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Default Iroquois Ironworker - anybody have experience with them?


Looks like a new company, suspiciously close to Scotchman, making
simple, homemade style ironworkers.

Not very sophisticated design, although the ability to have a 24" press
brake is a cool idea.
Pretty cost competitive- expect that to change if they stay in
business, as nobody will know about em unless they advertise and hit
the trade shows- and that costs money.
The way scotchman got to where they are is the ironworker equivalent of
a rock band constantly touring- scotchman bought ads in every magazine,
and hit every trade show. People have to see em, to even consider
buying em.

But really, I would have to agree with the "Buy a Geka" comment.

The difference between a well thought out, real machine tool, versus a
hydraulic cylinder and some heavy plate, is worth a couple of grand
more, in my mind.
Geka has really good gaging tables at both ends, with built in
stainless steel rulers.
Electric stops that are sturdy and also feature built in stainless
steel rulers make repetitive, accurate, measuring tape free cuts.
Quick change tooling.

The other thing I think is that you are taking a risk on a new company,
that doesnt seem to be very heavily capitalised, and you have no idea
how long they will be around, for service or parts.
Buffalo and Edwards, Hill Acme have all been around for a hundred
years.
Geka, Mubea, and Peddinghaus, at least 50.
Even Scotchman is pushing 25 or 30 years, with the Dvorak they
descended from going back to 1950 or so.
Piranha is owned by a big company now that also owns Bertsch and W.A.
Whitney.

Being able to call somebody up, to troubleshoot, or to order parts, is
worth something to me.

But really, I think the timesaving features of the Geka outclass every
other machine on the market. I have had my Geka for 5 or 6 years now,
and it is easy to use, accurate, and fast. I have seen endless
scotchmans, uni-hydro's and piranhas with bits of angle iron
vise-gripped to em, with tape measures hanging off them, which take
longer to make inaccurate cuts.