We recently came up against a pretty unique challenge to repair a very large plate press cylinder, used for bending 65mm thick steel plate.
The original barrels were severely cracked and beyond repair. Our client needed a fast turnaround, but hollow bar of this size was unavailable at the time. We had little choice but to manufacture a new barrel from SOLID material!
Starting at 28″ diameter and weighing 3 tonnes/piece, we machined out over 2.5 tonnes of metal from each piece of material. To save time, one piece of material was drilled and bored using a conventional lathe, whilst simultaneously the other piece of material was machined on a horizontal borer using a special cutting tool. The material went from solid, to having a 23″ inside diameter and 2.5″ wall thickness.
The double ended rod passed through a grinding and chroming process and the huge, double ended cylinder was then reassembled with a custom made seal kit. The cylinder was promptly returned to our client.
Here at Callcott & Downey Engineering, we love a challenge and will always strive to find a solution to our clients problems. If you think you may have a challenge for us, we’d love to hear from you!
