|
Located in Lackawanna, NY, Republic
Technologies International (RTI) is a 22 stand
Birdsboro mill rolling .633” to 3.500” SBQ
rounds and hexes covering a wide variety of
grades. “SinterMet’s Shur-Lock roll is the only
product that RTI considered for their manufacturing
process,” says Bill Posey, regional sales
manager at SinterMet. Additionally, RTI purchased
a complement of trial SMETiC 2000
guide rolls.
RTI commissioned three sets of SinterMet’s
Shur-Lock rolls: One set of leader rolls for .633”
to 1.063” rounds; and two sets of finishing for
the same product. Each set of rolls contains various
groove profiles that encompass the variety
of product sizes.
Part of the reason RTI depends on SinterMet’s
rolls is the experience and customer service that
has long been a strength of SinterMet. “Each
time a mill is down because of a pass or roll
change, money is lost,” explains Bill. “Our
SM-62 grade tungsten carbide rolls not only provide
RTI with a measurable decrease in cost per
ton rolled, but also increased bar quality combined with the ability to roll
to tighter tolerances.”
With a current capacity of 425,000 tons
per year and the desire to roll higher tonnages,
RTI requires rolls combining optimum wear
resistance with high toughness.
RTI has already achieved five times wear over
nodular iron rolls at the initial installation with
virtually no pass wear. “As a precaution, we
always recommend the initial installation be
handled conservatively,” says Bill. It is expected
that at the next installation, RTI will realize
an even greater improvement versus iron rolls.
“Having SinterMet located a couple hours away
is very convenient and adds to their responsiveness,”
says Bob Heckl, Roll Shop Supervisor at
RTI. “My colleagues had success with SinterMet
when they worked with them in the past, and
recommended them for our mill,” Bob adds.
“I’m confident that we’ll continue to have out-standing
performance from both SinterMet and
their Shur-Lock rolls.”
|
