Anyone that has ever paid attention to the cleaning section on their strip processing line, and the steel strip surface quality going in and out of the cleaning section, knows that abrasive bristle brushing doesn’t really get the job done.

That is to say, the majority of the strip cleaning brush machines and the abrasive bristle brushes used to cleaning the steel strip surface, have not dialed in all that cleaning capability these tools can provide, but that is a topic for another article.

This article is to have a look at changing the type of tool being used completely. We are talking about removing the abrasive bristle brush, and putting a non-woven abrasive brush on the brush shaft, to use for descaling steel strip. Thats right, I said it and we mean it!

NON-WOVEN ABRASIVE BRUSHES FOR DESCALING STEEL STRIP

APT manufactures non-woven abrasive brushes up to 20” in diameter, and have further developed impregnations that reenforce the abrasive brushes to perform the difficult task of removing surface scale on steel strip. 

On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being absolutely clean of surface scale, a bristle brush performs a 5, and a non-woven abrasive brush performs a 9+.

A non-woven abrasive brush can be used for descaling in the manufacturing of steel strip, which involves removing scales or surface oxidation from the surface of the steel strip. Here’s a general process for using a non-woven abrasive brush for descaling steel strip:

• Prepare the steel strip: Ensure that the steel strip is properly cleaned and prepared for descaling. This may involve removing any loose debris, dust, or dirt from the surface of the steel strip using suitable cleaning methods.
  • This should all be done in the precleaning section. Usually this is done by means of an alkali spray / dip tank. 
  • APT manufactures hot water high pressure systems that remove 85 – 90% of the hydrocarbons, rolling oil, and dirt and debris, by using only water. No Chemistry to buy, use, and depose of.
  • Further, the used water can filter the oil out and be reused in a closed loop circuit. 

CHOOSING THE CORRECT NON-WOVEN ABRASIVE BRUSH

• Choose the right brush: Select a non-woven abrasive brush that is suitable for the descaling task at hand. Consider factors such as the abrasive material, grit size, brush size, and density to match the specific requirements of your descaling application. The choice of brush will depend on the type of scales or oxidation present on the steel strip and the desired level of descaling.
  • • Call APT, and we handle the whole consultation of non-woven abrasive brush selection.

IN-PROCESS BRUSH DRESSING WITH OUR BRUSH MACHINES

Attach the brush to a suitable tool: that would be one of APT’s state-of-the-art brush machines with brush traversing to continually dress the brushes in-process, for the entire life of the brush.

That’s correct! No more dog bone abrasive brush! No more shiny edges and dirty center metal strip!

• Adjust the speed and pressure: Set the machinery to an appropriate speed and apply the desired pressure on the brush against the steel strip. The exact speed and pressure may vary depending on the type and thickness of the steel strip, the level of descaling required, and the brush used. It’s recommended to start with lower speeds and pressures and gradually increase as needed, while avoiding excessive pressure.

The non-woven abrasive brush will come in complete contact with the steel strip and remove the scales or oxidation from the surface.

FILTRATION SYSTEM UPGRADES

We will be removing a lot of oxide scale, dirt, debris, from the strip surface, which means the filtration system needs to be able to handle everything we will be taking off the strip surface. We have developed these filtration systems to perform this task!

With a mix of the correct pre-cleaning process equipment,  non-woven abrasive brush and brush machine, and filtration system all dialed-in, you will be able to dramatically increase your strip surface. How much is a clean strip surface worth to you?

Give us a call for a free consultation!

Stay Healthy & Safe!

Sincerely,

David Thiemann 

The post DESCALING STEEL STRIP WITH A NON-WOVEN ABRASIVE FLAP BRUSH first appeared on APT.

Would you know what type of machine you need?  

You might be able to explain what you want your metal to look like when it’s been run through your line, but would you know which components and processes the machine needs to achieve that desired result?  

Most people don’t. And why would they? That sounds even more frustrating than ordering a new laptop. We know what we want the thing to do, but we don’t want to be bogged down with building the darn thing. Just give me a machine designed for my job.  

This is often what we hear from our clients. They don’t want to deal with the pressure of figuring out what mechanical and technical capabilities need to be built into (or programmed out of) the machine. For most of us, we don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t fully understand what today’s machines are capable of doing—and often we don’t recognize their limitations. What we want is to find someone who knows so we can quickly get our questions answered and get back to work.  

We’ll Do It For You. 

That’s where APT comes in. With over 50 years building brushes and scrubber machines, we understand what you need from your machines. We’ve heard complaints from customers who view customization as a curse—but it doesn’t have to be that way. We’ll listen to what you want, and then we’ll build the machine we know you need. And it gets better. Once you’re our customer, your part of our inner circle. You’ll get technical training with access to troubleshooting resources and one-on-one support. We’ll be there to show you how to get consistent results from your machines and brushes every time. Our industry is changing fast. Between digitized machines with sensors that recognize problems on the line to the specialized coatings on our brushes, it’s nearly impossible to stay on top of the latest technology. And you shouldn’t have to. That’s our job, not yours.  

If you’re not getting the results you want, give APT a call. We’re your industry resource, your go-to guy—your someone who knows. We’re available when you need to make your current machine more efficient or you’re ready to build a customized solution. (We promise it won’t be a curse.)

SHOP MACHINES     |     SHOP BRUSHES

The post Tell APT What to Build first appeared on APT.

Serval segments cover the width of your brush face specification.

This is designed to reduce the number of steps in refurbishing a brush and keeping the brush in-house or at your local machine shop of your liking.

This reduced the distance these heavy brush shafts go on and the time it takes to refurbish a brush shaft.

We designed this system so that the brush users, in the cleaning section or finishing sections can refurbish the brushes on their schedule with the requirement of minimal tools and labor.

We supply the training videos to have as a reference and work with the mills and/or machine shops to hands-on train and answer any questions. We have designed this system down to a four-step process. 

1. Undo the patented tightening system
2. Take used brush off
3. Put new packets on.
4. Tighten down packets and APT patented tightening system

We manufacture our packet systems in Germany and deliver the highest quality brush packets designed specifically for your shafts to ensure not movement of the packets during operation. The core ID is held to very close tolerances of your shaft.

________________

The process involves locking place several brush segments on your core. We designed the brushes so that they are delivered to you in a unique manufacturing process when once installed, they are perfectly balanced. This requires your shaft to be balanced and straight which your local machine shop can perform with scheduled preventative maintenance. 

We can build these brushes in all types of Filament. APT- Stainless Steel, APT-monofilment (Abrasive and Non-abrasive) and APT-Multi-fil (Abrasive and Non-abrasive). All of which I will discuss at great extent in future emails, both pros and cons of each. As a side note, we also offer a similar design in the Non-Woven (Scotch-Brite (trademark symbol).

The post BRISTLE SCRUBBER BRUSHES IN A PACKET SYSTEM CONFIGURATION first appeared on APT.

Because of the tendency of non-woven nylon brushes to wear faster in some areas it is necessary to dress the brushes periodically to bring the brush dimension back to a cylindrical shape. 

This is done through the brush dressing plate. 

The nature of the dressing plate is to have a flat metal plate covered with one side adhesive sandpaper strips, typically aluminum oxide grit 60. 

This dressing process with grit 60 removes a significant amount of grit from the top layer of the brush being dressed. The result is a cylindrical shape with a brush surface without grit;to a depth of about 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch. 

This otter layer of the brush is non-abrasive nylon. Therefore the first few workpieces processed after dressing require a slightly higher load to remove the non-abrasive nylon layer and expose fresh grit. 

The result during this process can be a different surface finish than expected. Thus we recommend putting non-intrusive scrap material through, until the desired finish is achieved again. 

 A long time ago, we use to run a piece of wood dry through the brushes and burn the nylon strands down to grit caring strands. We do not recommend doing this.

When I apply too much pressure on the brush while running on the 80grit dressing board, I will tear the grit off the scotchbrite fiber and leave the fiber. The fiber is non-abrasive and just under that layer of fiber is fresh grit. 

Best way to deal with that is a second dressing board with grit 120 to grind those fibers off. The fibers are visible when you spin dry the brush in form of a fuzzy, soft surface. 

That condition does not cut metal!

The dressing plate should be covered with wet or dry coated abrasive paper with an adhesive back.

Now glue the strips not at 90 degrees to the direction of travel but at about a 10-degree angle. Leave a gap of about an inch and glue down the next strip. Fill the rest of the plate the same way. The purpose of the angle is to progressively or spiral cut across the face of the brush.

The purpose of the gap is a space for the swarf to get rinsed off and not get worked into the rest of the sandpaper. This results in along service life of the dressing plate.

For more information, please visit our website here

https://atlantechprocess.com/non-woven-abrasive-brushes/

The post WIDE FACE ABRASIVE NON-WOVEN BRUSH PRO TIP #1 – DRESSING PLATE first appeared on APT.

• Discs are compacted and assembled using flexible resins in order to obtain a very homogeneous roll cover, resistant to erosion being at the same time flexible and porous.

These covers are manufactured in different sizes and lengths and they are assembled on a metallic axis to form a Non-woven Mill Roll.

For more information, take a look at our website here.

https://atlantechprocess.com/products/non-woven-mill-rolls/

The post HAVE YOU CONSIDERED USING NON-WOVEN MILL ROLLS FOR YOUR FLAT METAL PROCESSING APPLICATIONS? first appeared on APT.

Good Day to you folks, 

Thank you for taking a minute to check out a video of a new machine we build. This machine is for small parts deburring, but please keep in mind that we make similar machines for large part cleaning/degressing, polishing, and deburring. We also make these machines for sheet and plate. As we get over 36” wide, we have to go to our Type PB or BM Design which is double bearing. All have quick-change capabilities, but check out our video on In-Process Brush dressing. You may not need to use the quick change as much anymore. 

So here we have a 4 head brush machine that is able to clean, polish, and deburr in one pass by utilizing the wide face abrasive brushes on the top and bottom. This machine also had a  requirement to process flat metal parts up to 6” small with precision.  

BRUSH TOP / BOTTOM > RINSE > DRY 

This machine has 2 different processes. 90% of these customer’s pieces are water jet cut.  Therefore the edges and holes are not too rough. We designed a series of 4 brushes to deliver the exact cleaning and finishing surface this customer requires on every part to ISO9000 and aerospace standards. In this process mode we have a series of 4 brushes, 2 top, 2 bottoms that first clean and then polish the small parts. They then go through a wash/rinse section, and into a  dryer and come out bone dry. This is a wet brushing process and the unit is entirely self-contained with a recirculating filtration system. 

Watch the 2-minute brush change on this machine here 

DEBURR > POLISH > RINSE > DRY 

The second mode for this machine is for the other 10% of parts made that are laser cut. These things have some nasty burrs. Ill attached some pictures so you know what I’m taking about. For this application, we again designed some very hard, very coarse, very tough wide face abrasive brushes to smooth out these laser-cut burrs. We do that with station one and two in this machine. We then designed some brushes that finish off, polish, rinse and dry, the rest of the aerospace small parts.  

I would like to add that we build smart machines. And we can build just about anything you can concept. But these things cost a bit of money and eventually, the bean counters and suits won’t let us have what we really want. So was the case with this machine. You will see brush adjustment wheels at the top. These are manual. We can make them automatic, self-controlling,  and sending you all the information WIFI to your iPad while you are sitting on the beach,  drinking a mojito. if you would like. 

The post FLAT METAL SMALL PARTS DEBURRING & FINISHING first appeared on APT.

Our industry has exploded in recent years--from huge technological improvements in wide-face brush machines to seemingly endless options for abrasive grit on brushes. Remember when we had only a few options for grit—Coarse, Medium, Fine, Ultra Fine? Now, APT can customize the grit for whatever job you need …  customize your brush, to your process, so you know you’ll get the outcome your customer wants to pay for!

Today we have 18 different non-woven webbings! Why 18? Because what works best on copper may not work well on stainless. So, we developed tools with different parameters to optimize the performance of the materials they are used on. That means the finish can come out to your expectations–and your customers’–every time!

While your competition keeps struggling to get results with a few standard products, you’ll have a tool built specific to your needs.

We’ve also seen HUGE changes in how QUICKLY wide-face brushes are changed. It’s so much more efficient and saves so much manpower! Seriously, do you remember when it would take 2 men over 4 hours to change a brush?

The technology of today’s machines makes brush changes possible in 5-15 MINUTES! AND it takes only ONE person!!

Want to see it? Let me show you a video of a wide-face brush change! This isn’t available to the public, so you can’t see it without this link. But when you’re READY to watch it, prepare yourself to be amazed! (Also, turn up the volume, because I had our team add some rockin’  background music.) 

Seriously–go look at this!

What about those brushes?

Change is awesome, isn’t it? We think so! And the changes we’re seeing make our job a lot easier–whether that means better results from customizable grit or from a brand-new amazing machine!

If you’re in the market for new brushes—with customizable grit—or a new brush scrubber machine that saves you time and money, call APT. If we don’t have what you need, we’ll build it for you.

Take a look! Just click on the link and you can view our brochures right here!

The post CUSTOMIZE YOUR SCRUBBER BRUSH first appeared on APT.

1 The porous cover absorbs part of the fluid reducing the hydraulic pressure.

2 When the cover compresses at the contact area it seals the fluid flow.
By controlling the pressure “P” it is possible to control the quantity of fluid which remains on the sheet.

3 The porous surface absorbs the fluid as a sponge when the pressure decreases.

4 When the covers are compressed again they give off the absorbed fluid.

For more information, take a look at our website here.

The post HOW NON-WOVEN MILL ROLLS WORK first appeared on APT.

Good morning,

I’ve been on the road visiting various galvanizing lines, and I’ve noticed a common problem. People are having a hard time keeping APC tower rolls clean. I want to let you know Atlantech Process has a solution.

But first, let’s talk about the problem.

THE PROBLEM

After passing through a zinc pot,  just-coated strip often has solidified zinc particles partially adhering to the strip. If the particles fall on to the APC roll, they create dimples on the strip at every revolution, a situation we all dread.

Some lines use scrapers to clean the zinc particles, but these only work for a short time and require maintenance and frequent adjustments.

The other option is to use sleeves, but these have limited ability to displace zinc particles. Plus sleeves are costly and require a lot of maintenance.

Atlantech Process has a solution.

THE SOLUTION

     We use precision wire brushes that oscillate to remove debris particles. Our unit delivers defect-free strip without using sleeves and scrapers. 

But there’s more. Our brushes work both on cylinder rolls and on barrel-shaped rolls.

Atlantech Process has engineered a concave-barrel brush that contours to the cylinder. And it works the way it should right out of the box–waiting for the brush to form to the barrel is a thing of the past.

PLUS:

Brush alignment is adjustable for full-face contact from brush to roll.

Brush diameter is displayed to keep track of the remaining brush life.

The system we provide has all power and control elements needed to interface to your master control.

THE PROCESS

     To keep the tower rolls clean in the Hot Dip Galvanizing, Galvanneal, and Galvalume process, we use an APC brush unit with a rotary wire brush. This oscillation system continuously removes zinc particles and debris from the roll. And, because it’s encloseed, it catches and contains debris. A pull-out pan and hinged cover make cleaning and brush changes easy while keeping OSHA happy.

 The result is the roll remains free of debris—and your strip is finished without defect.

     Watch the video  to see what I mean.

CONTACT APT

Keep turn rolls clean and improve the quality of your strip just by replacing the brushes in your current equipment. But for the best results, contact us to learn how to switch to a fully optimized system that interfaces with your master control.

We’ve heard great feedback on the results of our APC tower brush unit. Call David at 816-382-9150 to learn more or email him at dthiemann@atlantechprocess.com.

At APT, we’re passionate about education and helping our clients get the best results to stay competitive in the marketplace. If you have a question you’d like me to address, shoot me an email.  APT is your industry resource. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with your questions.

The post Get Rid of Zinc Dust or Debris on Brush Machines Once and For All first appeared on APT.

Let’s play a game.

I’m going to describe some aggravating problems that result on the line, and you’re going to tell me what’s causing the problem. 

Ready? Here we go:

• The tips of your bristle brush don’t engage with the metal surface. Instead of hitting the strip from the tip of the filament, it folds and the sides of the filament graze across the strip, which won’t clean the strip and can damage it. 
• Bristles act sporadically. Bristles move in a circular motion, causing an irregular pattern on the strip, rather than cleaning the surface.
• Bristles fall from the brush: Brushes prematurely age and you find yourself pulling rogue bristles from the system filter.
• Brush is crushed into the back-up roller: The machine never reaches the correct kW value, and crushes the brush as it searches for a load point.

Ok: those are your clues. What’s the problem?

If you answered “the wrong brush,” you’re right. 

The four problems described above are a result of a condition we refer to as the “spaghetti effect.” We’ve named it that because, similar to spaghetti, nylon and polypropylene brushes soften in response to heat and water. This is particularly important if the bristle brush is operating in an alkali solution. Of course, brushes will be exposed to heat and water on the line, so what can be done to make sure they retain their ability to produce friction on the surface of the metal sheet to get it clean?

As Sherlock Holmes would say, “It’s elementary.” The solution is science and engineering.

To avoid the spaghetti effect, you need to have a brush with bristles that have been specifically engineered for the job. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting time trying to get results it’s not physically (or scientifically) possible to achieve. You’ll also be wasting a lot of money, because the bristles will start falling out of your brushes, and you’ll have to replace them more often. 

This is a battle you can win easily when you have the right tools. Give us a call if you have questions about what bristle brush would work best in your machine so you don’t lose time and money with the Spaghetti Effect.

The post BRISTLE SCRUBBER BRUSHES first appeared on APT.