’s not even that long when you’re talking about a big piece of equipment. Like that.
Chris: There’s no floor prep required for it. You just take a nice little scale, put it on the sides, level up the machine tool, fill it up with that model currently has some water. The pros also going to be a downdraft system as well. Right. But the current model is a water table. And you can be up and running in just a couple hours.
Donovan: That’s phenomenal. Yeah. So, so that’s great, because I know with a lot of people entering the workforce and trying to figure out what they want to do. I mean, plasma table operator is, is a lot of people are trying to figure out what they want to do. And plasma table operator is great.
Chris: It’s a great gig. It’s a good gig. You’re probably going to go if you were to join the workforce and go run a plasma table within three years, somebody’s going to start teaching how to weld. And then you’re going to go be a welder. And then you’re going to go be a shop manager. Then you’re going to run that facility. And you can have a – you can easily live your entire career in a fab shop and make good money doing it. If you look around and you see things around you, I was made somewhere in a shop.
Donovan: Yeah. If it’s out of metal, it’s probably been cut on the table and put together by somebody. So that’s great. That’s great. So what’s the – is there anything coming out in the future for AKS that we should be looking for maybe anything new, anything.
Chris: So on on the larger side of our house, the Accu-Kuts, the Dura-Kuts, the True-Kuts, as we call them the blue line, we do have some new options in particular for the Accu-Kut. The big one being a self cleaning system. So we did release a self cleaning system that as material falls into the table, there is now a motor that’s on a clutch with a drivetrain – chain, two drive chains on big sprocket gears and just between that is pieces of angle iron, they slowly cycle across the bottom of the table. And all they do is they just wipe out the material. They literally push the material out that falls into the table.
Donovan: So it’s kind of like a squeegee. For metal.
Chris: It’s very simple. Yep.
Donovan: Yeah. Now prior to that, you would have to actually get in there and pull all those pieces out?
Chris: Yeah.
Donovan: And so now that’s one less thing you got to worry about.
Chris: Exactly. You turn it on. Our system runs passively. It runs continuously. The standard methodology for a self cleaning system for the last 20 years is you got to turn off the power supply or turn off at least not be cutting and then hold a button or hold something that pushes a plow or a blade and as much materials is on it comes out. So you could have an inch, you could have two feet of material in there. And hopefully you didn’t overload it. Or you’re gonna have to go in there and get this stuff out. Our system, on the other hand, you turn it on and it’s slow. It honestly very slowly moves. It’s about one rotation a minute of that blade, but there’s 12 blades on it or I think it’s 12 blades are on it. And that just continuously moves out a small amount of material right as it’s cut.
Donovan: So if we were talking about maybe anyway, you know, we’re familiar with shovel and snow in the wintertime. Yeah. This is just taking that snow away as it’s snowing instead of waiting till the end and trying to plow it all into a pile.
Chris: Exactly.
Donovan: So well, that’s that’s probably an easier way to do it.
Chris: Definitely.
Donovan: And it helps not create as many issues I would imagine.
Chris: And it’s simple. We don’t have a big heavy drive train that’s trying to pull 2000 pounds of material.
Donovan: That’s true.
Chris: It’s just pushing out 75 maybe 80 pounds of stuff across the bottom of the table. And with the integrated clutch, we’re actually running a little promo over there. We have some nuts on the side of the system and we’re demoing one. And if you can throw one in and get it to jam the system, you win a little prize. Nobody has done it yet. It actually sheared one bolt and half. Somebody did get it in there and it just sheared it. So it’s not a big issue.
Donovan: Well, that’s great. Chris, I know we’ve been working with you guys for a long time and we really appreciate what you guys do and how you do it and being an American company right in Cleveland, right?
Chris: Yup.
Donovan: Yeah. And we really appreciate our partnership with you guys. And you guys are doing a great job building great quality products. And we’re just glad to try to help keep the people who are running those tables healthy and safe.
Chris: You got that right. It’s a big deal. I see more and more. I’m happy to see more people are purchasing dust collectors with their systems. Yeah. It’s a big deal, especially when you get into, as you guys know, any of your stainless steel cutting, where you’re dealing with hexachromium gases and whatnot. You got to you got to watch out for that. And even with a water table, there’s still people putting ambient dust collection systems around that just to really keep the air clean.
Donovan: Yeah. Yeah. And water tables work well, but maybe they don’t always work 100% of the time, depending on what you’re doing.
Chris: You can hear all about that in our prior podcast.
Donovan: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that’s true. We did cover all that. So but well, hey, I know you got a lot going on. It’s Fabteach and we’re all excited about being here. So. But I just want to say thanks for coming on.
Chris: Yeah, thank you.
Donovan: And everybody can find you guys. What’s your website one more time?
Donovan: And that’s where you can reach out to these guys. If you’re looking for more information on a cutting table, about running cutting table. Maybe you want to buy a cutting table.
Chris: Yup. Any of it. Please give us a call. We’re always there to help our customers or people who are just interested in the product itself.
Donovan: Yeah. So and same with us, you can find us on any social media platform, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube. And we’re glad to have anybody reach out to us in any way to help them with any of their fume collection needs. So, but until next time, stay healthy and stay safe. Thanks.
Chris: Thank you.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Dusty Jobs podcast. Breathe better, work safer.
