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October 2020 #12255 Page #10
Sixty Years of Machines Part XI: Auto-Jigging Innovations
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lyde Fredrickson, a CM in the remote reaches of South Dakota, was determined to find a cheaper solution to the $250,000+ auto-jigging systems. So, he worked through several alternate ways to shorten setup times, like printing out Jigset coordinates, and moving pucks manually to designated locations. This worked okay until measuring tapes became too hard to read. In addition, his crews tended to waste time pouring over printouts, and then placing too many pucks. In the end, like most Jigset users, he soon went back to “string-lines and measuring tapes.” But he did figure out how he could extract the perimeter jigging locations from the MiTek Software, which made him think about other possibilities.
Joe Kannapell - P.E. Senior VP, MiTek USA www.mitek-us.com
Most CMs agreed with Clyde and balked at the price tag. Some tried a non-automated, air-tool assisted version of auto-jigging. This method was much faster than Jigset, but still required operators to read a printout and decide where to place pucks. When the Unistrut channels were kept clean, this proved to be an effective solution.
In 1995, after auto-jigging had been deployed for over five years, BFS installed the Koskovich Jet Set System (see Part X of this series comparing it to the laser systems). This system consisted of large rectangular extrusions installed deep inside specially designed truss tables. Due to their high cost, Jet Set enclosures were deployed sparingly, approximately 30” to 48” on center. They performed well, but the minimal jigging they provided was insufficient for complicated trusses.
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