Pulled the trigger: GEKA

Good morning ladies and gents, long time reader, first time poster.
I have been wanting an ironworker for 20 years and finally bought one. I have a small 2 man fab shop, the biggest of my clients are 2 national hotel/restaurant groups which cause me to make multiples of furniture and lighting, anywhere from 5 to 30 of a particular piece.
It was a member here (reis, I think) who got me looking at Geka given the level of detail of my work.
I was originally thinking Minicrop, but I got the 55 ton Bendicrop. The clincher was the dedicated brake station that this machine offers. My next furniture project for these folks involves 90* bends in 3/8" x 2 1/2" CRS with punched and tapped holes that need to align the the piece next to it for mechanical fastening.
I still need to sort out my rotary phase converter, but the Geka should be here next Tuesday.

I bought the same machine last February, I think you'll be very happy. We use it pretty much every day, sometimes for a one or two off and sometimes for hours on end of production runs. Hasn't missed a step yet and I'm very happy with it. The best thing we did was put it on heavy casters (locking swivel and wheel rotation) from McMaster, very handy to be able to move the machine from time to time. Reis steered me to Geka as well, thanks Reis.

I sure love mine. I have had it for about 15 years now, never had any mechanical problem whatsoever.

Congratulations Defdes, The only problem with a Iron worker is that once you have one you can never go back to life without one, things that used to take you 8 hrs to do, like drilling is now a 20 min project.

How big is the brake for this unit, I have a 18" brake for my 65 ton Scotchman and instead of tying up a station, I bought a 50 Ton H frame press with a electric power unit that I use which is a big time saver.

I can bend 18" of 1/2" plate in the one I have, the brake is a Scotchman also.

My theory when it comes to the iron worker, is why have it if your not going to spend the money to buy the punch dies, The most handy dies are the round and the slotted.

When buying dies there are things you need to understand, if you want a hole that a 1/2" bolt will go through you want to buy a 1/32 second over which is a 17/32", Something else, depending on the thickness of the material you plan on punching the clearance between the punch and the die needs to increase.
If your usually punching thin stuff you want less clearance which will leave you with less of a burr.

There is also a rule of thumb, you cant punch a 1/4" hole through 3/8" plate or you will bend and break your punch, so the minimum size hole you can punch in 1/2" plate is 1/2" or greater. Good luck.

Defdes,

Welcome to the Geka club !!! You've made a great purchase.

I have there 110SD and its a great machine good luck with it

phase perfect converts are what you want
Electrical Phase Converters Models & Ratings, Digital Phase Converter