Boiler Tube Company of America (BTA), located in Lyman, SC, supplies replacement boiler pressure parts and other related auxiliary components for all styles of boilers, regardless of the OEM, to the electric utility, pulp and paper, waste-to-energy, petrochemical, marine, sugar and grain industries. A few years ago BTA went to Fab-Tech in Chicago looking for a solution to replace their ancient tube and pipe beveling equipment. At the show they found Manufacturing Solutions, Inc. (MSI) showing the Chamfermate® line of tube and pipe beveling machines.
Pipe Beveling Machine Solution
After an extensive evaluation, including visits to existing MSI customers, BTA purchased three C5H Chamfermate® pipe beveling machines. Two of the pipe beveling machines are located at the Lyman, SC facility and the other is in the Sapulpa, OK facility, a division of Thermal Engineering International, a sister company under the Babcock Power umbrella. BTA uses the Chamfermate® beveling machine to bevel both ends of tubes used in industrial boilers. The ends are beveled to a 37.5 degree facing angle allowing for an open butt tube to tube weld. The tubes are made of a variety of carbon alloys and grades of stainless steel and range in diameter from 1.25" to 3".
Charles Wood, Plant Purchasing Manager of BTA, states that, "MSI has supplied us with a high quality pipe beveling machine that increases our efficiency and delivers a quality tube bevel every time. Every tube comes out square and there is never any need for re-work. MSI has worked with us to create tooling that meets our changing requirements and new applications. MSI is very easy to work with and we are pleased that MSI is our beveling machines partner."
Pipe Beveling Machine Expertise
MSI's standard line of beveling machines are built and sold under the trade name of ChamferMate®. At the present time well over 400 ChamferMate® beveling machines are in service. Materials beveled are low carbon, medium carbon, medium alloy, stainless steels, zirconium, and titanium. Double end beveling machines have been built with magazine type feeds to process high volume stud bolt manufacturing. The double end beveling machines have been built with hand feed magazine or automatic hopper feed systems. MSI has also built end pipe beveling machine units that have been incorporated into an overseas manufacturers multi-step bar processing equipment.
ChamferMate® machines with slide stops and tube beveling and facing heads have been made to chamfer or bevel the inside and outside and face tubular products.
The maximum capacity pipe beveling machine built to date is for beveling 8 inch diameter stainless steel tubing to produce weld bevels on wall thicknesses up to ¾”. ChamferMate® machines have been produced with special cutting heads to produce “J” bevels on pipe for the use with automatic pipe welding machines.
MSI is located in Beaumont, TX and builds chamfering and pipe beveling machines, marking equipment, bar shears, nut assembly tables, cylindrical parts feeders, bolt cross drills, and bolt shortening tools and services an international customer base in a variety of industries.
