PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
Rebuilt, Upgraded Shot Blast Machine Stands Test of Time Bradken’s Amite, La., facility, one
of the world’s largest steel casters for industrial mining, rail, power and construction, acquired a used shot blast machine in 1993 and continues to operate it daily following upgrades and modifi cations in 2010. In 1993, the metalcasting facilty,
which produces parts up to 55,000 lbs. in carbon and low alloy steels, contem- plated purchasing a new or used shot blast machine. After weighing their options, company executives opted to buy a used work car table shot blast machine that was relocated from its original home in New Orleans and rebuilt in the Amite facility. Eighteen years later, the machine again under- went several updates and modifi ca- tions to keep up with the daily pace of the modern plant’s production and work environment. “T is was my fi rst blast machine, and it was a machine that had basi- cally been scrapped out and manu- factured in 1973,” said David Brandon, plant engineer at Bradken. “I needed the original manufacturer
or equivalent to work with my team to get it operational.” When Bradken fi rst purchased the
machine in 1993, it was just a shell to work with. Bradken followed critical guidelines to choose Pangborn, Fair- burn, Ga., as its vendor partner in the equipment rebuild. “We expect not only the best
equipment, but also the best train- ing, support, design and engineering to support this system, while holding our partner accountable for each area,” Brandon said. “We still use those same guidelines today when choosing our vendor partners.” T e Pangborn sales and engineer- ing team worked closely with Bradken to resurrect the veteran machine in 1993 and update it again in 2010. T e recent modifi cation’s main chal- lenge was to determine the quantity of wheels, rpm, fl ow rates and wheel positions for the large cabinet. T e goal was to make the updated machine
conduct faster and better cleaning in the cavities, achieve better core knockout and improve cleaning from shot rebound. T e fi nal rebuild design included:
• replacement of four low-speed wheels with six high-speed 160DD4G2 Genesis Wheels;
• additional screw assembly and hopper to properly feed abrasive to all wheels, including the two new wheels;
• additional wear plates and liners on the cabinet and work car to provide additional protection from the blast streams. T e Pangborn-rebuilt machine has
been fully operational since the wheels were installed in December 2010. “We’ve had over seven months to gather data, and the Pangborn Genesis Wheels have defi nitely provided sig- nifi cant improvement in cleaning speed and machine downtime,” said Brandon and Steve Hartong, maintenance super- visor. “We really like the Pattern- Loc (which maintains the blast pattern settings when changing feed parts); it takes the guesswork
out of it.” Visit
www.pangborngroup. com for more information.
Pangborn refurbished Bradken’s shotblast machine with high speed Genesis Wheels.
54 | MODERN CASTING October 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68