Niagara Investment Castings has been producing investment castings for significant names in the paper industry for decades, as well as for companies that build machinery for cutting and processing logs into high-quality paper.
Whether the requirement is for several hundred parts for a new build, or one part for a retrofit of the older equipment found throughout the great traditional paper producing countries like Canada, USA, Finland, and others, our clients look to us to provide the many different castings that help to produce the best paper products available by taking advantage of the many unique features of the investment casting process.
Investment Casting of Obsolete Pulp and Paper Components
There are many instances when machinery manufacturers specify the use of investment castings to produce a significant portion of the OEM components used in the machine. However, one of the most considerable benefits of the investment casting process is its ability to produce low quantities and “one-offs” of existing parts that require replacement.
Much of the paper-making equipment in use has been in service for decades, making it challenging to find replacement parts. That’s where our ability to produce low volumes of castings using our 3D printed plastic pattern technology eliminates the need for standard injection tooling in retrofitting projects. Our reverse engineering capability, including 3D scanning, enables usto meet these needs quickly.
Investment Casting Services for the Pulp and Paper Industry
Our customers require a wide range of pulp and paper machinery products. With many years of experience serving the Canadian industry, Niagara Investment Castings offers innovative casting solutions that enhance safety, reliability, and performance.
We understand the complexities of high-temperature, high-pressure, and corrosive environments. Our expertise helps clients source the investment castings needed to build dependable equipment for harsh environments, delivering reduced downtime, lower costs, and ensuring operational efficiency.
What Pulp and Paper Parts Can Be Investment Cast?
There are many types of cast components used to process wood chips and fibres into paper products; in fact, their use is only limited by the designers’ imagination and the limitations of size, where investment castings might start to be replaced by sand castings.
We can provide you with design guidance to determine where investment castings might be the best solution for your needs. Where investment castings can be used, the benefits of high precision, smooth surfaces, and generally higher quality overall can be expected. Investment cast components for the pulp and paper industry are engineered to perform in a wide range of applications, from everyday, simple tasks like valves, to extreme conditions that paper-making machinery and systems must withstand without failure.
Examples of Pulp and Paper Components Produced
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Foils
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Debarking tips
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Debarking arms
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Keepers
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Fingers
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Roll and spool components
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Bearing Housings
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Dewatering equipment
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Press components
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Pumps and valves
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Impellers
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Refiner Plates
Industrial Valve Investment Casting
There are many types of valves and flow control products that our paper machinery customers produce, all engineered to perform in a wide range of applications, from everyday tasks like water valves to the extreme pressure and corrosion conditions unique to this industry, which their valving systems must handle without failure.
The wide range of materials that Niagara Investment Castings provides for these manufacturers is the same family of metal alloys that manufacturers of the best corrosion-resistant components for a wide range of applications rely on as well, including :
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Flapper and Butterfly Valve Discs
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Burst valve components
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Y Strainers
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Ball Valves
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Stems
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Bonnets
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Hand Wheels and Levers
The wide range of materials that Niagara Investment Castings provides for paper machinery is the same family of metal alloys that many other industrial component manufacturers also rely on. These parts are generally made from robust alloys that must withstand the harsh acidic and alkaline environments typical in the paper-making industry.
Advantages of Investment Casting Pulp and Paper Components Compared To Other Manufacturing Methods
From superior surfaces to lower overall costs, investment casting components used in paper-making machinery offer many advantages over other manufacturing processes.
Investment Casting Vs. Machining
Most machining operations can be replaced by investment casting. The ability of investment casting to achieve near net-shapes significantly reduces or eliminates the need for machining of paper machinery components. A fast turnaround for higher-volume production with lower labour costs is also possible.
Investment cast doctor fingers, for example, are typically less expensive than machining the parts from bar stock.
Investment Casting Vs. Welding
Converting welded assemblies for paper machinery components to investment castings can reduce overall costs, especially with complex components. Labor cost is expended with each increase in the number of joints, the difficulty of the weld, the assembly difficulty, and the number of pieces being joined.
In addition to the cost component, investment casting can be advantageous for improved part strength and uniformity, particularly with hard-to-weld alloys. Part appearance is also improved, since there will no longer be visible weld lines as welded and fastened parts can be cast as one piece. Investment casting lends itself to parts that will be higher volume runs if welding is involved.
Investment Casting Vs. Sand Casting
Due to the nature of the process, investment castings can be held to much tighter tolerances than sand castings. Investment casting offers near net-shape, thus reducing costly machining time.
Investment casting is also capable of producing castings with a much better surface finish, and no draft angles are required, which means cast components can address the need for tighter tolerances than sand castings. Finally, investment castings, in general, provide a significantly higher percentage of defect-free castings compared to sand casting the same parts.
Investment Casting Vs. Forging
Investment casting does not have the expensive tooling costs as with forgings. Forging metal components also presents the concern of non-uniform internal stresses and parting lines, neither of which is present with investment cast parts. Forging does not offer the precision, fine detail, or excellent surface finish of investment casting.
Choose Niagara Investment Castings for Your Pulp and Paper Casting Applications
Making sourcing of quality components as easy as possible is the foremost priority of Niagara Investment Castings. With a wide range of cast metals used across various industries, ensuring the quality of your cast components is crucial for safety, longevity, and efficiency.
With our experience manufacturing so many different cast components for the mining and exploration industry, our dedicated and skilled team at Niagara Investment Castings is here to help with any support in getting you started with wear-resistant castings for your particular application. We can assist you in many ways at a low cost and with fast turnaround times. Please contact us here to start the discussion.