Tools and operations on FRAMECAD
A section is more than a length
Section titled “A section is more than a length”An LGS profile does not leave the machine as a raw piece. Everything needed for erection and for structural behaviour is made in the same pass. For the FRAMECAD F-series the manufacturer states 12 hydraulic and punching functions, and for the F450iT 11 tools plus one further custom tool on request at the time of purchase.
Which operations are made
Section titled “Which operations are made”Service hole
Section titled “Service hole”The opening cut in the web through which mechanical and electrical services can pass. It is not structurally neutral: the hole weakens the web, so its position and size are an engineering question, not an installer’s decision. The design software also checks the capacity around service holes.
Note that just because the machine can make it, the cable does not necessarily belong there — the service cavity article goes into this in more detail.
Dimple and screw point
Section titled “Dimple and screw point”The dimple is an indentation in the sheet that guides the screw and makes erection repeatable. The F-series operating manual explicitly names dimple height and offset among the quality checks — in other words, this is a measured property, not an incidental one.
Flange, lip, bends
Section titled “Flange, lip, bends”The operations that give the section its shape. The manual lists flange and lip width, straightness and squareness among the properties to be checked.
Marking
Section titled “Marking”The part identifier that tells the installer where the member goes. With mixed steel thickness this has structural significance.
Connection preparation
Section titled “Connection preparation”Swages and cut-outs that let one section fit into another — these are what make it unnecessary to trim parts on site.
Why this is the basis of design freedom
Section titled “Why this is the basis of design freedom”Every operation the machine can perform is a solution the designer can use freely, because it costs no extra money and no extra labour hour. On a hot-rolled structure every cut-out, hole and plate is separate workshop work; here it is part of the same pass. That is why connections and truss layouts can be designed that would be disproportionately expensive in conventional steelwork.
The option of a custom tool extends this one step further: if a manufacturer regularly uses the same non-standard detail, it can be built into the machine.
The point
Section titled “The point”Machine operations are free, human labour is not. That sentence explains why a well-designed LGS connection looks different from a welded steel one.
Sources
Section titled “Sources”FRAMECAD F325iT and F450iT product pages, The F-Series Operating Manual (Knowledge Hub), retrieved in September 2026.