BILL BRADFORD IS A VETERAN OF THE SHEET METAL INDUSTRY IN MORE WAYS THAN MOST. Born and raised in North Side Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the city’s “Steel City” renaissance, Bradford graduated from high school June 1955 and immediately joined the Air Force that July. “I was 17 so my parents had to sign documents to get me in,” he remembers.

With good reason, Advance Cutting Systems named its newly released fiber laser the “Evolution.” In terms of cut quality, fiber lasers are considered “the next step in HVAC cutting” after high definition plasmas, explains Clint Ray Jr., national sales manager at Advance Cutting.    

Specializing spiral round, oval and rectangular ductwork fabrication, SET Duct Manufacturing is celebrating six years with no lost time accidents.

As recently as 40 years ago, the process of fabricating ductwork was incredibly time-consuming. Skilled tradesman known as “tin knockers” individually laid out each galvanized component using templates made of plywood, metal, or cardboard. They’d take a template and sketch out the location of parts on the raw steel before wielding hand and electric tin snips to cut the parts out.

Mestek Machinery’s ISM brand has a new website at www.ismmachinery.com. The site has the ductwork fabrication machinery company’s spiral, round and oval HVAC ductwork equipment and fittings, including specifications and videos in a redesigned mobile-friendly layout, the company said.  

Spot welding looks simple and easy until your products fall apart while being delivered to the job site.

SPIDA — aka the Spiral Duct Manufacturers Association — is a nonprofit organization promoting the use of spiral-seamed round and flat-oval duct through research and education.