Piranha Tooling & Ironworkers
A Good Combination at Butler

It’s the second hundred years for The Butler Street Foundry began as a blacksmith shop in 1891.

Owner John Lamonica, fourth generation in the family of founder Andrew Hinkens, appreciates the opportunity to run company decisions by Uncle Bud Hinkens who ran the shop from 1972 to 2005.

Two Piranha ironworkers are nestled among the metal components being fabricated for construction and the ornate pieces being created for Chicago-based artists.

Oldie But Goodie

The oldest, the model now referred to as a P-50, sports Serial Number 1269. The P-50, offering 50 tons of hydraulic power, was the first ironworker model introduced by Piranha in 1967.

Hinkens had been looking at punching equipment when a Piranha salesman came by with a demo truck. "He came here and went through all the stations on the machine," says Hinkens. "I bought it because of simplicity. It was easy to work with—and it was versatile."

Lamonica points out that the decision to buy the machine was made by a union ironworker who knows what capabilities are needed in a good fab shop…not a "bean-counter".

Second Time Around

Fast-forward to the ‘90s and you see the addition of a P-90 ironworker to the Butler Street shop. "We were so impressed with the P-50 (which is still used everyday) that we wanted to go with another Piranha," says Lamonica. "This particular machine is probably responsible for 80 percent of the stainless steel bridge lintels that were put in during Chicago’s Wacker Drive Restoration Project.

Since the introduction of the Piranha ironworker tooling in 2005, Butler Street Foundry has switched sources for their punches and dies. The change was prompted by quality. Before changing suppliers, punches being used in the Piranhas were chipping.

Lamonica, very familiar with metallurgy, believes chipping happens for two reasons: 1) an inferior production process, and 2) tooling abuse. The Butler Street "test" was to try Piranha tooling to produce the same kind of parts that were damaging the other tools. The Piranha punches did not chip.

Shared Knowledge

Piranha tooling engineers added value to the tooling purchase. "I wasn’t too knowledgeable about die clearances, but the fellow I talked to explained that the thicker the material, the thicker the die clearance has to be. He got back to me in an hour—not three days later—and that makes a big difference," says Lamonica.

Lamonica also values quick turn-around. He put in an order for non-standard dies and received them the next day, "Because we’re a service-oriented company, if we don’t get the customer’s product out in a reasonable amount of time, they’re not going to come back."

Piranha Tooling has joined the Piranha Ironworkers as an integral part of the production process at The Butler Street Foundry.

"This spring we picked up some more work," says Lamonica, "so I’ll buy some more Piranha tooling."