Food equipment manufacturer takes a slice out of its scrap rate
- PMI Food Equipment Group, Troy, OH (United States)
- MicroWeld Engineering, Worthington, OH (United States)
The PMI Food Equipment Group began manufacturing circular slicer knives for its commercial Hobart line of slicers in the early 1930s. The company manufacturers the only cast knife in the food industry. The cast knives offer superior edge retention and overall corrosion resistance. The slicer knives are cast in PMI`s foundry. The casting process sometimes produces shrinkage voids or gas bubbles in the knife blank. Surface discontinuities often do not appear until rough cutting or final machining, i.e., after several hours of value-added manufacturing. Knife blanks with these discontinuities were scrapped and sent back to the foundry for remelting. To scrap the knives at that point meant the cost for casting plus the value-added machining added up to a considerable amount. Weld repair allows the recovery of casting and machining expenses equal to a significant percentage of the total manufacturing cost of slicer knives. Repair costs include welding, grinding, shipping, surface finishing and material handling. Other good applications for this GMAW-P process include repair of jet engine components, rotating process industry equipment, and hardfacing of cutting tools and dies. In addition, dissimilar metals and any material that is heat treated to develop its properties such as precision investment castings are excellent applications. The low resultant distortion, elimination of postweld heat treatment and non-line-of-site welding capability solves thin wall, limited access and precision machined component repair challenges.
- OSTI ID:
- 379795
- Journal Information:
- Welding Journal, Vol. 75, Issue 9; Other Information: DN: Presented at the AWS 76. annual meeting, April 2--6, 1995, Cleveland, OH (US); PBD: Sep 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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