Architectural Metals
Local #63 has a large hand in the most prominent features of our great city. You can’t walk a block in the Loop without being surrounded by a curtain wall system, store front, or window wall system that Local #63’s members and contractors made happen. We are always improving our members knowledge in what architects dream up when they draw the plans of these buildings. Architectural metal panels, curtain wall window systems, store fronts, stick wall systems, whatever envelope closes up a building, our members have the skills to erect on time and under budget.
The skills involved in Architectural Metals differ largely than that of Ornamental Metals. Although rigging and welding can be found on these projects, caulking and making prestine cuts on aluminum trim take center stage. So the next time you see a fin wall system in a stylish lobby on Randolph and Wacker, or the reflection of the sun rise off of the curtain wall of One Museum Park, you have seen the handy work of Local #63.
Ornamental Metals
There isn’t much work that Local #63 Ironworkers perform in Chicago and its vicinity that doesn’t profoundly contribute to the exterior of the buildings that we work on, but ornamental metals has some of this behind the scenes work. Performing ornamental metal work requires our members to be well rounded with a different skill set than what is required on working with architectural metals. A few skills that are in high demand is the skill of being a certified welder, in various processes, as well as using an oxygen/acetylene torch to make surgical cuts when fitting steel together in the field.
By different means, which include gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), flux-cored arc welding (FCAW), and shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) the skilled workers of Local #63 erect monumental stairs that are a center piece of an upscale commons area in Kellogg School of Management or stainless-steel rail lining the Chicago River as it winds through the city. Some of the ornamental metal work that our members build cannot be seen from plain sight but that doesn’t mean that it is not there. Chandelier support steel, fire escape stairs, and catwalks in theaters as well as arenas are just some of the behind the scenes work that we do.
Fence and Guardrail
Local #63 has had a deep history with Fence and Guardrail work in the city. Our members erect temporary fence on jobsites and public events, ornamental fence in front of grand entrance ways, and the very guardrail that protects you as you are driving on the highway. Through an apprenticeship, Local #63 members, learn every facet of fence and guardrail. Our members are skilled erectors using machines to set fence posts, welding processes to put together decorative fence, and flagging and marking skills to safely install guardrails. Just like the Architectural Metals aspect of Local #63’s jurisdiction, fence and guardrails are out in plain sight for all the world to see.
