Container Re-Lining By Brian Kube :
A Container is part of an extrusion press. It holds the billet of metal that is pushed through a die at high temperature under high pressure. It is made up of at least two pieces: a center tube, called a liner, with a three to five inch thick wall; and, an outer tube, called a mantle, with a wall thickness in excess of twelve inches that holds the liner and withstands the pressure of the press. During use, the ID of the liner warps and/or enlarges, finally reaching a point that requires replacement. There are three elements to the container re-line area.
1. Re-facing Re-facing refers to reconditioning the die side of the liner face, which is the surface that seals to the die and ring. This is accomplished by turning the face down to resurface and sometimes requires welding prior to turning.
2. Re-lining Relining consists of removing the old liner, and machining and installing a new liner. The old liner is removed by heating the container assembly to approximately 800 degrees and shocking the liner I. D. with cold water. This makes the liner shrink smaller than the I. D. of the mantle (container), which allows it to fall out. New liners are installed by heating the mantle to 700-800 degrees, making the mantle expand. The liner OD is made .002 per inch larger than the mantle ID and is installed cold into the hot mantle. As the mantle cools the liner is shrunk fit, which is what holds the liner in place. The liner ID is then bored and honed to size.
3. New assemblies
New container assemblies consist of a new mantle and liner. The mantle is machined from a pre-hardened forging. The liner is also machined from a pre-hardened forging and is shrunk fit into the mantle. To date, Thumb Tool has completed approximately, fifteen re-faces, thirty-six re-lines, and five new assemblies. We currently have eight re-lines and seven new assemblies on order, or in various stages of production and delivery.
Thumbnail Sketch of a Die Maker's Career
Fifty years ago, in the early fall of 1952, a young lad, just out of high school, needing a job and wanting to "do something with my hands", decided to apply for work at the local plant of Moczik Tool and Die in Bad Axe, MI. At the time, Moczik was a major player in the aluminum tooling industry and young Jack Rochefort was in just the right place to get his life's career off to a good start, even thought he didn't know it at the time.
Jack slowly learned all the tricks of the tool building trade that a little country shop could teach him. From time to time, a seasoned veteran would come from the main Detroit, MI, plant to make sure things were going well out in the sticks. These were just the opportunities that Jack needed to improve his knowledge of tool-making. The powers that be in Detroit were not unaware of Jack's capabilities and character, and in time he was made the plant manager in Bad Axe.
Over the course of twenty years Jack became very knowledgeable about die building, and more importantly, die users. This knowledge was soon to become Jack's passport into a new business world. As happens in business, there were ups and downs. During one of the downs, in 1972, a decision was made to close Moczik's Bad Axe shop. Rather than seeing this as the end of things, as it appeared, Jack seized the opportunity and planted the seed that would grow into Thumb Tool & Engineering as we know it today.
At first, Jack wanted nothing to do with extrusion tooling. That field of endeavor was where the bottom had just fallen out of his world! But the extruders who knew him wouldn't let him go away. His integrity and his desire to build quality into everything he made were the characteristics that would take him to the top of his profession, and the extruders knew it.
His business began to build. It was not a steady climb, but build the business did. Soon tooling was being shipped to all parts of the USA. Next came business in Canada, then Mexico and across the oceans. During this time, Jack was one of the movers and shakers of the Aluminum Extrusion Council.
Jack has had a wonderfully positive effect on a whole new generation of tool makers. Many of Jack's original employees are today mentoring that next generation, teaching them how to build some of the best extrusion tooling in the industry, and Jack's high regard for quality craftsmanship is being passed on to them.
Today, even though Jack is not involved in all of our day-to-day operations, he is our senior consultant and advisor, and is available to share his knowledge with all of our employees at any time. All of us at Thumb Tool & Engineering want to thank you, Jack, for all that you have done, and continue to do, for us.