TPT November 2012

Tube and pipe mi l ls

Tube and pipe mill specialist RAFTER Equipment Corporation manufactures tube mills and pipe mills, roll forming machines, cutoff machines, and other related mill machinery. The company is able to provide equipment for tube sizes from 0.188" (4.76mm) to 16" (400mm) OD. It has supplied mills using high-frequency induction (HFI), high-frequency contact (HFC), TIG/plasma, and laser welding. Its equipment has been used for the production of the following tubular products: mechanical, structural, HSS, energy, API, refrigeration, automotive, appliance, and other tubular products. Rafter has remained busy during the recent economic downturn. A duplicate of the RT-4000 speciality mill sold last year is currently under construction. The mill is capable of producing energy tubing up to 76.2mm OD x 6.4mm wall (3" x 0.25") with material yield strengths up to 1,000 MPa (150,000 PSI). Deliveries of a RT-3000 mechanical mill and a RT-3000 automotive tube mill with full strip entry section will follow later this year. Last year also brought Rafter many mill upgrade projects. These were mainly weld squeeze box and turkshead straightener retrofits. Most of the upgrades were driven by the customer’s need to produce tubes with heavier wall thicknesses and/or using higher yield strength materials. In 2009, Rafter expanded its offering through an overseas partnership to include uncoilers, levellers, coil end joiners, strip accumulators, flying saw cutoffs, and tube bundling and packaging equipment. Although the mechanical portions are manufacturing overseas, the electrical and hydraulic portions will be supplied by Rafter from US sources. In addition, the after-sales service and support will be handled by Rafter. Last year, Rafter reached an agreement with HKS- Prozesstechnik GmbH (www.hks-prozesstechnik.de) to become the exclusive United States system integrator for the ThermoProfilScanner (TPS) non-destructive weld seam inspection system. The TPS uses a unique “lens-less” thermal imaging sensor to capture the heat profile of the weld seam just after welding. The heat profile is displayed at the operator’s interface and saved for later inspection.

Schuler offers turn-key plants for efficient produc- tion of large pipes. Efficient, flexible and reliable. • Presses for longitudinal welded pipes • Spiral pipe welding machines With Schuler you have strong support in R&D, engineering, large-scale system construction, project management and global service. Forming the Future Making the Earth’s arteries. Production systems for large pipes.

Rafter Equipment Corporation – USA Website: www.rafterequipment.com

Visit us at Tube India Hall 1, Stand 1G10 / 1H11 | Mumbai, India 30 October – 1 November 2012

AMEMBEROFTHE SCHULERGROUP

Schuler Pressen GmbH | Bahnhofstr. 41 | 73033 Göppingen Germany | Phone +49 7161 66-307 | Fax +49 7161 66-729 largepipes@schulergroup.com | www.schulergroup.com

Rafter tube mill

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N ovember 2012

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