May/June 2015 O&MM Fabricator

The offi cial publication of the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association May/ June 2015

$6.00 US

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MetalMetalMetal

Should employees think like owners?, 46

Biz TalkElectric slide solutions, 28

Shop TalkAutomated gate designer certifi cation available, 18

Shop Talk

2015 NOMMA Top Job Gold Award: Restoration

36

Finelli, Nauman restore

Edgar Brandt

gate

Architect, designer CEU classes may widen fabricator market, 13

Biz Talk

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About the cover Th e rest oration of this 12 Edgar Brandt gate, built for Harvey Firest one Jr., won Top Job gold awards for Finelli Architect ural Iron & Stairs and Bighorn Forge. See Edgar Brandt’s name in the photo inset. See story, page 36.

President’s Letter ............. 7Your mission to help fabricators.

Exec. Director’s Letter .... 8NOMMA helps you solve your problems.

NEF ........................................12With your generous support, another successful year.

Metal Moment .................58Pull-out truck bed suits Scott Colson like a solid weld.

News ........................................................53n FabCAD version 2015 has new

AutoRail features.n Feeney Inc. wins 2015 Houzz

customer satisfaction honors.Events......................................................54CanIRON X, Blacksmithing classes,

New England School of Metalwork.Products ................................................55

What’s Hot!

NOMMA Supplier Members ......... 51

New NOMMA Members ..................52

Ad Index .................................................57

Inside

n

May / June 2015 Vol. 56, No. 3

A successful METALfab2015 .........10Knowledge to enlighten the industry.

NOMMA Network

Electric slide solutions .......................... 28Even with the attendant challenges, cantilevered gates have an unabated popularity. Here are a few ways to resolve the problems.

By Jeff Fogel

Also: Why the cantilever gate sags no more .........................................32

Shop Talk

This cantilever gate had problems. Learn how Steel Magnolia’s Ken Miller fi xed it, page 32.

Shop Talk

Automated gate designer certification available now ..........18Th e Automated Vehicular Gate Systems Coalition has also changed its plans from developing a technician certi-fi cation to having an access control certifi cation that would accompany its designer and installer certifi cations.

By Stephen Stinedurf

Also: Being certifi ed shows you’re serious ........................................23

Class descriptions for AFA’s gate systems designer school .....................24

NOMMA accreditation courses for architects and designers widens market for fabricators......13Program teaches fabrication and fi n-ishing specifi cation writing, codes, and technology trends to AIA, ASLA, and ASID members who need CEUs.

Also: How to help architects, designers pay more attention to you ..................14

Biz Talk

Finelli, Nauman & Brandt .................. 36Not a law fi rm, just a degree or so of separation over a 90-year period. Finelli Architectural Iron & Stairs collaborated with Bighorn Forge and others to restore a 1926 Edgar Brandt gate built for Harvey Firestone Jr. Th e partners enjoy being a Top Job gold winner.

By Linda ErbeleAlso: Edgar Brandt brought new aesthetic to metalwork ..... 43

Top Job Profi le

Jim Korosec, salesman, with shop foreman

Jim Mellott, Finelli Ironworks.

Owners, should you teach your employees to think like you? ........ 46Th e concept of “ownership thinking” typically calls for moving your compa-ny culture away from entitlement. If that is a concern, here’s a way to fi x it.

Also: How to make incentive plans ensure employee excellence ............................48

Biz Talk

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President’s Letter

Your mission to help fabricatorsSomething about the way we’re made seems to make us shine the brightest when we’re giving, doing something for somebody else just because they need it without expecting anything in return. Taking things appeals to the selfi sh side of us, and giving appeals to the compassionate side of us.

When the fact that you have something to give coincides with the need that someone else has, that’s when something deep inside you says: “Yeah, I did the right thing.”

You didn’t succeed aloneGreatness never happens in a

vacuum. No matter what you accom-plish, someone is always in your past who helped you achieve it. Th ey gave, you took, and now you’re reaping the benefi t.

At some point in our lives, however, we need to realize that we have taken enough and now it’s time to give back because there there’s always someone who needs help.

I wasn’t around when NOMMA was founded 1958, but I would bet that nowhere in the initial conversations was this statement: “Hey, let’s start this organization so that we all can make a lot of money and fi ll our own needs!”

No, more than likely it was along the lines of this: “We need to fi nd a way to pass along our knowledge of metalworking and how to be an ethi-cal business person to the next gener-ation so that this industry can benefi t aft er we’re all dead and gone.”

Giving will be your legacyFast forward to 2015. We are all

now benefi ting from the vision and commitment of those who started this association. In that sense, we are tak-ers and that’s OK so long as we realize that at some point our focus must become giving instead of taking.

We need to make sure that 50 years from now the people of NOMMA will

look back at our generation and say: “Th e NOMMA members in 2015 were the kind of people that wanted to make sure that we could benefi t from what they learned.”

Right now the member-ship of NOMMA is made up of three types of people:

n Th ose who are looking to get something out of it.

n Th ose who are looking to give something back.

n Th ose who are in a transi-tion between the two.

And that’s as it should be — we have a place for all three. My appeal is not to those who have a legitimate right to be takers, but rather to those who are still takers that by now should be givers.

Th e success of NOMMA going forward will not depend on fi nding enough new members to hit some magic membership goal, rather it will hinge on the willingness of those of us who are already members to give enough of ourselves, without any expectation of remuneration. Th ose on the outside will see this and want to become a member and join our eff orts to make this industry the best that it can be.

Th at is the essence of the “Pay It Forward” attitude. Somebody helped you, now you go out and help some-body else.

If you are as passionate about this industry as I am, then you understand that NOMMA is the perfect platform for giving back.

We are blessed with many givers in this association and I’m grateful for every last one of them.

But we need more, and I’m asking you to look inside and ask yourself if it’s time to become a NOMMA giver.

Pay it forward.

Allyn Moseley, The Heirloom Companies, is president of NOMMA.

Dedicated to the success of our members and industry.

NOMMA OFFICERSPresident

Allyn Moseley, The Heirloom Companies, Campobello, SC

PresidentElectKeith Majka, Majka Railing Co. Inc., Paterson, NJ

Vice President/TreasurerCathy Vequist, Pinpoint Solutions, Jupiter, FL

Immediate Past PresidentMark Koenke, Germantown Iron & Steel Corp., Jackson, WI

FABRICATOR DIRECTORSGreg Bailey, Bailey Metal Fabricators, Mitchell, SD Max Hains, Mofab Inc., Anderson, INMaciej Jankowski, Artistic Iron Works, Norwalk, CTTony Martinez, Big D Metalworks, Dallas, TXTina Tennikait, Superior Fence & Orn. Iron,

Cottage Hills, IL Henry Wheeler, Wheeler Ornamental Metals, Dothan, AL

SUPPLIER DIRECTORSBill Schenke, Ameristar, Tulsa, OKStacey Lawler Taylor, Lawler Foundry Corp., Birmingham, AL

Dave White Jr., Locinox USA, Countryside, IL

NOMMA EDUCATION FOUNDATION OFFICERSChair

Lynn Parquette, Mueller Ornamental Iron Works Inc., Elite Architectural Metal Supply LLC, Elk Grove Village, IL

Vice ChairRob Rolves, Foreman Fabricators Inc., St. Louis, MO

TreasurerMike Boyler, Boyler’s Ornamental Iron Inc., Bettendorf, IA

NEF TRUSTEESHeidi Bischmann, Hartland, WIRoger Carlsen, Ephraim Forge Inc., Frankfort, ILCarl Grainger, Grainger Metal Works, Nichols, SCChristopher Maitner, Christopher Metal Fabricating,Grand Rapids, MI

Greg Terrill, Division 5 Metalworks, Kalamazoo, MIKeith Majka, Majka Railing Co. Inc., Paterson, NJ

NOMMA CHAPTER PRESIDENTSChesapeake Bay

Patty Koppers, Koppers Fabricators Inc.,Forestville, MD, 301-420-6080

FloridaMarco Vasquez, Vasquez Custom Metals Inc., Tampa, FL, 813-248-3348

Gulf CoastRandy LeBlanc, Metal Head Inc., Lafayette, LA, 337-232-38383

NortheastScott Hess, Hess Ornamental Iron Inc., Red Lion, PA, 717-246-3135

Pacific NorthwestGale Schmidt, A2 Fabrication Inc., Milwaukie, OR, 503-771-2000

Upper MidwestMark O’Malley, O’Malley Welding & Fabricating Inc., Yorkville, IL, 630-553-1604

NOMMA STAFFExecutive Director, J. Todd Daniel, CAE Meetings & Exposition Manager; NEF Executive Director, Martha PenningtonMember Care & Operations Manager, Liz HarrisSales Director, Sherry Theien Editor, O&MM Fabricator, Robin Sherman

O&MM FABRICATOR EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDTerry Barrett, Pinpoint Solutions, Jupiter, FLDoug Bracken, Wiemann Metalcraft, Tulsa, OKBill Coleman, Arc Angels, Dunedin, FLNancy Hayden, Tesko Enterprises, Norridge, ILChris Holt, Steel Welding, Freedom, PARob Rolves, Foreman Fabricators Inc., St. Louis, MO

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Pay it forward.

[email protected]

O&MM Fabricator n May / June 20158

I recently attended a sales class given by Richard P. Farrell of Tangent Knowledge Systems, Chicago, IL. Th e topic of his talk is the title of his new book, and it was intriguing: “Selling Has Nothing To Do With Selling.”

Th e general theme of his presentation, as I interpreted it, is that survival in the post-re-cession era requires a new way of thinking and selling. Th e idea is to focus on solving problems and diff eren-tiate yourself from the competition.

Th e challenge, he explained, is to fi nd creative ways to enhance value for your customers. As he said at one point, “High value customers care more about what you know about them.”

One of the subthemes of his talk was learning to ask the right questions, so that you can quickly, yep, solve the problem. In the legal world, this is called the “discovery process.”

A favorite part of my job is making welcome calls to new members. As Mr. Farrell was talking, I wrote down the last fi ve members who joined NOMMA and the reasons why they joined.

In four out of fi ve cases, members were joining to solve a problem. One new member felt that NOMMA could provide helpful business skills, another wanted information for his fi rst bronze rail job, and yet another fi rm was a wood shop that was expanding into metal.

Can we do it better?Th e timing of this sales class was

perfect because NOMMA has created a task force to review our current benefi t package. With each benefi t that we off er, we have to ask, “Is this benefi t solving a problem?” More importantly, we need to study our surveys and other data to determine the most pressing problems

and determine how we can cre-ate programs to solve them.

ListServ help forum growsNOMMA’s best example of

a service that solves problems, and quickly, is the ListServ, our email discussion list. Much to my surprise, many associations don’t even have a ListServ or have tried it unsuccessfully.

I’m proud to report that just a few days ago our ListServ hit the 300 subscriber mark. I’d love to see all of our members join the list, and if you are interested, please contact the NOMMA offi ce.

A call for more resourcesIn last November’s issue, I wrote

about a new benefi t called “Models & Samples.” Th e idea with this benefi t is that members share their standard forms and documents to keep others from reinventing the wheel. Th e idea is to save time by downloading and modi-fying an existing document. If you have a favorite form to share, such as a war-ranty or checklist, please send it to me.

We have a ton of resources online, including nearly all past issues of O&MM Fabricator magazine for the past 12 years, and every ListServ dis-cussion going back to 2001.

I’m also looking for a delivery sys-tem that can do a better job of quickly getting members the information they need. If you have a copper project coming up, for example, my dream is to create a system that would quickly provide a list of past articles, videos, webinars, and ListServ discussions on that topic.

As always, your ideas are welcomed. Feel free to contact me at [email protected], 888-516-8585.

How to reach usOrnamental & Miscellaneous Metal Fabricator (ISSN 0191-5940), is the offi cial publication of the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA).

O&MM Fabricator / NOMMA 805 South Glynn St., Ste. 127, #311 Fayetteville, GA 30214

Editorial We love articles! Send story ideas, letters, press releases, and product news to: Fabricator at address above. Ph/Fax: 888-516-8585. E-mail: [email protected].

Advertise Reach 8,000 fabricators For information, call Sherry Theien, Ph: 815-282-6000. Email [email protected]. Ads are due on the fi rst Friday of the month preceding the cover date. Send ads to: Fabricator at address above. Email ads to: [email protected] (max. 5 megs by e-mail). Or upload ads to our website where a downloadable media kit is available: www.nomma.org.

Membership Join NOMMA! Beyond the magazine, enjoy more benefi ts as a NOMMA member. To join, call 888-516-8585, ext. 101. For a list of benefi ts, see membership ad in this issue.

Exhibit in METALfab Exhibit at METAL-fab, NOMMA’s annual convention and trade show. For more information, con-tact Martha Pennington at 888-516-8585, ext. 104, or [email protected].

Subscriptions Subscription questions? Call 888-516-8585. Send subscription address changes to: Fabricator Sub-scriptions, 805 South Glynn St., Ste. 127, #311, Fayetteville, GA 30214. Fax: 888-516-8585, or [email protected].

1-year: U.S., Canada, Mexico — $302-year: U.S., Canada, Mexico — $501-year: all other countries — $442-year: all other countries — $78

Payment in U.S. dollars by check drawn on U.S. bank or money order. For NOM-MA members, a year’s subscription is a part of membership dues.

NOMMA Buyer’s Guide Published each December as a separate issue. Deadline for all advertising materials is November 27. Contact Sherry Theien at 815-282-6000 or [email protected].

Opinions expressed in Fabricator are not necessarily those of the editors or NOMMA. Articles appearing in Fabricator may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of NOMMA.

© 2015 National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association

n

Executive Director’s Letter

NOMMA helps you solve problems

Todd Daniel is executive director of NOMMA.

Are you a NOMMA Top Job winner? Do you have how-to, step-by-step tips to share? Have you solved an interesting fabrication problem? Write for O&MM Fabricator. Contact Editor Robin Sherman at [email protected].

WE WANT YOUR JOB PROFILES, TIPS


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The NOMMA Network


Charles Celeste with C & P Fabricators Inc., right, shows samples during the architect’s

continuing education class, which exposes architects to the creative

options available in metalworking. Architects and interior designers

earn continuing education units when they attend these NOMMA-sponsored classes.

Attendees, above, take their seats at M. Cohen & Sons Inc. to hear a presentation on the company and its history.

Upper Midwest Chapter founders and leaders, left, accept the Julius Blum Award for outstanding industry service. Shown are n Mark O’Malley,

O’Malley Welding & Fab. Inc.;

n Lynn Parquette, Elite Arch. Metal Supply LLC, Mueller Ornamental Iron Works Inc.;

n Rob Rolves, Foreman Fabricators Inc.; and

n Mason Hains of Mofab Inc.

Fabricators gathered in King of Prussia, PA, March 11–14 for METALfab2015, NOMMA’s 57th annual meeting and exhibits.

A general business meeting and keynote address by Barry Willingham, Ameristar Perimeter Security USA, kicked off the four-day event.

Attendees then hit the classrooms for three days of intense learn-ing. Th e educa-tion program, presented by the NOMMA Educa-tion Foundation (NEF), provided a mix of business and fabrication topics. Some of the top sessions covered business best practices, measuring, and employee hiring.

Th e exhibits, opening on the sec-ond day, featured industry suppliers who showed their latest products and services. Simultaneously, the Top Job Gallery opened, which displayed the photographs from the Top Job Contest. NOMMA member attendees voted as they walked through the gallery.

Party with a Purpose was held that evening featuring dinner, dancing, and the annual NEF benefi t auction.

On Friday, the education and exhib-its continued, ending with the Top Job Jamboree in the late aft ernoon. Th at evening, attendees gathered again for the NEF Partners in Education Reception.

Th e fi nal day featured a day of shop tours, which included visits to M. Cohen & Sons Inc. and Compass Iron-works. Both stops featured a series of mini-demos, including ones on fi nish-ing and bending. Th e evening featured the grand fi nale — the annual awards banquet. Outstanding volunteers were featured as well as winners in the Ernest Wiemann Top Job Contest.

METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015METALfab2015Knowledge to enlighten the industry

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NOMMA Education FoundationIn partnership with the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association


With your generous support, another successful yearAfter producing another outstanding education pro-gram for METALfab2015 and recovering from their busy week at METALfab, NEF trustees thank the pre-senters, volunteers, donors, and participants for help-ing make the program a success.

The trustees are excited with the outcome and wish all NOMMA members could have been at Valley Forge Casino Resort for the event.

Moreover, they hope that those who were not able to attend will put next year’s METALfab on their cal-endar for March 16-19, 2016 in Greenville, SC, at the Hyatt Regency Greenville. Next year is already shap-ing up to be an exciting one for METALfab.

The NEF trustees thank the following for their support this year:

n To our donors for their financial support.n To our presenters who spend hours preparing

their classes for attendees.n To our volunteers for helping with the education pro-

gram, auctions, and NEF activities.n To the attendees at METALfab who make the educa-

tion sessions more valuable through their questions and discussion.

METALfab2015 education session videosOnce the METALfab2015 education session videos are

edited, attendees will receive a link to access them. This way you can see the classes that you were not able to attend and

watch the videos of classes that you wanted to review. You will be able to share the METALfab experience with your staff through these videos, too.

Now, for 2016As our financial year comes to an end on June 30,

2015, we ask you — our loyal supporters — to make our next year a great success with your donation. You can add a donation to your membership renewal (which many of you have received recently) or use the form below to make your donation to the NOMMA Education Foundation.

Donations are the life-blood of a foundation. Your donation supports the operation and programs of the foundation. NEF does not make a profit on the pro-grams that it produces. Classes are done either at a break even cost or are given to members FREE.

Ways NEF accomplishes its goalContinuing education classes, outstanding education pro-

grams for METALfab, support for new chapters (NEF pro-vides the education program for the organizational meeting of a new chapter), support for existing chapters (NEFERP program provides partial funding for chapter education), educational videos, webinars, publications.

As I am sure you realize, this all costs money. Your sup-port is greatly appreciated and goes to good use. Thank you again to all our supporters — we could not do this without your help!

Lynn Parquette, owner, Mueller Ornamental Iron Works Inc. & Elite Architectural Metal Supply LLC, is the Chair of the NEF.

YES — I want to help support the NEF programs and operations with a donation.

Name__________________________________________________________________________________________

Company_______________________________________________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________________________________

Donation amount _____ $20 _____$50 _____$100 _____ $250 _____$500 _____$1,000 or Other $______________

Payment method: Check ____ Credit Card type: ___AMEX ___MC ___VISA ___Discover

Credit card number_____________________________________________Expiration___________CVV__________

Name as it appears on card_________________________________________________________________________

Signature________________________________________________________________________________________

Submit to NOMMA Education Foundation, 805 S. Glynn St., Suite 127, #311, Fayetteville, GA 30214 or fax to 888-279-7994. Your donation is greatly appreciated.


NOMMA accreditation courses for architects and designers widens market for fabricators

Biz Talk

n Program teaches fabrication and finishing specification writing, codes, and technology trends to AIA, ASLA, and ASID members who need CEUs.

Keith Majka of Majka Railing Co. Inc., Paterson, NJ, kicks off NOMMA’s accreditation program for architects and interior designers at the recent METALfab2015. Majka taught a two-hour metal finishing class.

Fabricators may soon work more effec-tively with architects, interior design-ers, and landscape architects.

NOMMA, the professional associa-tion for ornamental and miscellaneous metal fabricators, is now an accredited Continuing Education Unit provider for members of the American Insti-tute of Architects (AIA), the Ameri-can Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).

Last March, NOMMA hosted its first accredited conference for AIA, ASLA, and ASID members at METALfab2015.

NOMMA will offer another class due to the “phenomenal success and positive feedback,” says Amos Glick, a member of the Industry Market-ing Committee and owner of Com-pass Ironworks in Gap, PA. It will be at METALfab2016, March 16-19, in Greenville, SC.

Taught by NOMMA fabricator members, the program provides archi-tects and designers with visual inspi-ration and broadens their capability to specify ironwork, something lacking in the marketplace, says Glick.

Although the accreditation process was a team effort, Compass Ironworks’ Adam Leofsky managed the techni-

cal aspects and submission. Glick, as an approved speaker with AIA, ASLA, and ASID, made it easier for NOMMA to meet requirements.

“Fabricators have long struggled to interpret poorly constructed specifica-tions,” Glick says, “which often indicate the wrong material or finish for a job or require explanation and revision — problems that could lead to lower quality, missing deadlines, and less time available to complete other jobs.”

The NOMMA program offers architects and designers — and their customers — a portfolio of metal fab-rication ideas based on NOMMA’s Top Job competition entries. This is expected to more effectively open up these markets to fabricators.

In turn, architects and designers will have another way to receive CEUs that are required for them to keep their licenses and stay current with the latest trends, technologies — including “sustainable” ones — and codes.

Consumers, architects, and design-ers are seeing a resurgence in iron-works, Glick says. “Here at NOMMA, we can be proactive by providing interested parties with an enriching educational experience and great pho-tos for detail clarity.

“Looking into the future, NOMMA might recreate this great one-day conference in all parts of the coun-try, sponsored by local chapters that can engage the architect and design professionals on a local and national basis,” Glick says.

Three classes taughtThe program at METALfab kicked

off with a two-hour metal finishing course led by Keith Majka of Majka Railing Co. Inc., Paterson, NJ. This course, originally created by NOMMA’s Northeast Chapter a decade ago, was made current and presented in an open forum with a panel of metal crafts peo-ple to answer questions.

Next, Glick and his associate Adam Leofsky taught a one-hour introduc-tion to metalwork course that featured a brief history of ironwork spotlight-ing famous Philadelphia blacksmiths Pat Lyon and Samuel Yellin. The course also examined the various tools and vocabulary used in the industry.

Finally, Glick and Leofsky pre-sented the highlight of the day — entries from NOMMA’s Top Job con-test that is open each year to fabricator members who compete for the best

Continued on page 16.


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Help architects and designers help youLike fabricators, designers and archi-tects are visual people. Now that the Top Job contest is part of the NOMMA accreditation program, your best work will be seen directly by job specifiers. Put your photos in the best light by entering the contest with the highest quality photos. Here’s how:

n Engage a professional photographer to take photos of your work at the highest resolution (you can do the same with your digi-tal camera or smartphone).

A professional photographer can eliminate shadows and glares and improve the detail. “Our work is abso-lutely about the details,” Glick says.

To the design industry, a quality photo enhances beautiful metalwork in its completed environment. “That is the key in being able to collaborate in future projects,” Glick adds.

Additionally, high-resolution pho-tos are necessary for print media, especially if published in NOMMA’s

O&MM Fabricator magazine, which regularly publishes articles about Top Job winners. The magazine typically needs photos that show each step of the fabrication process and that are 300 ppi at about 7 inches wide (or a file size of about 5 megapixels).

n Take photos before September 25 while the landscape is still lush. Even better, ask your clients when they will have the most colorful flowers in the project area. “Top Job photos with drab landscapes or snow can do a disservice to the ambiance of your project,” Glick says.

n Participate in the Top Job Competition. The Top Job entries are a key tool in the accreditation pro-gram. The contest had entries in all its 17 categories for the first time this year, which allowed interior designers and architects at METALfab2015 “to see the width and depth of NOMMA member’s innovation and design capabilities,” Glick says.

“Also, if we encourage more non-member shops to join NOMMA and participate, it helps the indus-try flourish as we interact more with architects and design profession-als who understand our trade and engage with NOMMA members because of our professional service.”

And make sure you provide the project hours with your Top Job sub-mission; hours help architects gauge the budget on a given project.

n Sponsor your architect and designer contacts to the accredited education. Help them get the expertise you need. “One thing that was great,” Glicks says, “was when an architect in the audience saw a proj-ect that he had personally specified. He was gratified to see his own work in the competition.”

n Teach sustainability. Archi-tects and designers admire historic masterpieces for the timelessness of ironwork, which can be eco-friendly when specifications include 97–100% recycled content.

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in ironwork. An accredited course was created from 100+ contest submissions using information and photographs supplied from each fabricator entrant.

“The architects and designers were thrilled to be a part of the conversation, asking questions each step of the way, and getting answers from experts in the field. Everyone involved really benefited from the open forum,” says Glick.

“Many learners said it was better than many presentations they attend because they could engage directly with someone with hands-on knowledge, something lacking from other presentations they attend,” says Glick. “Design profession-als cannot specify what they cannot visualize. The entire lecture was about providing a phenomenal visual experi-ence to the attendees.”

Accreditation process was arduousCompass embarked on its own CEU

program in January 2011; it took 20 months to get its one-hour course built, approved, and accredited.

The NOMMA program is six-hours and took four months to create and get

accredited. In all, NOMMA created three courses for its program: a one-hour, a two-hour, and a three-hour.

The last accrediting associ-ation “literally happened the week of the [METALfab2015] conference,” says Glick. “Every-thing had to be approved before the conference.”

NOMMA worked closely with ASID, AIA, and LA CES to develop the courses to meet the CEU requirements.

Says Glick: “Each association had different requirements. For instance, the Learning Objectives for AIA could qualify for Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) related training, if you followed their procedure. HSW topics are required for 75% of an architect’s license retention. However, the HSW material had to be rewritten to meet LA CES and ASID requirements.

“Plus, all three associations have different requirements for recordkeep-ing, the longest being six years after the program is presented,” says Glick. “Each

course had to be packaged with different ‘packing materials’ to meet the dif-ferent association require-

ments, and there were different requirements from each group if you wanted to be a speaker or present a program.”

In taking the lead for NOMMA on the development of the accreditation program,

Glick maintains his vigor for knowledge-sharing.

“I am very passionate about it because I strongly believe that by sharing more knowledge the industry will benefit.

“In other words, every shop is trying to do better, get more work, and get a bigger piece of

the pie. By increasing the pie [by more formally adding architects and design-ers], we can get more work without cut-ting into each other’s work.,” says Glick.

In fact, Glick says shortly after METALfab2015, a NOMMA shop got iron rail work from an architect who had been exposed at the conference to the timeless appeal of metal.

Continued from page 13.


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Fabricators, you can now be certi-fi ed as an automated gate systems designer.

Th e Automated Gate Systems Design Certifi cation is the second in a series of three certifi cations to be developed by the Automated Vehic-ular Gate Systems Coalition.

Th e coalition is comprised of members from four organizations:

n American Fence Association (AFA).

n Door and Access Systems Man-ufacturers Association Interna-tional (DASMA).

n International Door Association (IDA).

n National Ornamental & Mis-cellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA).

Anyone wanting to become cer-tifi ed as a designer can register for $200 at the IDEA web site:

http://dooreducation.com/cert_automated_gate_systems_designer.php.

Th e fi rst certifi cation the Coali-tion developed, the Automated Gate Operator Installer Certifi cation, came online in January 2008.

To register for the installer certifi -cation, go to:

http://dooreducation.com/cert_gate_op.php.

Th e registration fee includes a study guide from IDEA, which covers in depth all of the material needed to pass the certifi cation test.

Th e AFA also off ers multi-day, hands-on courses as another way to prepare for the tests:

n Automated Gate Operator Installer School (one week; http://americanfenceassociation.com/operator-installer-school).

n Automated Gate Systems Designer School (three days; http://americanfenceassociation.com/

certifi ed-automated-gates-system-designer-program/).

Coalition developing access control certifi cation

Work on creating the third cer-tifi cation, the Automated Gate Sys-tems Technician, had recently begun and was expected to take two or three years to complete.

At its March 2015 meeting in Dal-las, however, the Coalition changed the third certifi cation from tech-nician to gate access controls, says Brent Nichols, founder of Picasso Gate, Cheyenne, WY, and NOMMA’s representative on the Coalition, along

Shop Talk

n Th e Automated Vehicular Gate Syst ems Coalition also changes plans from developing a technician certifi cation to having an access control certifi cation that would accompany its designer and inst aller certifi cations.

Covers of the brochures for the installer, left, and design certifi cation programs.

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with NOMMA Executive Director Todd Daniel.

Had the Coalition kept its focus on the technician certification it would have focused on the repair of auto-mated gate systems.

In the July 2012 issue of O&MM Fabricator, Nichols said, “We’re trying to teach people to troubleshoot at a gate site where a gate’s not working. To be safe, to know what’s required on the job, to meet the standards code and then start off with a meter, going where you need to in order to find the problem.”

Nichols now says that given all the changes in technology that are creating new challenges in our industry, e.g. the growing numbers and varieties of key-pads, cameras, and phone systems, and their underlying principles, fabricators need to understand technologies such as Ethernet, fiber optics, and Wi-Fi.

Customers want to use access con-trol systems over the Internet and from their mobile devices, Nichols says. They want to know how they can connect their smartphones to open a gate or see who is at a gate.

One reason for changing the certifi-cation development focus to an access controls certification has to do with the servicing of an exist-ing gate operator. Technicians can get help from the manu-facturer, Nichols says. The principles are similar enough that seasoned technicians can work their way through a problem with the manufactur-er’s help.

The Coalition considered adding coverage of the new access control technologies to the existing gate design certification, but the consensus was that the access control material could be overwhelming, and it was better to have it as a separate certification.

Design comes secondDeveloping the design certifica-

tion before the technician certification

(and now the access controls certi-fication) was particularly important to NOMMA, says Nichols. He had to teach fellow Coalition members about a fabricator’s business cycle to get the Coalition to change its mind about the order of the certification development.

“The need to design and install a gate entry system starts with the sales call,” says Nichols. “It is hard to have the installer up-sell a client on items that are left off the original bid and that are critical for a safe gate installa-tion because the sales person did not have adequate knowledge or training to design a gate entry system.”

Moreover, Nichols says that “because a purpose of our group was to teach and encourage safety, [the design certification] was far more important to develop for the sales person. [This included] information on safety, types of gates and operators, and control devices [as well as] how they all come together to create an entry gate system. This was far more critical to the work of our group than a technician class.”

Nichols says that completing the Gate Design and Gate Installer certifi-

Fabricators need to understand technologies such as Ethernet, fiber-optics, and Wi-Fi, says Brent Nichols, Picasso Gate.

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cation enables NOMMA members to add entry gate systems to their prod-uct line.

Even for those who do not plan to install gates with automation, a fab-ricator who works on gates that other fi rms will automate still benefi ts from the design certifi cation. Fabricators will know what is required for an automated gate; they can check that the installer’s plans and work meet the relevant standards. Th at might help protect them from an injury lia-bility lawsuit.

For the Automated Vehicular Gate Systems Design Certifi cation work-book and test, “the coalition met for approximately three years to develop it,” says Tom DeSilvia, director of engi-neering — regulatory and test services for Th e Chamberlain Group of Elm-hurst, IL, and the current chairman of the Coalition.

“Most of the work was done as a group. Some members would do spe-cifi c chapters between meetings, then we would review content at our next meeting,” he says.

“For the test,” DeSilvia says, “the

coalition met for a couple days develop-ing questions using the course material. Aft er the content was approved by the Coalition, it was sent to IDEA for grammar cleanup and formatting for the workbooks.”

“Th e certifi ca-tions are stand-alone entities,” DeSilvia says when asked about their rela-tionship to the AFA multi-day schools. “Th e Automated Gate Operator Installer School is only off ered once per year. It is a full week of training in Dallas. Th is is a hands-on school, so it is diffi cult to transport the equipment around the country and line up all the volunteer instructors more than once per year.

“Th e Systems Designer course is a two-day course. Th e course does not use equipment and can be taught many times per year at any location. All that is needed is the PowerPoint slides and a projector.”

“I would like to add that the coa-lition is extremely dedicated, with each existing member having at least 10 years of industry knowledge. Our motto is: Professionalism through Education.”

How to study and take the testTh e Institute of Door Dealer Edu-

cation and Accreditation (IDEA) administers both the Automated Gate Operator Installer and Automated Gate Systems Design certifi cations. When complete, they will do the same for the Automated Gate Systems Access Control certifi cation.

Applicants take the same path toward each certifi cation.

n Ensure eligibility requirements are met.

n Submit an application.n Work through the self-study

“. . . the coalition is extremely dedicated, with each existing member having at least 10 years of industry knowledge,” says Tom DeSilvia, director of engineering — regulatory and test services, The Chamberlain Group.

Continued on page 24.


Being a certified installer shows you’re serious about meeting code, says Jeffery Presbaugh As of this writing, 615 people have Automated Gate Oper-ator Installer Certifications, according the IDEA tech-nician search page (http://dooreducation.com/find_technician_results.php). One is Jeffery Presbaugh, vice president of Aberdeen Custom Gate and Iron in Weath-erford, TX. Among his company’s services are gate fabri-cation, operator automation, and operator servicing.

Here are some of his comments about certification:

Study guide is thorough“The study guide covered every area of the test quite

thoroughly. We had been installing for five years before I took the test, and still learned things from the study guide. The technical content was thorough; we still use it when training a new guy to do installation and service.

The guide covers reading schematics, understanding how the different processors work, and explaining how ground sensor loops work. It took me about a week to get through it.”

Certification test is ‘extensive’“The test was actually tough. I know of several install-

ers with years of experience that, without studying, could not pass the test. It is designed to be used with the [AFA] Installer School, but I believed I could read through [the study guide] a couple of times and pass the test, and did.

“It was all multiple choice. For some of the questions, you did have some calculations to do to determine the right answer. It was extensive. I was impressed.”

Would your customer prefer you to be certified?“It has given me more confidence knowing the code

requirements and the liability issues associated with automated gates. Education is a powerful thing. I know there have been jobs we passed on because of a lack of code knowledge, and jobs we have gained because of a deeper understanding of the dangers inherent in opera-tor-equipped gates.

“If your business does any kind or operator installa-tion, I would highly recommend having these certifica-tions says Presbaugh. “If not, and you sub-contract the work out, I would sure prefer someone who has gone through the effort of becoming certified.

“It is obviously not necessary to be certified to be code compliant, but at the least, doing so demonstrates that you are serious about meeting code requirements. My theory is that it is best to get in front of the wave of upcoming mandated codes. Don’t think that the level of litigiousness is going down over time.

“Everybody, including my current team, is going to need to have or take the Installer exam. I will also likely get my Automated Gate Systems Designer certification,” says Presbaugh.

— Stephen Stinedurf


guide and/or attend the AFA school.

n Take the certifi cation test.Th e study guide covers a full range

of gate operator theory, professional-ism, and product accessories, accord-ing to the IDEA website.

Taken directly from the IDEA website, the following are the topics of the installer study guide:

n UL 325 Standard — Gate Operator Safety

n ASTM F 2200 Standard — Safe Gate Design

n Safety/Standard Practicesn Types of Vehicular Gates and

Matching Gate Operatorsn Gate Operator Basicsn Gate Operator Accessoriesn Installation of Gate Operatorsn Electrical Training/

Troubleshooting

n Timers to Close and Vehicle Detectors

n Glossary of Gate Operator Terminology

Th e following are the topics of the design study guide, also taken directly from the IDEA website:

n Types of Gates and Gate Operators

n Th e UL 325 Standardn Th e ASTM F-2200 Standardn Entrapment Protectionn Access Controlsn Vehicle Detectorsn Electrical Conduits and Wiresn Site LayoutFor a description of each design

topic, see sidebar on this page.Find additional information at:n www.dooreducation.com/

cert_automated_gate_systems_designer.php

n www.dooreducation.com/cert_gate_op.php

Th e current cost for each certifi -cation is $200, with $100 due upon application. Once your application is accepted, a self-study guide ships to you on CD-ROM, which can be printed and shared with other mem-bers of your company.

In general, the qualifi cations for certifi cation are as follows:

n Register for the test with IDEA.n Two years of fi eld experience

related to the certifi cation. If you do not yet have that experience, you can still take the test but awarding of your certifi cation will occur aft er you meet the experience requirement.

n Pass a 100-question written examination.

For additional detail on require-ments, contact IDEA at 937-698-1027 or visit their Certifi cation and Accred-itation web page: http://dooreducation.com/certifi cation_accreditation.php.

Here are the class descriptions for AFA’s November gate systems designer school The following topics are covered in the designer study guide devel-oped by the the Automated Vehic-ular Gate Systems Coalition (PDF: http://bit.ly/1DZqicA).

It is also used at the American Fence Association’s (AFA) three-day Automated Gate Systems Design School.

Th e next AFA design school is scheduled for November 1-3 in Dal-las, TX, as part of AFA University. NOMMA members receive a sub-stantial discount.

Types of gates and gate operators, and the pros and cons of each, as they relate to site-specifi c appli-cations. Although not a formulaic science, the selection of what type of gate to provide is the critical starting point in systems design.

Gate Operator are matched to the type of gate, and this course cov-ers the pros and cons of the various types of operators and how these factors infl uence the best selection to use to meet both site and cus-tomer demands.

The UL 325 standard is presented in detail as it relates to Automated Gate Operator System Design. Known future and very signifi cant changes are also addressed.

The ASTM F-2200 standard is pre-sented in detail as it relates to what must be done to a gate before it can be automated. Th e requirements diff er for each type of gate and each will be covered to include examples.

Entrapment protection builds upon what has been learned in the previ-ous chapters by giving site condi-tions and showing how to eliminate or negate potential hazards.

Access controls Review many types of access controls is conducted to highlight the pros and cons of each as they relate to site-specifi c applica-tions. Th e balance between security requirements and practical consid-erations will give the student a better understanding of how to select the right access controls to meet the cus-tomer’s needs.

Vehicle detectors, how they work and what issues must be considered to select the placement of the loops and the functional aspects of how they wire to the gate operators.

Although the sales force may not need to know how to install a vehi-cle detector loop, the knowledge of what to look for during a site inspec-tion is critical to the proper design of a system.

Electrical conduits and wires covers the basic fundamentals of electric-ity as they relate to the selection of automated gate operators and site requirements.

Th e conduit and wire require-ments for each device are addressed to allow the student to “build” an automated gate operator system.

Site layout has the student employ all of the previous information pre-sented by giving site conditions and then practical exercises of what to use in the design of an automated gate system.

Contact 800-822-4342; http://americanfenceassociation.com/afa-university/

Continued from page .

March / April 2015 n O&MM Fabricator 25

See more at www.cmrp.com/circular-staircases

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FIRENZA c

For your information

Automated Vehicular Gate Systems Coalition

American Fence Association (AFA)800-822-4342http://americanfenceassociation.com

Door and Access Systems Manufacturers Association International (DASMA)216-241-7333www.dasma.com

International Door Association (IDA)800-355-4432http://www.doors.org

Institute of Door Dealer Education and Accreditation (IDEA)937-698-1027http://dooreducation.com

National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metal Association (NOMMA)888-516-8585www.nomma.org

About the authorSteve Stinedurf is a freelance writer and information technology professional based in southeast Michigan. He finds that writing provides him endless opportunities to meet fascinating people and learn about their industries.

n

The recommended study time before taking the test is 30 to 60 days, says Todd Thomas, managing director of IDEA, but that varies with individual experience and knowledge level.

The study guides, says Thomas, “are traditional ones, but don’t have sample questions and answers. They contain the information that certified indi-viduals ought to know, and they must pass a written examination document-ing they know it.”

IDEA does not publish a mas-ter schedule of testing opportunities. Instead, they recommend that you work through a trade organization, NOMMA for example, to arrange test-ing at a trade event. Or contact IDEA by phone at 947-698-1027 or email [email protected]. The AFA may schedule testing opportunities at its annual FenceTech event (http://americanfenceassociation.com/

fencetech-2016).The test is graded on a pass/fail

basis with a minimum passing score of 80%. The written tests are multi-ple choice and true-false. Reference material is not permitted in the testing site. Anyone failing the test may take it again at no charge. Two hours are allotted to complete the test.

“In most cases, [applicants] are notified [of test results] soon after they turn in their exams,” says Thomas. “It depends on the number of people test-

ing at any given event. Otherwise, they are notified in writing within 30 days.”

Another option for those with less hands-on experience is the American Fence Association (AFA) Automated Gate Systems Designer School. The AFA describes this two-day course as “. . . the equivalent of two years of experience.” You still need to take and pass the Coalition test to be certified, but it could accelerate your learning process.

The Installer and Design certifica-tions are for a three-year period. To maintain certification, a renewal fee is required. Certified installers and designers must earn nine Continuing Education Units (1 hour of education equals 1 CEU) during the three-year period. No specific information on CEUs is posted on either the AFA or IDEA Web site; contact IDEA for details.

Fabricators will know what is required for an automated gate; they can check that the installer’s plans and work meet the relevant standards. That might help protect them from an injury liability lawsuit.

March / April 2015 n O&MM Fabricator 27

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n Even with the attendant challenges, cantilevered gates have an unabated popularity. Here are a few ways to resolve the problems.

“The gates should be limited to four rollers, two top and bottom pairs. This prevents binding from the natural inclination of the gate to sag ever so slightly,” says Mike Stylski, owner, Accent Ornamental Iron & Powder Coating.

This curved, cantilevered gate from Wiemann Metalcraft was made of #8 stainless and copper with all-mechanical fasteners. Wiemann used heavy-duty stainless rollers from D.J.A. Imports Ltd., Bronx, NY. The pre-slotted tube — which, D.J.A. sells to pair with the rollers — couldn’t be rolled. Wiemann then rolled stainless square tube and slotted it to suit its needs, only to realize that the rollers and tube sold were metric; Wiemann had to modify the rollers to fit the Imperial-sized tube.

electric Exterior cantilevered gates are ubiquitous. We often barely notice them. They greet — or impede — visitors to airports, warehouses, industrial parks, military installations, and for reasons unclear, cemeteries.

The concept of a sliding gate that would be self-suspending is a relatively recent inven-tion. A patent was issued in 1898 to a John O. Moss of Fannin County, TX, for “. . . a sliding gate, which will open automatically and close in a like manner after a person, team, or the like, has passed through it. A further object of the invention is to provide the means whereby the gate will be protected from being acci-dently opened by stock.”

The cantilevered gate’s raison d’être was, and remains to this day, a practical, or defen-sive accoutrement. Practical security remains no less a concern than it was in the 19th cen-tury prairies. Hence the cantilevered gate’s impressively uninterrupted popularity.

Even more impressive is that only a smat-

tering of fabricators produce all these gates. Many companies distribute, sell, or install these gates, but not all that many make them. Because it’s not that easy to build a good solid, well-functioning cantilevered gate.

For one thing, they’re big. Most are in the 10- to 20-foot range. For another, certain tech-niques must be mastered to overcome the challenges ensuring a 500-plus-pound gate rolls smoothly to the side on command.

So what’s involved in fabricating one of these puppies?

Let ’em rollTo understand the problems inherent in

fabricating a cantilevered gate one must know how these gates work.

The gate opens and closes by sliding to one side or the other. The slide is directionally con-trolled by means of a track that is supported by several vertical posts. Because of its weight, several rollers attached to either the top or bot-tom of the track facilitate the gate’s sliding. The rollers act as bearings for the gate, allowing it

slide solutions

Shop Talk

By Jeff Fogel


to overcome the forces of both weight and friction to move smoothly along the track.

Of course, a heavy gate, let’s say 800-pounds or so, is going to exert a vertical load on the rollers. This is called a reaction load, which can be overcome by using either more rollers or making the rollers larger.

Mike Stylski, owner of Accent Ornamental Iron & Pow-der Coating, Cambridge, MN, has strong feelings about solving this problem. He opts for using more robust rollers rather than increasing their number.

“I’ve seen instances where someone was having prob-lems with the gate not sliding right, and when I looked at it, there were sometimes six rollers. I’d get rid of two, level the gate, and it would work perfectly.”

The gates should be limited to four rollers, says Stylski, two top and bottom pairs. This prevents binding from the natural inclination of the gate to sag ever so slightly. This slight sagging results in pressure on the top left roller (as viewed from the front of the gate) and the bottom right roller when the gate is extended or open.

The problem can be exacerbated, says Stylski, if the roll-ers are too widely spaced. In this case, the pressure increases and interferes with smooth rolling.

What if the two pairs of rollers, correctly placed, are still binding? Go to beefier rollers, says Stylski. As long as you keep the number limited to four.

A handy formula determines the loading on each roller pair.

Weight of the gate multiplied by the distance from its end to its center of gravitydivided by the distance between the two vertical support posts.

As noted, where you place the posts makes a crucial dif-ference in the smooth operation of a cantilevered gate. Pop-ular opinion based on a collective body of experience has it that a gate must be counterbalanced by a length equal to one-half of the length of the gate’s opening.

This means a 25-foot gate would have a 12- or 13-foot counter section called a “tail.” Its purpose is to provide suf-ficient counter weight to keep the gate from deflecting too much. Too much deflection would cause binding that even the largest rollers would be hard pressed to overcome.

Again, let’s take our example of an 800-pound gate and assume that the gate will cover a 25-foot-wide opening.

Using the formula, a 25-foot gate might have a 13-foot tail, which would be the correct distance between the two support posts. The center of gravity from one end of the gate would be roughly 16 feet. Thus:

800 lb x 16 ft 13 ft = 400 lb/roller

This information will allow you to specify the correct size rollers for the gate.

For those disinclined to tinkering with math equations, software can do the cyphering for you.

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Elemental Analysis) software,” says Kendall Shrock, Shrock Fabrication, Bird-in-Hand, PA, “which will automatically calculate the stress and sag on each member, and show where the gate needs to be strengthened.”

Of course, an engineer will do this as well. “Send your drawing to a professional engineer to do the calculations,” adds Shrock. “A couple of hours at the engineer’s desk can save thousands of dollars down the road.”

Defeating deflectionThe posts being critical to the sup-

port of the gate, deflection is the enemy of smooth sliding on a cantilevered gate.

At this point, a quick review of deflec-tion is helpful. Simply defined, deflection is the degree to which a post will bend under a lateral load before returning, on its own, to its original vertical position.

Factors that affect a post’s deflection properties n post diameter (or thickness). n the thickness of the walls of the post, if it is a tube. n the force of the load.The thicker the walls and the bigger the post, the more

loading it can withstand and still bounce back.Experience shows Stylski that the optimal size for posts is

2-inch square tubing and can be used for gates up to 25 feet.Frank Duff, national sales manager for International

Gate Devices, Folsom, PA, goes with a larger size for posts: between 4-inch and 6-inch square or round tubing.

Duff notes that a trend is toward 6-inch stock, but bigger is not necessarily better, and 4-inch generally works most of the time. “You don’t really need it [on a cantilevered gate]. Maybe on a very wide swing gate [though].”

Shrock concurs, noting that the number one cause of deflection is insufficient vertical mass in the frame members of the gate. Shrock explains that you can add mass in several ways, including “more horizontal mem-bers close to other horizontal members with connections, such as pickets or vari-ous infill options, such as vertical plate or scrolls.”

Another option in Shrock’s bag of tricks is to “use a very heavy bottom and top hor-izontal frame member, and have a diagonal member connecting them at the back.”

Stylski relies on experience to deter-mine post size, although he will “err on the side of a heavier post.”

Yet another option is to use pre-engi-neered specifications to avoid deflection. Ludwig Weber, sales manager for Ametco, Willoughby, OH, says his company has tabulations by engineers for a variety of gate sizes. The tabulations cover everything

“With minor adjustments, they can last 50 years or more, unless you drive through them with snow plow, which happens,” saysFrank Duff, national sales manager for International Gate Devices.

“More and more companies are investing in [Finite Elemental Analysis] software,” says Kendall Shrock, Shrock Fabrication.

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Once upon a time, there was a good fabricator in Blaine, WA, Ken Miller. One day a customer came to his shop, called Steel Magnolia Inc., and asked him to build him a gate. The customer wanted it to be a grand gate — 50 feet wide — and cantilevered. This would be a fine project, Ken thought and told the customer he would build it.

Ken is a skilled fabricator and he worked hard on the gate. He cut, bent, and welded until at last it was finished. It was a beautiful gate made of alumi-num with a steel trolley track welded to its bottom on which it could slide open and closed.

It was quite a job to install. After all, the gate weighed 780 pounds, and was thru-bolted together in four sec-tions. The trolley was propped up on blocks as they leveled the gate.

Finally, when it was time to see how the gate worked and they removed the temporary support blocks, the gate sagged sadly and wouldn’t slide.

Ken was puzzled. He had built other gates and everything seemed in order. Sure, the driveway sloped ever so slightly so the customer had asked

for a slight incline to the gate so it wouldn’t be so high off the ground at one end. But that couldn’t be the prob-lem, Ken thought.

The adviceHe went online to the magical place

where all the fabricator wizards hang out and give wise advice. Some call this place the NOMMA ListServ.

“Why does it have no diagonal supports?” asked Kendall Shrock, vice president, Shrock Fabrication. Curt Witter, president Big D Metalworks and Art Ballard, owner, Art’s Work Unlimited, both agreed it needed more “tail.”

“Perhaps there is weld warp from when you attached the trolley,” mused Kendall.

Some of them suggested tensioning cables. And many more thought Ken should consult an engineer. Yes, defi-nitely ask an engineer, they said.

The solutionKen went back to his shop and

thought about all the advice he received on the NOMMA ListServ. It

was all good advice and he was certain it would help him solve his problem.

First he added four pairs of criss-crossed diagonal support cables. Then he gave them some turnbuck-les so they could be properly adjusted. Then he had an idea.

He fashioned two wheels from 2-inch

sections of steel tube. He put 3/4-inch shafts with bearings inside tubes, and fastened them to the gate’s bottom track with steel straps at either end of the gate.

Now the gate could ride on the wheels as it slid on the original trolley. The gate has been working perfectly for several weeks now, thanks to the modifications.

Moral. One way to get things rolling on a project is to get on the NOMMA ListServ.

— Jeff Fogel

Why the cantilever gate sags no more

Ken Miller, president, Steel Magnolia

Consult a professional engineer, says Curt Witter, president, Big D Metalworks. Meanwhile, he offered the idea, left, as a possible configuration.

Photo shows wood blocks under gate track just to get it off the ground so that the fabricator could figure out how to fix this problem.

Columns to keep top from falling over Red suggest rigid frame Blue suggest tension cable

Probable configuration. Consult a professional engineer.


1

2

34

5

1) Fixed cantilever gate showing the trolley wheels set at 12 feet apart and in about 7,780 pounds of concrete,

Clockwise from the middle photo at right: 2) tail end roller, 3) tensioning cables crisscrossed for support, 4) the roller has lifted off the ground just in time to slide into the receiver, and 5) 3/16 cable tensions and leading edge roller Ken Miller made to keep the gate from dragging on the asphalt. Notice that the 50-foot gate is halfway closed at 25 feet and the roller has yet to contact the ground.


from tail length to diameters for the square tubing Ame-tco uses for frames and vertical posts. Their preference for square tubing, explains Weber, is that they find it easier to attach the gates’ hardware to square surfaces.

Weber concurs with a 2:1 ratio of gate to tail. However, while sufficient tail length is necessary to overcome deflec-tion, he points out another way to skin that cat.

“There may not be enough room (at the site) for (a long enough) tail, but there are some styles that use a mono-rail (for a track).” The monorail uses a heavy counter weight rather than a longer tail.

Double-sliding gates also exist. Most of these are mas-sive and are operated on wheels, but they are not true can-tilevered gates. However, some of the more modest double gates are occasionally cantilevered. These are mostly seen at either airports or military installations.

As Frank Duff wryly notes, “if you’ve just passed through double-sliding gate, you’re probably somewhere you shouldn’t be.”

The rules for fabrication are the same for these mega-gates, but with a longer tail, and much more robust rollers. Additional challenges manifest themselves though.

After they leave the shop, many are too big to ship by conventional means. They are often shipped in parts to be assembled on site. This can mean securing the necessary permits for extra-wide shipping on roads.

Another challenge that arises from building a lengthy cantilevered gate is how to attach the frame for the track and rollers. Stylski just welds a working frame onto the back of the gate. This is necessary for not only large gates, or extra strength, but also when ornamentation such as spear points, a crown in the center of the gate’s top line, or a lot of fancy iron work is necessary.

Another reason to add a working frame is if the gate is made of round tubing, which doesn’t easily allow attach-ments such as tracks.

Why fabricators sometimes avoid cantilever gates n Price. The cost for a cantilevered gate can be rather

high. But curiously, it’s not the fabrication costs, it’s the cost of the hardware; in particular, the operator. As Stylski points out, “operators are the expensive part. They can cost more than the gate itself.”

n Space. Because of the “tail,” true cantilevered gates take up a lot more room on the sides. Residences typically don't have as much available room for this.

n Safety. The Underwriters Laboratory doesn’t recom-mend them for residential use because the sensors for the electric operator are located at the end of the gate.

This means if a child, for example, accidentally shoved a mitt through the bars or filigree work of the gate (don’t think it couldn’t happen), the sensors wouldn’t pick it up and the gate would continue to open or close with infelici-tous result. And an infelicitous result is the stuff of lawsuits.

But they are still popularEven with the attendant challenges and costs associated

with cantilevered gates, they have an unabated popularity.n They’re simple. The notion of shifting something

heavy on rollers has its roots in antiq-uity. Monstrous chunks of dressed stone for the Pyramids and Parthenon were moved this way. Once you have a good idea, you tend to stick with it. The simpler a mechanism is, the less that can go wrong with it. This gives rise to the second attribute of cantile-vered gates.

n They’re strong. They tend to have the longevity of Hostess Twinkies. “With minor adjustments, they can last 50 years or more,” says Duff, “unless you drive through them with a snow plow, which happens.”

Finally, some good ole field mea-surement is vital to a cantilevered gate before it is even fabricated. Some loca-

tions don’t have the room on either side of the gate opening to accommo-date a cantilevered gate. Sure, space limitations can be dealt with by a counter weight, or monorail, but even that requires some elbow room for the gate, and in some cases reality must be adhered to.

In other words, sometimes it is what it is.


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The checkered pattern on this all-aluminum gate with a 15-foot brick opening from Groll Ornamental Iron Works was made with three overlapping layers. The 20-foot cantilever track was from International Gate Devices Inc., Folsom, PA. The top track has the rollers inside, which keeps them out of the weather. The two, 4-inch-round galvanized posts support the rollers for the top and the guides on the bottom. This 15-year-old-gate meets today’s UL325 code with a separate main gate and no openings to get a foothold to ride the gate.


For more on deflection see November-December 2014 issue of O&MM Fabricator, page 14.

About the authorJeff Fogel began writing as a journalist with the New York Daily News. He has been a copywriter and associate creative director for advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather. Jeff now lives in New Hampshire where the weather’s bad, the skiing’s better, and blacksmithing’s a respectable way to keep warm.

n


2015 Top Job Gold Award: Restoration

n Not a law fi rm, just a degree or so of separation over a -year period. Finelli Architect ural Iron & Stairs collaborated with Bighorn Forge and other fabricators to rest ore a 12 Edgar Brandt gate built for Harvey Firest one Jr. Th e partnership now enjoys being a Top Job gold winner.

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A photo of the rendering of the original Edgar Brandt concept given to Harvey Firestone Jr. It is still on display in the home today. The gold, in the original, was not added to the fi nal gate. Right, the completed restoration in all its glory, waiting for the new driveway.

History is most often created when individuals combine their eff orts. Th e resulting synergy can create a legacy that will be recognized by generations to come.

For Finelli Architectural Iron & Stairs, in Solon, OH, the restoration of an historic 1926 gate created by Art Deco master fabricator Edgar Brandt called for collabo-ration with other NOMMA members.

Th e cooperation resulted in a 2015 Top Job Gold award in gate restoration for Finelli. Dan Nauman, of Bighorn Forge in Kewaskum, WI, was awarded a duplicate gold medal and certifi cate for his hand-hammered repoussé

Bighorn Forge restored 64 two-piece rosettes that were 51/2 inches square per gate leaf, as well as eight sets of two-piece, 8-inch round rosettes.

By Linda M. Erbele

on the gate. Finelli also won three other Top Job gold awards for other non-res-toration work at the home.

Robinson Iron Corp., in Alexander City, AL, and O.K. Foundry Co. Inc. in Richmond, VA, added their casting eff orts to the fi nished product.

“It was a great honor to receive such a high award, especially because our industry leaders are evaluating your work,” said Nick Finelli, market-ing director of the company.

Th ere were two sets of gates, for dual entrances to a home built in 1926 for Harvey Firestone Jr., chairman of the board of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. He was the eldest son of the founder, Harvey S. Firestone, Sr.

Th e gates were created by Edgar Brandt in Paris, France, around the time the home was built.

Brandt was a craft sman and designer who pioneered the combination of machine-age technology with conven-tional methods of blacksmithing. His work was highly sought aft er in Europe and the United States.

Th e gates were wrought iron, in a Neo-Classical style, says Joan Kahr, author of Edgar Brandt: Art Deco Iron-work, although Brandt is more known for Art Deco (see article, page 43).

“Th e project was a referral from another contractor working at this home,” said Jim Korosec, salesman with Finelli Ironworks. “Th e owner inter-viewed us, then came and visited our shop to see what our capabilities were.”

Korosec said Finelli had done some restoration work in the past, but noth-ing of this size or number of man-hours of eff ort it took for this job. But the client believed Finelli could do it.

Th e client and his wife made sev-eral visits to Finelli’s workshop to con-sult and make decisions about the job as it progressed. Th e couple was ada-mant about maintaining as much of the integrity of the original as possible.

“We had him involved in all the steps,” Korosec added. “Th is home and property is a labor of love for him. He’s gone to great expense to restore what he can back to the original.”

Finelli Architectural developed a friendly relationship with the couple. Shop foreman Jim Mellott, who did most of the work on the gates, said that is not unusual in their shop.

Design and fi eld measurementsOriginal drawings were different

Because of the nature of the job, they decided that the best way to bill would be for time and materials.

“We gave (the client) a general idea,” Korosec said. “He thought it


Angelo Finelli and Jim Thompson along with crane, help guide the fi rst leaf off at the initial removal of the fi rst set of gates, header, and side panels. Each gate leaf weighed between 1,200 and 1,400 pounds.

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would take more because he knew what he wanted.”

Mellott and Korosec studied the original drawings proposed by Brandt to Firestone, which the client pro-vided. At the site, however, they dis-covered that the actual gate had slight diff erences from the drawings, some of which were due to repairs by other owners over the years.

Th e individual gate leaves, two at each of the two entrances, are 5 feet, 4 inches wide and 13 feet tall. Includ-ing the side panels and the overhead panel, each entrance gate assembly is 15 feet wide by 18 feet tall. Th e gate leaves alone weighed 1,200 to 1,400 pounds, Mellott said.

Th ey carefully measured every component and photographed them with an Apple iPad. Th en they tagged and labeled everything.

“We knew, once we pulled this apart, if we didn’t know how it went back together, we’d be in trouble,” Korosec said.

Given the size, a crane took the

gates down. Th ey were loaded on a fl at-bed truck and transported to the shop. Th e client went to the shop with them to assist in a restoration assessment.

FabricationNo evidence of welding

Finelli fi rst took the entire gate assembly, including the gate leaves,

header, and side panels to Milestone Services in Akron to remove almost a century of rust and deterioration.

“Th e cleaning was done by hand, using professional caution,” said Ed Stanley, owner of Milestone Services. “We don’t actually use sand. Th e gov-ernment won’t allow that. We use a product called garnet.”

When the cleaned gate assem-bly returned, Finelli discovered that Edgar Brandt had stamped his name into the bottom of the gate. Based on their research, Korosec said that was unusual. Moreover, they were sur-prised to discover no evidence of a weld in the entire structure.

“It was series of mortise and tenon connections, with pins to lock every-thing together,” Korosec said. “It was like a big puzzle.”

Th at included 700 fasteners in each set of gates.

“Th e hinges themselves, which the gates pivot on, were individually fab-ricated because some of the diameters of the pins were diff erent,” Korosec said. “Th ere were bushings in the hinge leafs that were diff erent sizes. So everything was custom fi t, even when it was originally created.”


Repousse husks completely gone

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Damage to the cremone bolt

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Below, top of this husk is missing,

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And the client was fi rm about put-ting it back together they way it was originally fabricated.

Mellott said the fi rst set of gates took 1,600 hours of fabrication to completely restore. By the time he began the sec-ond set, he had became competent with it, so that only took 900 hours.

Th ose were just shop hours. Korosec said he didn’t capture the site visits and other hours he spent on the job, including fi nding someone to do the repoussé and cast iron work.

Recreating repoussé was challengingFor the repoussé, Finelli worked

with Dan Nauman at Bighorn Forge.

“He did all the leaves, husks, and rosettes,” Korosec said. “Th ey were all hand-hammered out.”

Nauman said he received a call from Korosec, who had discovered his blog (www.bighornforge.wordpress.com). He said Korosec told him that

the client had planned a trip to France to fi nd someone who could do that kind of work. Nauman was planning a trip to Maine to teach, so he arranged to stop in Akron to see the job.

“I looked at what had to be done and realized what a monumental


Dismantling of the gate frames, far left, revealed the construction method of a mortis-tenon style with pins. There were no welds in the entire assembly.

Initial sandblasting, left, revealed hidden damage of the components.

Recreated acanthus pattern, below far left.

Five-and-one-half inch rosette left, reproduction and original.

job this would be,” Nauman said. Nevertheless, the client accepted Nauman’s estimate of the hours required.

Some deteriorated elements ‘were like lace’Among the challenges for Nauman was the extent of dete-

rioration on some of the individual elements of the gate.“A lot of them were so far gone, they were like lace,” he

said. “There were remnants of every element I had to create, but there were parts missing.”

Korosec said there was a lot of collaborative research done with the assistance of the client. A nearby university had some archived photographs of the gate, which helped.

In addition, the client had a box of parts stored in a car-riage house on the property. It contained pieces that had broken or fallen off over the years, and leftovers from repairs made by other workers.

Korosec said the pictures helped them discover that some of the components had been put back on the gate in the wrong place, something they corrected.

Nauman took some of the original rosettes to create a pattern for making the replacements. To do that, he had to flatten one out.

“Then they get distorted. To begin with, you’ve got a flat pattern, and hammering it stretches it, spreading it out,” Nauman said.

The act of making it flat stretched the original again. Nau-man ended up reducing by 7% the pattern he was able to create by flattening, to arrive at a size of steel he could then hammer into the correct size rosettes.


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After reviewing archive photos housed in a local university, Finelli discovered inconsistency in repairs

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Preliminary shop assembly, right, of the gate’s header and side panels to ensure proper fit in the field.


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Each gate leaf had 50 three-piece rosettes, in a diameter of 7 inches. There were 64 two-piece rosettes that were 51/2 inches square per gate leaf, as well as eight sets of two-piece, 8-inch round rosettes and several acanthus leaves, all to be created. Each gate entrance had two gate leaves, so all of those numbers doubled.

Alloy was harder than the hammer faceAnother challenge surfaced when

Nauman discovered pockmarks on the head of his hammer. The heat from the laser cutting hardened the metal. He had sent the patterns to JB Friction & Fab Corp. in Grafton, WI, to be laser cut, but discovered that the particular alloy used for the 7-inch rosettes had been affected by the laser cutting. It had become harder than the hammer face he was using to shape it.

“I had to anneal (soften) every one of those patterns for this specific rosette and there were 64 of them,” he said. “I had to heat them up in bunches and then slow-cool them over a period of four hours.”

The repoussé project easily took more than 1,100 hours. Given that it was entirely hand-hammered, Nau-man said, that probably amounted to 40,000 to 60,000 hammer blows a day.

Nauman and his assistant Jeremiah

Backhaus worked on the project for months. Nauman said it resulted in two carpal-tunnel surgeries for him.

Nauman makes the tools, including hammers and punches, for his work and uses a Jet band saw to cut some

shapes. He said the band saw was made for woodcutting, but he reduced the RPMs to slow the Simonds blade he used in the band saw for cutting metal.

Refabricated gate header in progress, left, shows a portion of the 700 fasteners in each set of gates. No welds were in this assembly, but a lot of drilling and tapping was required. Recast bronze cremone bolt guide, right, with mechanism reworked and in operation.


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Castings based on remnants had to be enlargedIn addition to the rosettes, some

elements of the gates had to be cast, such as crown molding and miscel-laneous trim, so Korosec turned to O.K. Foundry and Robinson Iron. Both companies used an original piece of the gate to create patterns for the pieces that were needed.

Steve Rowe at O.K. Foundry explained the process of creating the casting from an original.

“We make a negative impression from plastic or plaster,” he said. “Then we make a positive, but strategically divided in half, so we can remove the pattern.”

They place the positive, a copy of the original, in a resin-bonded sand mixture to make the casting mold. The sand mixture hardens to create a mold, and then the mold is filled with molten iron, heated to 2,600° F.

OK created crown molds for the top of the gate.

“With pieces that small, it’s about

30 minutes before we can open the mold,” Rowe said. “And then it takes about two hours to cool to room tem-perature.”

Robinson Iron was given other small decorative components of the gate to recreate.

“We were sent remnants of orna-mental castings,” said Scotty Howell, vice president with Robinson Iron. “We had to enlarge them to account for shrinkage in the cooled iron.”

He said that the iron would shrink about 1/8 inch per linear foot, so in order for the new castings they made to fit on the gate and match the exist-ing pieces, their patterns had to be fractionally larger. He was satisfied with their success on this project.

Back at Finelli, Mellott said they had their own challenges with size. Because the entire gate was created with metric measurements in Europe, American standard sizes had be ground down to fit.

For example, he said the side pan-els that the gates swing from were anchored to the stone fence by a solid

steel bar. They used a 33/4 x 3/4-inch bar and ground it to fit the opening in the fence, which had been created to accommodate a metric-sized bar.

FinishingUsed zinc-metalized coat and 2-part urethane spray

When all the deteriorated parts had been recreated, the gates were care-fully reassembled using the photos and schematic of all the labeled pieces that they had made.

The only welding that was done was when part of a component had deterio-rated to such a degree that Finelli had to splice in a new part of it. In those cases, Mellott said he ground and polished the completed piece using a Milwaukee grinder and standard abrasive wheels.

For protection before painting, the entire assembly received a zinc-met-alized coat. Many of the smaller com-ponents that would be bolted on were painted separately before attaching, so that the paint would get under the curl lips of leaves and rosettes.

Once assembled, Finelli used a two-


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Brandt brought new aesthetic to metalwork Edgar Brandt, a major fi gure in Art Deco architectural and interior metal-work design, made production inroads as well, says Michael Bondi, Michael Bondi Metal Design, Oakland, CA.

Brandt (1880–1960) fused hand forging with industrial methods and new technology, such as oxyacetylene welding, power hammering, and die stamping. Th is increased production allowed Brandt to have a large shop.

Brandt’s works include gates, rail-ings, elevator doors, radiator covers, bookends, lamps, screens, and jewelry.

Bondi has a large collection of orig-inal Art Deco portfolios and has stud-ied Brandt. He and his brother Ste-phen won a 1989 Mitch Heitler award for their Edgar Brandt-style rail. Joan Kahr interviewed Bondi for her defi n-itive book, Edgar Brandt: Mast er of Art Deco Ironwork (see FYI, page 45)

Brandt was also an organizer of the Paris L’ Exposition Des Arts Déco-

ratis Et Industriels Modernes in 1925 and an exhibitor there, say Kahr.

“Brandt was well known for his ironwork before the exhibition,” she says, “but he achieved worldwide rec-ognition because of his dazzling dis-play stand.”

His most famous work was L’Oa-sis, a fi ve-panel screen of silvered

wrought iron and electroplated brass. Interestingly, Bondi says a Bra-

zilian family purchased much of thecontents of his booth, and the pieces disappeared for many years. An L.A. dealer happened on one of the pieces, he says, tracking it to a Buenos Aires home, where the L’Oasis was found.

— Linda Eberle

Edgar Brandt’s L’Oasis, a fi ve-panel, wrought-iron and brass metal screen, 1924.

Image courtesy of Joan K

ahr

part urethane spray for the final finish-ing coat.

“The size alone was a big challenge,” Korosec said. “It’s not something you can just pick up and move on your work bench. Even in the spray booth, we had to use a tow motor to put them in place, and lift them to dry.”

Installation6 workers with a crane took all-day

The assembled gate leaves, side pan-els, and header were brought to the cli-ent’s home by flat-bed truck. Finelli used a large crane to lift the gate parts and hold them in place during installation.

The side panels were bolted to the

steel bars that were inset into the stone fence, then the 5-foot-tall header went on. Each gate was fastened to the side panels with no less than five hinges.

It took six Finelli employees all day to install and that was with the assis-tance of the crane.

They used a Pacific Laser PLS5 laser level to achieve the accuracy they needed for the re-installation.

“We talked about whether the gates and components were shipped here (in the 1920s) and assembled on site,” Korosec said. “Because there was no welding, we don’t know.”

They can only guess that the gate leaves, side panels, and headers were assembled and shipped to the U.S., and then installed at the entrance.

Korosec said one of the biggest sur-prises was the accuracy in which it was all made.

“Assuming these gates have been hanging since 1926 — they weren’t even 1/8 of an inch out of plum,” he added. “There was no sagging. Everything was amazingly true.”

“I was really honored to do a project like this,” said Mellott. “I can only imag-ine the craftsmen who worked on it all those years ago. It was pretty incredible.”

Korosec agreed.“When you can revitalize a piece

of history, especially from someone like [Brandt], who people in our trade revere, it’s a huge blessing to be part of it,” he said.


Repousse components by Dan Nauman of Bighorn Forge awaiting assembly and installation on the gate leaf to the right.

3 things Nick Finelli learned from the job

1) Tap into the wisdom of NOMMA members. Everyone is willing to help.

2) Take your responsibility seriously when refurbishing a job, because it’s not just something you tag your name on, it’s a legacy that you become a part of.

3) Even though NOMMA members are in the same industry, think of it more as collaborating than competing.


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About Edgar BrandtEdgar Brandt: Art Deco Ironwork by Joan Kahr Atgien, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2010. 240 pages. ISBN13: 9780764336669. www.schifferbooks.com

Edgar Brandt: Master of Art Deco Ironwork by Joan Kahr. New York: Harry N. Abrams,1999. 240 pages. ISBN: 0-8109-4003-5. www.abramsbooks.com. Out of print.

About the authorLinda Erbele, an Atlanta-based writer with 15 years of journalism experience, specializes in business and travel writing.

n

Installation day of the second set of gates, headers and side panels. A crane, snorkel lift, and five men were necessary. After a full day all is well.

Finelli Architectural Iron & Stairs Nick Finelli 440-248-0050www.finelliironworks.com

Bighorn ForgeDan Nauman262-626-2208www.bighornforge.com

O.K. Foundry Co. Inc.Steve Rowe804-233-9674www.okfoundry.com

Robinson Iron Corp.Scott Howell 800-824-2157www.robinsoniron.com

Milestone Services Ed Stanley330-374-9988www.milestoneservicescorp. com

Nick Finelli was enormously proud of the job, as were the craftspeople who worked on it.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Brandt and his crew who fabricated this job,” he said. “I hope in 100 years or so when this gate is refurbished again, the same is thought about Finelli. I’m honored to be part of a legacy that will be here long after I’m gone.”


Biz Side

© artenot

n The concept of ‘ownership thinking’ typically calls for moving your company culture away from entitlement. If that is a concern, here’s a way to fix it.

Owners, should you teach your employees to think like you?

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Construction Business Owner magazine in November 2011. Written by Brad Hams, founder in 1995 of Own-ership Thinking LLC, Lakewood, CO, it was recently updated by Carmen Garcia-Hams. Ownership Think-ing is “dedicated to unleashing the potential of its cli-ent organizations by providing the training and tools required to develop a workforce of ‘ownership think-ers’ who become active participants in their company’s financial success,” according to a statement on its web-site at www.ownershipthinking.com.

Employees are happiest in a learning and challeng-ing environment where they can be part of a team and easily see their contributions matter — where they have purpose. Abraham Maslow, who gave us Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, once said, “The only happy people I know are the ones who are working well at something they consider important.”

The concept of “ownership thinking” calls for teaching employees to think and act the way an owner would. This might mean a cultural change is necessary so that employees have accountability within their company and any sense of entitlement is lowered.

To create an ownership culture, three elements are required:

1 Teach your employees the fundamentals of busi-ness and finance.

2 Focus employees on the leading, activity-based measures that drive your financial performance.

3 Create a broad-based, self-funded incentive plan tied to a guaranteed increased profitability of your company (see article, page 48).

1 Teach your employees about business and finance (They think you take home wheelbarrows of money.)

Before I give you some tips on how to do this, though, here’s why you need to do it: What your


employees don’t know can hurt you.

Try thisTo emphasize my point, I’d like

you to do a little experiment. Ask some of your employees what percentage of sales in the com-pany is profit. When I ask this question of employees in compa-nies where information has not been shared, 50% is a common answer. My experience working in different indus-tries is that 3% to 7% is generally closer to the truth.

So, why is this a problem? The problem is that when employ-

ees believe the company is making that kind of money, the employee might become wasteful. Sometimes an employee will have a type of bitterness in the back of their minds.

The thought process might be something like this: “So we left that material behind (or, for example, wasted that labor, or damaged that truck, or had to return to a job and perform some rework), we’re rolling in the dough.” And by the way, they really don’t say, “We’re rolling in the dough”; they say “he (or she) is rolling in the dough,” of course pointing to you, the owner.

Therefore, if you want to get your employees to begin thinking like you (and, as we like to say, share the insomnia), teach them the realities of business and finance.

Over the years, I have learned that the most effective way to teach finance to non-financial employees is to asso-ciate personal finance to business finance when you do it.

Why? First, this takes the intimidation

out of the subject. Second, personal and business finance are similar.

Here are some examples:n An income statement in business

comprises three simple components: sales, less expenses, equals profit (or loss). An income statement at home is the same: our paycheck, less our bills, equals our savings (or not).

n A cashflow statement in business also comprises three simple compo-nents: cash in, less cash out, equals our change in cash. A cashflow at home consists of our cashed paycheck, less

what our spouse and kids spend, which typically equals nothing!

n A balance sheet in business con-sists of what we own (equipment, materials), less what we owe on what we own (accounts payable and debt), plus what we really own (owner’s equity).

At home, you could use the exam-ple of a house. Our house, less what we owe on the house (the mortgage), equals what we really own, or the

equity on the house (the garage door, perhaps).

Teach why we need cashThe next thing employees should

know is why we need cash. Of what use is it? The first thing that employ-

ees will think of when asked this ques-tion is payroll. Payroll is the largest

expense in most organizations, but many other expenses must be

paid, e.g. equipment opera-tion, fuel, materials, facilities, and utilities.

We need cash in an organization for other things beyond just expenses, however, particularly if we’d like to grow. To remain competitive and to grow, organizations need cash for equipment or capital improvements, debt retirement, or retained earn-

ings. Thus, that 3% to 7% (as opposed to 50%) is not going into the owner’s pockets. Much of it is reinvested.

Try thisn Break your employees into small

groups of about five in each group.


3 How to make broad-based and self-funded incentive plans ensure employee excellence An incentive plan must pay for itself. If it does not, then what you have created is simply a new expense. Moreover, you may have also created a sense of entitlement.

If employees have the oppor-tunity to participate in an incen-tive plan, then it should be their obli gation and responsibility to fund it.

However, the owner’s obligation is to provide employees with the financial education, measures, and tools outlined in this article to ensure employees produce the money to fund the plan.

Many (if not most) business own-ers consider incentive plans a bud-geted expense, which might be why they are not enthusiastic about creat-ing them.

Incentive plans that are self-funded also drive a company’s prof-itability. An incentive plan is meant to improve a company’s financial performance and shape employee behavior accordingly. If financial performance does not warrant them, incentives should never be paid.

However, most short-term incen-tive plans are ineffective. In fact, many incentive plans can actually damage a company.

Ineffective incentive plans become entitlements, hurt morale

Due to the lack of training and engagement related to funding the plan, a weak link exists between employee performance and incentive payouts (or lack of payouts).

It is gratifying when employees receive incentives, but their behav-ior does not change because the link between the incentive and their work is not clear.

Since this link is not established, the incentive simply becomes part of their compensation.

Assuming a quarterly plan, no incentives will be paid in some quar-ters due to poor business perfor-mance. Since the plan has become

an entitlement, employees may think they have been cheated, which dam-ages morale.

Mistakes to avoid

If incentives are tied to individual or departmental performance, one or more of the following may occur:

n Questions of fairness will arise, negatively impacting morale and performance.

n Employees will focus only on their own objectives, and this may be at the expense of another area.

n Some departments may get pay outs, yet the company may lose money.

Short-term, cash incentives can be helpful in engaging your employ-ees toward driving the company’s finan cial performance. However, the incen tive plan itself is unlikely to change behavior. You must first teach your staff business and finance funda-mentals and focus employees on key performance indicators (KPIs).

Combining all of these techniques creates a culture of employees who think like business owners. They will become active participants in driving the company’s financial performance. In addition to the financial benefits, employee retention rates will increase.

Steps to build a solid planUse these guidelines.n Tie the incentive payout to

only one measure — profit before taxes (PBT) — to keep the plan sim-ple and understandable.

n If a second key indicator is

used to fund the plan, I suggest a balance sheet indicator that drives cashflow, such as average

collection days or inventory turns. I generally do not recommend this. However, if cashflow has been an issue, it might be a good idea.

n Ensure the plan is selffunded. To do this, identify those requirements that must be satis-

fied before any incentive can be paid. These requirements will include (among other things):

n return on investment for ownership,

n capital for debt repayment, n capital for improvements or

investments (such as equipment). By analyzing these factors, a

minimum acceptable (or thresh-old) PBT can be identified.

n The plan should be broadbased, meaning everyone should participate. The incentive pool should be distributed in one of two ways:

1 equally among all employees, or 2 based on wages. Distributing funds equally among

all employees is generally the best choice in small, flat companies.

n Pay the incentive quarterly instead of annually. Annual plans are too far removed from activity. Keeping the reward frequent can shape behavior.

To protect against a downturn, withhold some of the incentive for each of the first three quarters. We suggest paying 50% of the incentive in the first three quarters and then calculating the final quarter payout based on how the company finishes the year.

Not only will this protect the com-pany’s cashflow, but it will also act as a retention tool.

n The plan should allow for roughly 10% of payroll as a payout at a stretch PBT goal, if possible. If your company has been unprofitable or marginally prof-itable in the three to five years prior to the incentive plan, this may not be possible. Let the numbers make the decision for you.

— Brad Hams

The incentive pool

should be distributed

in one of two ways:

1 equally among

all employees, or

2 based on wages.


n Take out a short stack of dollar bills, and tell the group: “Imagine this is our revenue, and this table in front of me is our business. As we go through the month, we spend this money on all of our expenses, such as pay-roll, materials cost, facilities, and fleet [lay the bills down on the table a few at a time as you do this, and finish with one bill left in your hand]. What’s left over here is our profit [waving the bill].

“Now, the majority of this money went toward our expenses. But there are a bunch of cracks in this table, and a lot of this money is simply falling through the cracks. The cracks include things like scrap, rework, unbilled time, or downtime.”

n Give your employees about 10 minutes to brainstorm the “cracks in their company’s table.” Then go around the room a few times ask-ing each group each time to give one example of money falling through the cracks, lack of communication, rework, or overtime. Write them on a flip chart.

n When the page is full, stop, and ask them: “How much money do you think is on this piece of paper?”

Lead them a little bit by asking: “Do you think there is a $100,000 here? Two hundred? Three?”

Stop when they want to stop. I recently did this with a $16 million construction company, and they stopped at $500,000. And they were right — there was easily $500k on that piece of paper.

To emphasize the importance of this, you can then divide this amount by the profit percent in your company to see how much revenue it takes to get that amount to the bottom line. In this company, profit had averaged 6%, and so $500,000/0.06 = $8 million!

2 Measure performance through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror.

Focus employees on leading factors that drive your financial performance.

Companies primarily use financial statements to keep score. However,

business owners should actually use these financial statements to actively engage their employees in the compa-ny’s financial performance. But using only financial statements to create an ownership mentality is problematic for three reasons:

1 Financial statements are historical documents. By the time they are available, it is too late to do anything about the results. Given this, business owners tend to manage their companies reactively — as if they are managing through the rear-view mirror.

2 Most employees never see detailed financial statements. And even if they did see these statements, they might not understand them or use them to make decisions.

3 Financial statements tell you nothing more than the score at the end of the game. They do not show what happened during the game that led to that score.

If financial statements are not enough, then what should you focus on? To answer this question, you must recognize that your financial performance is based on two things:

1 your employees and 2 the work they do. Of course, you must still

focus on the end game, but to be proactive, first focus on measur-ing the most critical activities that will accomplish this ownership mentality.

In baseball, for example, a team must focus on runs, hits, errors, balls, strikes, walks, and other measurable activities that impact the score. The same applies in business. These mea-surable activities are called key perfor-mance indicators (KPIs).

Identifying your KPIs begins with simply picking the critical issues that have the greatest impact on your busi-ness (see sample KPIs in table above).

To do this, conduct a brainstorm-ing session with your leadership team. Schedule a full day, and begin by reviewing historical financial and oper-ational data. A list of common issues to address may include the follow-

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Scoreboard and forecasting exercise

Employee KPI Plan Forecast Actual name [examples]

Existing client sales

Existing %

New client sales

New %

Total sales

Direct labor

Gross margin

Overhead

Profit before tax


ing: backlogs, average collection days, estimating accuracy (bid vs. actual), on-time job completion, or safety.

Try thisA scoreboard can help you manage

the business from a global perspective. To drill this throughout every layer of your company and engage everyone, attack one KPI at a time in a highly involved manner. This can be accom-plished with rapid improvement plans (RIPs).

Follow these six steps to create an RIP:

1 Identify a KPI that needs improvement.

2 Identify a quantifiable goal and a time frame for the RIP.

3 Quantify the cost savings of reaching the goal.

4 Determine the actions and people required to achieve the goal.

5 Name the RIP, and create a theme (have some fun).

6 Identify a celebration or reaching the goal.Once you have identified your key

issues, translate these into your KPIs and build a scoreboard (see the score-board example, page 49).

When you complete the score board, begin using it in regular fore casting sessions (brief huddles). This lets you more proactively manage your KPIs, which ultimately help you meet or exceed budget expectations.

These huddles also create account-ability and a learning opportunity for employees. The huddles should be consistently held the first and third week of the month on the same day of the week and at the same time of day.

The three columns on the right-hand side of the scorecard example should be filled in with numbers.

The first column, “Plan,” is for the budget numbers that should be pop-ulated before huddling. This informa-tion should come from the compa-ny’s budget (which should be created at the end of the previous year), and each “line owner” (the person with the greatest influence over each number) should identify these operational bud-get numbers.

The second column is for the fore-cast, which should be populated in real time at the huddle. (Some compa-nies consider the forecast an opinion.) The line owners will give their forecast — what they believe the number will actually be at month-end.

After the meeting, everyone will know where the company is headed, what issues need to be addressed, and how everyone can support one another to improve problem areas.

The third column is for the actual numbers when they are available (typically midway through the follow-ing month).

Remember, the purpose of the fore-casting session is to identify where the company currently is and where it is headed. These huddles should take no more than 30 minutes and should not be focused on fixing problems, which should be handled in separate meetings.

Keeping score with KPIs, score-boards, and RIPs will create an owner-ship culture and substantially increase your company’s profitability.

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To buy the bookOwnership ThinkingBy Brad Hams. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 256 pages. www.ownershipthinking.com/bradsbook.html

About the authorCarmen Garcia-Hams, director at Owner-ship Thinking, is from Mexico City. She holds a CPA from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and spent her early career as a CPA; later as an internal auditor for several internation-al companies.

She also was a financial analyst for two of the five largest banks in Mexico. In the mid-90s, she was on the inter-national operations team for Standard & Poor’s in their TEC Center office.

For the last 20 years, she helped Ownership Thinking Network clients transition to the same alignment as the owners. She started consulting, as well, focusing at first on the Latin population. She learned from the best teacher, Brad Hams.

n


n

NOMMA Nationwide Supplier Members

Albina Co. Inc. (866) 252-4628

Allen Architectural Metals Inc. (800) 204-3858

Alloy Casting Co. Inc. (972) 286-2368

American Punch Co. (216) 731-4501

Ameristar Fence Products (918) 835-0898

Architectural Iron Designs Inc. (908) 757-2323

Atlas Metal Sales (800) 662-0143

Banker Wire (800) 523-6772

Big Blu Hammer Mfg. (828) 437-5348

Julius Blum & Co. Inc. (800) 526-6293

Bridgeton Drafting Co. LLC (856) 205-1279

C.R. Laurence Co. Inc. (800) 421-6144

Cable Art Inc. (877) 664-4224

The Cable Connection (800) 851-2961

Carell Corp. (251) 937-0948

Century Group Inc. (337) 527-5266

Chicago Metal Rolled Products Co. (800) 798-4504

CML USA Inc. Ercolina (563) 391-7700

Colorado Waterjet Co. (866) 532-5404

Custom Mfg. & Polishing Inc. (417) 831-7900

Custom Orn. Iron Works Ltd. (866) 464-4766

D & D Technologies (USA) Inc. (714) 677-1300

D.J.A. Imports Ltd. (718) 324-6871

DAC Industries Inc. (800) 888-9768

DKS, DoorKing Systems (800) 826-7493

Eagle Bending Machines Inc. (251) 937-0947

Eastern Metal Supply (800) 343-8154

Elite Architectural Metal Supply LLC (847) 636-1233

ETemplate Systems (919) 676-2244

FabCAD Inc. (800) 255-9032

The Fabrication Store (866) 79-FAB-4-U

FabSuite LLC (757) 645-0842

Farris Fab & Machine Co. (704) 629-6879

Feeney Inc. (Feeney Architectural Products) (800) 888-2418

The G-S Co. (410) 284-9549

Geo. Bezdan Sales Ltd. (604) 299-5264

Hartford Standard Co. Inc. (270) 298-3227

Hayn Enterprises LLC (800) 346-4296

Hebo/Stratford Gate Systems Inc. (503) 722-7700

Heritage Cast Iron USA (918) 592-1700

Illinois Engineered Products Inc. (312) 850-3710

Indiana Gratings Inc. (800) 634-1988

Industrial Coverage Corp. (800) 242-9872

Interstate Mfg. Associates Inc. (800) 667-9101

The Iron Shop (800) 523-7427

King Architectural Metals (800) 542-2379

King Architectural Metals - CA (714) 670-8980

King Architectural Metals - MD (410) 644-5932

Krando Metal Products (610) 543-4311

L.E. Sauer Machine Co. (636) 225-5358

Lavi Industries (800) 624-6225

Lawler Foundry Corp. (800) 624-9512

Lewis Brass & Copper Co. Inc. (718) 894-1442

Locinox USA (708) 579-0286

Mac Metals Inc. (800) 631-9510

McNichols Co. (847) 635-5100

Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool (800) 467-2464

Multi Sales Inc. (800) 421-3575

Nationwide Industries (813) 988-2628

NC Tool Co. (336) 674-5654

O.K. Foundry Co. Inc. (888) 592-2240

Ohio Gratings Inc. (330) 477-6707

Orleans Orn. Iron & Casting Dist. Inc. (800) 824-3608

Praxair Mid-Atlantic (609) 882-1300

Precision Glass Bending Corp. (800) 543-8796

ProCounsel (214) 741-3014

Ransburg (419) 470-2000

Regency Railings Inc. (214) 742-9408

Robinson Iron Corp. (800) 824-2157

Rockite, Div. of Hartline Products Co. Inc. (216) 291-2303

Rogers Mfg. Inc. (940) 325-7806

Sculpt Nouveau (800) 728-5787

SECO South (888) 535-SECO

Sharpe Products (800) 879-4418

South Camden Iron Works Inc. (856) 423-1107

Stairways Inc. (713) 680-3110

Suhner Industrial Products Inc. (800) 323-6886

Sumter Coatings Inc. (888) 471-3400

Transpacific Industrial Supply Inc. (909) 581-3058

Tri-State Shearing & Bending (718) 485-2200

TS Distributors Inc. (832) 467-5400

Vogel Tool & Die LLC (630) 562-1400

The Wagner Companies (888) 243-6914

West Tennessee Ornamental Door (901) 346-0662

2015 Ernest Wiemann Top Job Contest Winners

1=Gold, 2=Silver, 3=Bronze

The following awards were presented during METALfab on March 14.

A. Gates, Driveway – Nonforged: 1 Compass Ironworks, 2 Atlas Custom Metalwork, 3 BenFab Inc.B. Gates, Driveway - Forged: 1 Sergey Sakirkin Blacksmith, 2 Klahm & Sons Inc., 3 Art's Work UnlimitedC. Interior Railings - Ferrous, Nonforged: 1 Fi-nelli Architectural Iron & Stairs, 2 Groll Ornamental Iron Works, 3 L & L Ornamental IronD. Interior Railings - Nonferrous, Nonforged: 1 Big D Metalworks, 2 Living Design Studios, 3 Rod Iron RodE. Interior Railings - Ferrous, Forged: 1 May-nard Studios Inc., 2 Medwedeff Forge & Design, 3 Loyal Wrought Iron Co. Ltd.2F. Exterior Railings & Fences – Nonforged: 1 Finelli Architectural Iron & Stairs, 2 A2 Fabrication Inc., 3 Living Design StudiosG. Exterior Railings & Fences – Forged: 1 Klahm & Sons Inc., 2 Metcalfe Roush Forge & Design, 3 Custom Metals Inc.H. Furniture & Accessory Fabrication – Non-forged: 1 The Heirloom Companies, 2 C.T. and S. Metalworks, 3 Allen Architectural Metals Inc.I. Furniture & Accessory Fabrication – Forged: 1 Sergey Sakirkin Blacksmith, 2 Heirloom Stair & Iron Inc., 3 Steel WeldingJ. Gates/Doors - Nonforged: 1 Finelli Architec-tural Iron & Stairs, 2 Metal Head Inc., 3 Lightning ForgeK. Gates/Doors – Forged: 1 Atrium Homes, 2 Wiemann Metalcraft, 3 Loyal Wrought Iron Co. Ltd.2L. Stairs Complete - Commercial: 1 Heirloom Stair & Iron Inc., 2 Couturier Iron Craft Inc., 3 Custom Metals Inc.M. Stairs Complete - Residential: 1 Vasquez Custom Metals Inc., 2 M. Cohen & Sons Inc., 3 Flaherty Iron Works Inc.N. Structures: 1 Migala Metal Designs, 2 MDO Welding & Fab., 3 Big D MetalworksO. Unusual Ornamental Fabrication: 1 Artistic Iron Works Inc., 2 C.T. and S. Metalworks, 3 Flaherty Iron Works Inc.P. Restoration: 1 Finelli Architectural Iron & Stairs, 2 Allen Architectural Metals Inc., 3 Majka Railing Co. Inc.Q. Art/Sculpture: 1 Couturier Iron Craft Inc., 2 Medwedeff Forge & Design, 3 Compass IronworksMitch Heitler Award for Excellence: Big D Metalworks


We are proud of our members!

Membership Campaign Member sponsorships and lead referrals are the most effective ways to ensure that NOMMA grows and remains strong. Special thank you to our members below!

Iron Club

Firms that have sponsored a member for the 2014–15 membership year, which began July 1.

n Accent Ornamental Iron & Powder Coating Co., Cambridge, MN

n Alloy Casting Co. Inc., Mesquite, TXn Arc Angel Inc., Dunedin, FLn Artistic Railings Inc., Garfield, NJn Julius Blum & Co. Inc., Carlstadt, NJn Bridgeton Drafting Co. LLC, Vineland, NJn The Heirloom Companies, Campobello, SCn Keeler Iron Works, Memphis, TNn Locinox USA, Countryside, ILn O’Malley Welding & Fabricating, Yorkville, IL

RustFree Club

Firms that sent a prospective lead to the NOMMA office.

n Greg Bailey, Bailey Metal Fabricators Inc., Mitchell, SDn Doug Bracken, Wiemann Metalcraft, Tulsa, OK n Chet Dinkins, Sumter Coatings Inc., Sumter, SC n Jonathan Falk, Living Design Studios, Lafayette, COn Dave Filippi, FabCAD Inc., White Stone, VAn Francis Flaherty, Flaherty Iron Works Inc., Alexandria, VAn Amos Glick, Compass Ironworks, Gap, PAn Carl Grainger (2), Grainger Metal Works, Nichols, SCn Mason Hains, MoFab Inc., Anderson, INn Chris Holt (2), Steel Welding, Freedom, PAn Maciej Jankowski, Artistic Iron Works LLC, Norwalk, CTn Will Keeler (3), Keeler Iron Works, Memphis, TNn Gary Kervin, Kervin Brothers Ornamental Iron Inc.,

Portland, ORn Allyn Moseley (2), The Heirloom Companies,

Campobello, SCn Mark O’Malley, O’Malley Welding & Fabricating, Yorkville, ILn Dan Nibblelink, Red Hawk Forge, Berthoud, COn Lynn Parquette, Elite Architectural Metal Supply LLC,

Elk Grove Village, ILn Jay Shah (2), Architectural Iron Designs Inc., Plainfield, NJn Mark Sisson, Mac Metals, Kearny, NJn Jan Allen Smith, Allen Iron Works & Supply Inc.,

Birmingham, ALn John Steel, Steel Welding, Freedom, PAn Dave White Jr. (2), Locinox USA, Countryside, IL

Meet our membersNOMMA is proud of its 550+ members. As members, fabricators and suppliers show support for both the association and entire industry.

To get contact information on a member, please see our Member Locator at www.nomma.org.

New members as of April 22, 2015. * Asterisk: Returning member.

NOMMA 2015 Gold MembersNOMMA is pleased to welcome our newest Gold Members — companies who have been a member for 20 years or more.

These companies show a strong loyalty to both their industry and trade association.

We thank them for their support.n Capitol City Iron Works Inc., Indianapolis, INn Carfaro Inc., Hamilton, NJn Custom Ornamental Iron Inc., Glen Allen, VAn Eagle Bending Machines Inc., Stapleton, ALn Gates That Open LLC (GTO), Tallahassee, FLn Gator Welding Inc., Jupiter, FLn Iron-Works International Inc., Atlanta GAn Majka Railing Co. Inc., Paterson, NJn Moore & Morford Inc., Greensburg, PAn R & F Metals Inc., Clinton, MDn Raysteel Inc., Albuquerque, NMn Sippel Co. Inc., Sewickley, PA

We greatly thank these companies for their two decades of loyalty and support.

n

New NOMMA Members

ADB Designs Inc. Fernando Lievano Hollywood, FL

Fabricator

American Precision Powder Coating LLC* Jim Verostek Aliquippa, PA

Fabricator

BlacksmitHER Victoria Patti Arvada, CO

Fabricator

Burlington

Miscellaneous Metals LLC Michael Workman Mebane, NC

Fabricator

Custom Mfg. & Polishing Inc.* Tom Hughes Springfield, MO

Nationwide Supplier

Custom Welding Inc. Cezary Sosidko Frenchtown, NJ

Fabricator

Florida Metal Craft Inc.* Thomas Burnett Winter Garden, FL

Fabricator

Lone Star Ironworks Noah Smith Waco, TX

Fabricator

Nichols Welding Travis Nichols Rocky Mount, VA

Fabricator

Princeton Welding Inc.* Michelle Velarde Half Moon Bay, CA

Fabricator

Zepsa David Dillenbeck Charlotte, NC

Fabricator

Congratulations To Our 2015 Service Award Winners The following awards were presented during METALfab week, March 11-14, in King of Prussia, PA. We thank the individuals and organizations below for their contributions to NOMMA and the industry.

Julius Blum Award for outstanding contributions the industry

Upper Midwest Chapter of NOMMA

Frank A. Kozik Award for outstanding volunteerismTerry Barrett, Pinpoint Solutions

Clifford H. Brown Award for outstanding contributions to education

Dave Filippi, FabCAD Inc.

President’s Silver Star Award for outstanding contributions to membership development

Dave White Jr., Locinox USA


Industry NewsHot?nWhat’s

FabCAD 2015 has new AutoRail featuresFabCAD 2015’s new features include

more functionality for its automated program AutoRail, in addition to new AutoCAD features:

n The design library has expanded to 15,000 casting, forging and hardware items, from the following 10 com-panies: Alloy Casting, Architectural Designs, DJA Imports, House of Forg-ings, Indital, King Architectural Met-als, Lawler Foundry, RIK-FER, Texas Metal Industries, and Triebenbacher.

n File compatibility with the latest AutoCAD releases.

n Previews items like colors, line type, offset results, line weight and paper space scales.

n Enhanced layout tools and editing options.

n Action Recorder (Automatic macro maker for your repeated routines).

n New PDF and Hatch features.n Improved group command.n New array routines.n Preview fillets and chamfers.n New grip options.

New automation featuresn The ability to define different sec-

ondary top and bottom rails.n A more user-friendly material

selection process.n Define posts to accept pipe over-

laps to produce pre-coped cut lengths.n Define posts to stop horizontals at

a certain gap to allow for lug assemblies.n New bill of material options: You

can stay with the current option, list all of the pieces of all the assemblies together, or list pieces under individual assembly headings in a unified list.

n Automatic labeling of assemblies and cut lists when no label is furnished.

n New template styles that can be added to your existing templates. Items like hoop-top fences with spears, fences with spears and circles, glass rail sys-tems, chain link, and mesh panel rails.

n Draws grab bars for stair railings and wall mount rails.

n An automatic wipeout command that will visually place grab bars in front of pickets and posts, plus hide vertical members of fences through punched channels, both curved and straight.

n Draws railings with just post and top bars.

n Precision for angle cuts can be increased and displayed through the “units” command.

n For multi-seat customers with servers, you can now specify the drive location of templates and rail settings so all users have access to the latest assembly styles.

New purchasers get three hours of live online training. Upgraders get an online review of all the new features.

Contact 800-255-9032www.fabcad.com

Feeney wins 2015 Houzz customer satisfacton honor

Feeney Inc. has won a 2015 Cus-tomer Satisfaction Award from Houzz (www.houzz.com), an online platform for home remodel-ers and designers.

The Houzz community, which has more than 25 million monthly unique users, selected Feeney Inc. from among more than 500,000 home building, remodeling, and design professionals on the site.

“While the Feeney reputation for customer service has provided years of competitive advantage for our channel partnerships, the ‘Best of Houzz 2015’ award lends much appreciated industry recognition and credibility for our brand,” said Andy Penny, vice president, market-ing and advertising for Feeney Inc.

“Coincidently, when industry influencers were recently surveyed by Qualified Remodeler in its Jan-uary 2015 Special Research Report on Supplier Relationships, the lead-ing response relative to concerns about new products was: ‘Company or Sales Rep Credibility’. Feeney is very pleased to receive the Cus-tomer Service Award.”

Customer Service honors are determined by factors including the number and quality of client reviews a business received in 2014. Winners receive a “Best of Houzz 2015” badge on their Houzz profiles.

News Brief

Colors in the “Express Yourself by Feeney” line of DesignRail aluminum railing.


Project3_Layout 1 1/13/15 9:06 AM Page 1

EventsWhat’sHot?n

July 2-5, 2015Canada’s national blacksmithing conference

CanIRON X will be held in Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, hosted by the Cape Breton Black-smiths Association. The event will feature leading international blacksmiths, including Albert Paley, Mark Aspery, Uri Hofi, Zeevik Gottlieb, Lorelei Sims, and Ian Hope-Simpson.

Events include lectures, demonstrations, gallery, and vendor market.

“You do not have to be a blacksmith to participate in CanIRON X,” says event organizer and local black-smith Grant Haverstock.

The event also includes day trips, visits and lessons with native and other local artisans, nature walks, and live music.

Contact 902-756-4766http://canironx.ca

August–September 2015Blacksmithing classes

The John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, offers an ongoing selec-tion of classes, workshops and events in blacksmithing.

Upcoming classes:Aug. 2–8,

Blacksmithing for Home and Hearth

Aug. 9–15, Forging Your Ideas into Reality

Aug. 16–21, Forging Pipe,

Tubing, Angles and Channels

Aug. 21–23, Build a Gas Forge

Aug. 23–29, Beginning Blacksmithing Techniques

Aug. 30–Sept. 5, Celtic Iron

Sept. 6–11, A Handful of Skills

Sept. 11–13, Forge Welding

Sept. 13–19, Fundamentals for Beginners

Sept. 20–26, Forging Nonferrous MetalsContact 800-365-5724www.folkschool.org

Aug. 9-12Basics of engraving with Jay Close

This class will teach the basics of tool design and sharpening, methods of work-holding, layout and design.

The emphasis is on tra-ditional hand and hammer powered tools.

Included is forging and heat treating engraving chisels and sharpening them, setting up and sharpening chisels and palm tools using graver blanks and wooden handles.

Tuition: $450; materials: $30. Skill level: Seasoned beginner and up.

Contact 888-753-7502 www.newengland

schoolofmetalwork.com


Magnum Hand Tube Bender

Rolls:

$699.95

Hand Tube Bender Rolls:

1 1/2” Square Tubing

1 x 1 1/2” Rectangular Tubing

Flat Bar (1/2 x 1 1/2” & smaller)

Pipe & Tubing

2” Square Tubing

1 x 2” Rectangular Tubing

Flat Bar (1/2 x 2” & smaller)

Pipe & Tubing

TUBING BENDERS

R&D Hydraulics, Mfg. and Machine Co.1431 West 5th St. Chico, CA 95928 www.rdhs.com

$499.95

1-800-200-4685

Additional Rollers Available

Cap Rails

Channels

Flat Bar (on edge hard way)

$649.95

$599.95

Magnum Hand Tube Bender Rolls:

UNIQUE ROLLING SYSTEM Works with both hand tubing benders





Pipe & Tubing

2” Square Tubing



Pipe & Tubing

TUBING BENDERS


$499.95

1-800-200-4685


Cap Rails

Channels


$649.95

$599.95







Pipe & Tubing

2” Square Tubing



Pipe & Tubing

TUBING BENDERS


$499.95

1-800-200-4685


Cap Rails

Channels


$649.95

$599.95







Pipe & Tubing

2” Square Tubing



Pipe & Tubing

TUBING BENDERS


$499.95

1-800-200-4685


Cap Rails

Channels


$649.95

$599.95







Pipe & Tubing

2” Square Tubing



Pipe & Tubing

TUBING BENDERS


$499.95

1-800-200-4685


Cap Rails

Channels


$649.95

$599.95



201307-404-A

What’sHot?n

Products

Glass railing systemThe Wagner Companies

Wagner’s PanelGrip 2 feaures a new streamlined design.

The company says it has enhanced durability and a lighter weight single alumi-num base shoe moulding, which reduces shipping, labor, and inventory costs without sacrificing quality. The extruded aluminum shoe qualifies for LEED credits as a Green building material.

A durable and Ameri-can-made locking mecha-nism simplifies installation and provides code compli-ance and safety when prop-erly specified and installed.

It accommodates tem-

pered, laminated glass that is required by the 2015 Interna-tional Building Code.

PanelGrip 2 exceeds mar-ket-level performance for the quick assembly of struc-tural glass railing; it does not require messy fillers or other glass preparation and pro-vides the broadest glass grip range of any dry glaze sys-tem, says Wagner. The intu-itive, non-weld installation can be performed on one side of the glass by a single per-son using a standard Allen

wrench, making it ideal for balcony applications.

Perfect for guard, stair and ramp applications, the full line of fittings and acces-sories comes in a range of options. Exacting specs also make it easy to ensure con-tractors get the right system for their specific project needs. The ability to paint or clad the base shoe to match area décor, along with its no-post, glass infill design, gives PanelGrip 2 aesthetic appeal with outstanding sight lines.

Request a sample at www.PanelGrip.com.

Contact 888-243-6914www.wagnercompanies.

com

Welding helmetLincoln Electric

The Viking PAPR 3350 welding helmet has a pow-ered system that draws air from the environment through a HEPA filter located on the belt. Filtered air is then delivered in the breathing zone, within an auto-darken-ing welding helmet.

This model, which offers dual airflow speed, is pow-ered by a battery that can last for a full 8-hour shift without interruption, says the company.

A patent-pending adjust-able baffling system inside the helmet directs airflow away from the eyes to avoid dryness.


abana.org

ABANA259 Muddy Fork Road

Jonesborough, TN 37659423/913-1022

Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America, Inc.

Restoring the Past. Building the Future.

www.period-homes.comwww.traditional-building.com

www.traditionalbuildingshow.comwww.traditionalbuildingportfolio.com

www.tradwebdirectory.comwww.traditionalproductgalleries.com

www.buildingport.com

Questions? Call Peter H. Miller, President: 202.339.0744 x 104. Or email [email protected]

Fabricator RM house ad.indd 1 10/12/2010 1:14:13 PM

Indust ry NewsWhat’sHot? n

Th e lightweight design of the helmet and belt pack is designed to allow for unre-stricted movement.

Th e Viking PAPR is equipped with a 3350 Series Welding Helmet that has a perfect 1/1/1/1 optical clarity rating (EN379).

Contact 888-935-3877www.lincolnelectric.com

Small batch CNC tube bender

Unison Th e Evbend 1000 reduces

the entry costs to precision rotary draw tube bending by using manual operations to feed and rotate tubing and apply the bending force, with smart CNC-controlled braking on the carriage feed, rotation, and bend arm axes to ensure part shapes are formed with the highest accuracy, Unison says.

Th e 1000, re-engineered from an existing machine called Evbend, has a pro-gramming and operational control user interface. Uni-son believes the 1000 is the simplest, high precision CNC tube bending solution for small-diameter tubing

up to 22 mm.Th e machine is ideal for

producing high-precision tubular parts in a low vol-ume production environ-ment, Unison says.

Manual operation makes Evbend versatile, simple, and safe, Unison says, with almost no limit to the multi-bend complexity of tubular shapes that can be formed. Typically, users quickly grasp how the machine works, Unison says.

Th e machine is supplied with a right-hand bending head, but can perform left -hand bending by adding a

second bending head.Th e machine has a new

“state of the art” Windows HMI. Th e 1000 has a better graphics, touch-screen con-trol, simple integration into factory networks, and access to Unison’s powerful CAD tools and interfaces for the automated creation of tube bending programs.

Th e new HMI is also available as a retrofi t for Evbend’s existing user base.

Contact +44 (0) 7921 408 276www.unisonltd.com


Advertiser’s Index

A thanks to the following advertisers for their support of O&MM Fabricator magazine.

n

Pg Company Website Pg Company Website 43 Hougen Mfg. Inc. ........................................... www.hougen.com

3 House of Forgings ........................... www.houseofforgings.net

44 International Gate Devices ..........................www.intlgate.com

20 Jesco Industries Inc., WIPCO div. .......www.jescoonline.com

60 King Architectural Metals ...................... www.kingmetals.com

37 Lapeyre Stair ............................................ www.lapeyrestair.com

9 Lawler Foundry Corp.........................www.lawlerfoundry.com

2 Lewis Brass & Copper Co. Inc. ............. www.lewisbrass.com

22 Marks U.S.A. .................................................www.marksusa.com

43 NC Tool Co.. ...................................................www.nctoolco.com

55 R & D Hydraulics Mfg. & Machine Co. ............www.rdhs.com

55 Ramset Automatic Gate Systems ......... www.ramsetinc.com

26 Regency Railings ..............................www.regencyrailings.com

39 Rogers Mfg. Inc. ................................ www.rogers-mfg-inc.com

35 Scotchman Industries ............................www.scotchman.com

29 Sharpe Products ............................. www.sharpeproducts.com

23 Spiral Stairs of America LLC .......................www.spiralstairsofamerica.com

11 Stairways Inc. ..........................................www.stairwaysinc.com

54 Sumter Coatings Inc. ......................www.sumtercoatings.com

56 Traditional Building ................ www.traditional-building.com

42 Tri-State Shearing & Bending .............................718-485-2200

45 Vogel Tool & Die LLC ................................. www.vogeltool.com

4 The Wagner Companies ..........www.wagnercompanies.com

41 Weaver’s Iron Works................. www.weaversironworks.com

Sherry Theien Advertising Director8392 Leesburg Ct. Rockford, IL 61114815-282-6000 815-282-8002 [email protected]

CONTACT

Your advertising contact forO&MM FabricatorNOMMA Buyer’s GuideNOMMA website

Advertise in the 2016 NOMMA Buyer’s GuideYour onestop resource for shop and office personnel

The Buyer’s Guide is available in 3 versions:

1) print, 2) online, and 3) database.

Closing date November 27, 2015Contact Sherry Theien, 815-282-6000; 815-282-8002 fax; [email protected]

30 Albina Co. Inc. ...............................................www.albinaco.com

21 Architectural Iron Designs Inc. .....www.archirondesign.com

56 Artist-Blacksmith’s Assoc. of North America Inc..........................................www.abana.org

14 Big Blu Hammer Mfg. Co. / Oak Hill Iron Works .........................www.bigbluhammer.com

49 Blacksmiths Depot / Kayne & Son Custom Hardware Inc...............www.blacksmithsdepot.com

34 Julius Blum & Co. Inc. .............................www.juliusblum.com

17 The Cable Connection ..........www.thecableconnection.com

45 John C. Campbell Folk School ................www.folkschool.org

16 Carell Corporation .................................... www.carellcorp.com

25 Chicago Metal Rolled Products Co. .............. www.cmrp.com

50 Colorado Waterjet Co. ................www.coloradowaterjet.com

27 D & D Technologies (USA) Inc. .......www.ddtechglobal.com

31 D & D Technologies (USA) Inc. .......www.ddtechglobal.com

40 DAC Industries Inc. .............................www.dacindustries.com

16 Eagle Bending Machines Inc. ................... www.eaglebendingmachines.com

47 Eberl Iron Works Inc. ..................................www.eberliron.com

15 FabCAD Inc. ...................................................... www.fabcad.com

6 Feeney Inc. ...................................................www.feeneyinc.com

50 Goddard Manufacturing Co. .......www.spiral-staircases.com

38 Hawke Industries ...............http://www.hawkeindustries.net

19 Hebo - Stratford Gate Systems Inc. ............www.drivewaygates.com


Scott Colson knows a good thing when he see it.

Th is time, it was a truck bed that pulls out like a drawer. Th is keeps fabrica-tors from having to reach over the tool lockers to reach their gear.

A man of few words, we still asked Colson to tell us more.

O&MM Fabricator How did you come up with this idea?

Scott Colson I was in the horseshoeing industry and there was something like this.

Fabricator Who designed the truck?

Colson I did. We designed and built the roll-out bed.

Fabricator Did it require any special measure-ments or CAD work?

Colson No.

Fabricator Did your company build it? Colson Yes.

Fabricator Beyond the pull-out idea, what metals did you use? What type of fi nishing?

Colson Rails are steel and bed is powder- coated gray.

Fabricator What problem does this truck solve for you?

Colson Not having to crawl under and through pipe rack to get to things.

Fabricator How does this solve the problem? Colson Roll your welder and equipment out so you can

reach things.

Fabricator How many trucks like this do you have?

Colson Two.

Fabricator Under what situations do you deploy them since you only have two?

Colson Both trucks are gate automation trucks.

Fabricator Does it allow you to have any equip-ment on a site that you otherwise would not be able to carry in your truck?

Colson No, but it does make it easier to get to.

Fabricator What equip-ment do you keep in the truck bed that pulls out?

Colson Welders, wire boxes, equipment in

weatherproof boxes, and gate jacks.

Fabricator What equipment do you keep inside the compartments on the side of the truck?

Colson Electronics, pipe fi ttings, gate chain, spray paint, operator batteries, tools, electrical connects.

Fabricator What did it cost to have a truck bed that pulls out?

Colson Approximately $950 for a 1/8 -tread plate aluminum bed. Th e rollers are gate V-groove roll-ers, and I used 10.

Fabricator Anything to add? Colson I will always have this confi guration on any ser-

vice truck I own. Cuts down on the cuts and bumps on my old head.

n

Metal Moment

Pullout truck bed suits Scott Colson like a solid weld

Something on your mind? Got something to say? Got an idea? Got a tip? Got a gripe? Do you have a story to tell?Contact [email protected].

TALK TO US

Scott ColsonIron Innovations Inc.Clinton, MS


SHOPPING FOR AFFORDABLE HEALTH INSURANCE

Health care costs have increased more than twice the cost of inflation in recent years.The key to finding affordable group and indi-vidual health insurance is to know exactly what you need and what you can afford. By knowing what you need, you can choose the right insur-ance plan that suits you and your employees best without costing too much.

However, researching health insurance is very time consuming and can be very frustrating unless you are extremely savvy in the healthcare arena. Therefore, NOMMA has partnered with Mass Marketing Insurance Consultants, Inc. (MMIC) to help you design a health care pro-gram to fit your needs, your employee’s needs and your budget.

NOMMA members can obtain a free no obliga-tion quote through Mass Marketing Insurance Consultants, Inc. (MMIC).

Complete a proposal request form by going on line to:

www.mmicinsurance.com/NOMMA

Within 48 hours, MMIC evaluates and nego-tiates with two companies to tailor a plan that best fits your needs and sends you the proposal with the rates and benefit comparisons.NOMMA members should explore this oppor-tunity and take advantage of healthcare options and savings MMIC can provide. Working with MMIC will be a very positive experience.

NOMMA-approved Partner

This program is only available to NOMMA members. To join, visit www.nomma.org.

SilverLawler Foundry Corp.

P.O. Box 320069

Birmingham, AL 35232

Tel: (205) 595-0596

Toll Free: 800-624-9512

Web: www.lawlerfoundry.com

ContributorSculpt Nouveau625 West 10th Ave.Escondido, CA 92025Tel: (800) 728-5787Web: www.sculptnouveau.com

SilverM. Cohen & Sons Inc./ The Iron Shop400 Reed Rd.Broomall, PA 19008Tel: (610) 544-7100Toll Free: (800) 523-7427Web: www.theironshop.com

A thanks to our sponsorsThe sponsors for 2015 are a very special group of sup-pliers. In challenging economic times they are going the extra mile to contribute to the success of METAL-fab2015. Their support is greatly appreciated.

Join us next year for METALfab 2016Our next annual conference takes place March 16-19, 2016, Greenville, South Carolina. Theme for next year is “Paying it Forward.”

METALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfabMETALfab201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015201520152015

PlatinumIndustrial Coverage Corporation62 South Ocean Ave. Patchogue, NY 11772Tel: (631) 736-7500Toll Free: (800) 242-9872Web: www.industrialcoverage.com

PlatinumThe Wagner Companies

P.O. Box 423Butler, WI 53007

Tel: (414) 214-0444

Toll Free: (888) 243-6914

Web: www.wagnercompanies.com


I'm an American

welder.

Integrity was instilled in me at an early age. And it's part of every project I create.

It's who I am...it's in my blood. There are standards for living your life and doing honest business. My integrity isn't negotiable. Neither are my standards.

800.542.2379 / KINGMETALS.COM / FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / YOUTUBE

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May/June 2015 O&MM Fabricator

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Transcript of May/June 2015 O&MM Fabricator