What’s in a Name? (Or a Number?)
While craftsmen and women making musical instruments and other devices by hand have used numbers and other designations for centuries to distinguish one similar type of merchandise from another, the use of model numbers became widespread during the Industrial Revolution when machine tools had advanced enough to be able to mass-produce identical parts for assembly into distinct products.
While often long and sometimes seemingly random, machinery model numbers are especially important as they are used to identify the specific parts used to build a unit, and therefore are necessary when replacement components need to be ordered.
Keeping It Simple
When Kyle Jorgenson and his team started Revolution Machine Tools, they brought with them decades of experience gained at other equipment manufacturing and selling operations. Knowing that a factory’s different model numbers can be confusing to many machinery purchasers and operators, the RMT team set out to make a streamlined and unified system of identifying different levels of equipment across most of their major lines.
Whether looking at an RMT press brake, shear, plate roll, or band saw, each type of equipment sports a series name that indicates a key function or aspect of that machine when compared with others in the line. The main series used by the various lines include:
- ECO Series. These basic machines are affordable models often used by those just starting out in fabrication work.
- FAB Series. RMT’s more than a dozen FAB lines include precision metalworking machinery designed for serious fabricators who don’t need the extra bells and whistles of CNC machines.
- SMART Series. This designation is usually applied to CNC machines that provide greater productivity than the ones in the FAB Series.
- GENIUS Series. The machines in the different GENIUS groupings are usually incredibly powerful multi-axis CNC machines that go beyond the capabilities of their SMART Series equivalents.
- GIANT Series. When a large format machine is needed for a massive industrial job, RMT’s GIANT plate rolls, angle rolls, and press brakes are ready to fill the bill.
- HYBRID Series. Because different technologies can be combined in a single machine, such as electric and hydraulic power, or plate rolling and press brake bending, the term HYBRID was chosen by RMT to represent such pieces of equipment.
In addition, the beginning of each model number starts with one to three letters indicating the line of equipment that series and model falls under. Significant lines include:
- A — Angle Rolls
- B — Press Brakes
- C — Metal-Cutting Shears
- F — Farnsworth-Style Aircraft Rolls
- FC — Flanging/Cutting/Dishing Machines
- H — Hydraulic Presses
- HZ — Horizontal Presses
- I — Ironworkers
- PBV — Plate Bevelers
- R — Plate Rolls
- S — Saws
- TN — Tube Notchers
- W — Welding Positioners
Additional letters sometimes follow the series name to specify subcategories in a line (such as differentiating various types of hydraulic presses or to distinguish cold saws from band saws). The numbers that follow the letters in each model number usually indicate something about the working capacities of the individual machines.
The following is a list of the various series as they currently fall in the different machine lines.
ECO Series Lines
- A-ECO Motorized Angle Roll (4 models)
- R-ECO Motorized Initial Pinch Three Roll (15 models)
- S-ECO Manual Bandsaw (3 models)
FAB Series Lines
- A-FAB Hydraulic Angle Roll (9 models)
- C-FAB High Speed Mechanical Direct Drive Shear (12 models)
- F-FAB Aircraft Roll (13 models)
- FC-FAB Flanging-Cutting-Dishing Machine (1 model)
- H-FAB C Single Action C Frame Press (6 models)
- H-FAB H Workshop Type Press (11 models)
- H-FAB HBP Workshop Type Press for Small Bending Jobs and Prototyping (5 models)
- H-FAB HDT H Type Hydraulic Press for Die Cutting, Straightening, etc. (5 models)
- H-FAB HPP Portal Type Straightening Press (4 models)
- HZ-FAB Horizontal Press (7 models)
- I-FAB Ironworker (7 models)
- PBV-FAB Plate Beveler (3 models)
- S-FAB Semi-Automatic Bandsaw (15 models)
- S-FAB CLD Semi-Automatic Heavy Duty Circular Cold Saw (3 models)
- TN-FAB Tube Notcher (1 model)
SMART Series Lines
- B-SMART Press Brake, 3-5 Axis CNC (20 models)
- C-SMART Hydraulic Swing Beam Shear (12 models)
- F-SMART Aircraft Roll (1 model)
- H-SMART C Single Action C Frame Press (6 models)
- H-SMART HCFP Column Frame Single Action Press (7 models)
- H-SMART HSA Single Action H Type Press (11 models)
- R-SMART Planetary Type Hydraulic 4-Roll (49 models)
- S-SMART Automatic Bandsaws (11 models)
- S-SMART HSC Automatic Servo Feed Cold Saw (2 models)
GENIUS Series Lines
- B-GENIUS Press Brake, 7-16+ Axis CNC (20 models)
- B-GENIUS-E Electric Press Brake, 4-9 Axis CNC (4 models)
- B-GENIUS-H Hybrid Press Brake, 7 Axis CNC (19 models)
- C-GENIUS Hydraulic Variable Rake Shear (18 models)
- S-GENIUS Super Automatic Bandsaws (2 models)
- S-GENIUS HSC Automatic Servo Feed Cold Saw (3 models)
GIANT Series Lines
- A-GIANT Hydraulic Angle Rolls (3 models)
- B-GIANT Press Brake, 7-14+ Axis CNC (12 models)
- R-GIANT Rectilinear Type Hydraulic 4-Roll (17 models)
HYBRID Series Lines
- R-HYBRID Planetary Type Hydraulic 3-Roll Plate Roll (22 models)
The R-HYBRID plate rolls are variable-geometry plate rolls which operate more like press brakes than traditional plate rolls. The top roll on an R-HYBRID machine can come down with great pressure, like a press brake ram, and its bottom rolls can change their position relative to each other to create different V-die type configurations. Variable-geometry plate rolls are often purchased primarily to flatten plate metal.
Note that the B-GENIUS-H Hybrid Press Brake is also a hybrid machine (featuring electric and hydraulic operation) but is categorized under the GENIUS series.
Other Lines and Machines
While most RMT machines fall into one of the six standard series classifications, a few have their own unique designations. Some of these include:
- RMT’s line of pipe beveling, facing, and threading machines, most models of which are just known under the title of “Pipe Spool Master” followed by a number.
- RMT’s Chassis Beam Welding Systems, which are custom built and don’t have model numbers.
- The three models of tiltable pipe rotators used to position parts for welding, which are labeled as W-TRP.
- RMT’s single CNC angle roll, which was given the model number of AB-4 CNC.
A special case exists for RMT’s signature fiber lasers, which were named for company founder Kyle Jorgenson. Their models of sheet cutting and tube cutting fiber lasers use the KYSON designation, followed by numbers that usually indicate the table size and the wattage of the machine. Some specialty models within the line also include names like Falcon and Rebel. The ever-expanding line currently includes three dozen standard models and additional custom models.
Revolution Machine Tools has also partnered with factories to offer their customers additional types of fabrication equipment, such as Jonsen Sander’s collection of finishing machines and Jae Won Industrial Machinery’s extensive line of steel pipe machinery.
A Machine for Every Fabricator
With their hundreds of models of metal fabrication equipment, Revolution Machine Tools offers something for every fabricator, whether they be a weekend hobbyist or a multi-billion-dollar aerospace firm. RMT’s offerings don’t stop with their advertised models, either. Besides having sold dozens of “off menu” sizes and configurations, Revolution Machine Tools almost has no limit to the types of machines it can provide to its customers. As expressed by RMT President Kyle Jorgenson, “Every machine we do is a custom machine. We tailor it to exactly what the customer needs.”
Call Revolution Machine Tools today and find the perfect model of the ideal machine for your next metalworking project.
