V-20APC Vertical Band Saw
“Knowing we were late to the party, we knew we needed something different.” Says Rick Arcaro, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for HYDMECH. He was speaking about HYDMECH’s newest band saw, the V-20APC which debuted at Fabtech 2015 last November.
For years HYDMECH was aware of a gap in their vertical line up of band saws. “We weren’t able to compete for sales when customers were looking for an automatic 60 degree miter band saw in the 20 – 25” capacity range” said Mr. Arcaro, who points out that not being first to market comes with its advantages. “We sat back and watched the manufacturing mistakes that others have made and during our process, made a few mistakes of our own and fixed them”.
While HYDMECH researched the design and functionality of their new vertical model, they also took a hard look at their customer base. They reached out to business owners and machine operators to find out their true needs and functionality requirements. “We wanted to provide a solution to everyday bundle cutting problems and found this was a good way to find out how we could design something better,” Arcaro says, “We found out the issues that they had with other saws. This machine was designed to make their lives easier.”
“We have developed a machine that can take banded bundles, off the truck onto the machine and process without removing the banding. This is what our end users have asked for” Arcaro says.
HYDMECH’s ability to process material without removing the banding is rooted in its unique, patent pending bar feed design. The bar feed is specifically designed to minimize problems when shuttling crooked materials or banded bundles. The shuttle vise assembly is capable of indexing up to 120” in a single stroke. The front leg carries the conveyor on a simple hydraulic linkage that, in a single motion, lifts the back side of the conveyor up above the saw table and away from the saw datum vise. “This stops the material from dragging, and prevents the banded material from catching” says Arcaro.
A second unique feature of the V-20APC is its patent pending blade chamber. After completing a cut, the unique blade chamber feature prevents the blade from snagging by providing a wide path for the blade to retract through. It works like this: after finishing the cut, the head rapidly advances forward enough to completely exit the blade from the work. Utilizing the material clamped in the jaws the shuttle pushes the severed pieces forward. After the severed pieces have been pushed forward, the shuttle retracts the stock material well beyond the blade path. This creates a wide space between the cut pieces and the material still clamped, allowing for the blade to retract without snagging.
The design is reinforced by the simplistic approach to operating it. “We wanted the most user friendly control that anyone in the shop could operate” states a passionate Arcaro. The icon-driven interface is self-explanatory in a lot of ways, “You pick the shape you want your part to look like and are given a choice of photos. You select the one you need, how many you want and start cutting,” he says.
If you have any questions about this machine or would like a quote please contact us at 425-513-8263