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Welcome to our fire apparatus shop. Here we take your idea from a simple
sketch or thought and transform it into a working piece of equipment. Below are pictures of some
of the equipment we use to accomplish the task.
Most likely, your idea will start to become a reality at one of
the stations below. The first picture is our storage area for bar stock,
tube and angle. The second
picture below shows our shear. This unit can accommodate a 12 foot wide
piece of material. Thicknesses it can handle vary by material but, it will
take up to 1/4" of 60,000 PSI steel and 3/8" thick aluminum.
To the far right is our horizontal metal cutting band saw. It makes short
work of cutting through structural members and can easily make repeatable
compound angle cuts.
  
Some materials will get their start on this rig. It is a
CNC plasma torch. The unit can cut extremely complex shapes out of
aluminum or steel with an accuracy of .001". With this torch we have the
capability to cut out virtually anything we can draw in Autocad. It can
cut 1" thick steel like butter and slices through 3/16" steel at over 200 inches
a minute.
Much of our sheet material will then visit the largest piece of equipment we
have, our press brake. As you can tell by the size of this beast, it can
easily handle the material used in the construction of apparatus bodies.
The brake is equipped with numeric controls and a backgauge
which allow us to make repeatable, accurate shapes. The combination of a
gooseneck punch with a multiple vee die allows this machine to handle any
material we need bent.
As nice as it is to have the big, high powered press brake, some bending jobs
still require the good old box and pan brake shown here. The adjustable
fingers allow the forming of gussets and flaps that can be "closed" with the
equipment. It is equipped with a backgauge and hydraulic clamping and
bending functions.
The iron worker to the left is a real time saver. It is
a dual cylinder, dual station unit with massive power. It can punch a 1"
hole through 1.5" of solid steel. Additionally, it can shear a 1" thick
plate up to 12" wide, cut 3" and 4" structural channel like butter, and not only
cut up to 6" angle iron but it can also bevel cut angle iron with up to a 4"
leg. With a quick tooling change, it can cut round or rectangular solid
stock up to 1". If that is not enough, it also includes a coper/notcher
(we call it a nibbler) that can handle up to 3/4" material.
With it's production package, a single person can chop a 22'
length of angle iron into exact 12" lengths in about 40 seconds.
Below is some of the equipment our personnel use to finish up the
bodies we build. We are fully equipped for welding and cutting of all
materials we handle. Most of the machines shown are dedicated to specific
jobs. This means that major adjustments are not constantly required when
different processes are needed. It also means more people can be working
simultaneously.
Of course, where there are fire trucks, there is plumbing.
On long runs, there is nothing like a straight shot of uninterrupted pipe to
minimize friction loss. The threader below handles from 1/4" up to 4" pipe
and can cut tapered or straight threads. With the threader we can use the exact
length of pipe we need and cuts down on the number of fittings in the system. But, when short runs are
encountered in tight areas it is best to use the gentle sweep of a hose instead
of the flow restricting elbows used in conventional plumbing. That is
where the hydraulic hose coupler comes into play. By using swaged type
couplings on our hose runs we totally eliminate unreliable hose clamps.
One thing everyone can agree on is that a fire truck must have a
good paint job. The unit needs to last for 20 to 30 years or more and will
not be able to unless the paint protects the body. (Not to mention that
pretty fire trucks are a tradition in the fire service.) We buy the best
paint available but, the only way to assure proper application is with the
proper equipment, highly skilled personnel, and a good paint booth. This
booth can easily accommodate full sized apparatus with the exception of aerial
ladders and is state of the art.
In addition to the equipment you see here, we have many more
upgrades and improvement projects in the works.
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