Mona's Machinery Blog

MGF Services LLC  is proud to announce an expansion of its service offerings for 2017. MGF Equipment is  a newly launched division of MGF Services, focusing on offering our clients a wide range of new and used equipment and machinery.  MGF Equipment is the division under which we offer our clients in the printing and packaging/film industries a durable selection of new and used equipment.  Over the years, MGF Services has been repairing equipment and machinery and refurbishing parts.  We've gained extensive knowledge and experience in quality equipment. With our experience and history we've compiled a list of equipment that meets our extremely high standards, and hand-selected only what we feel is the best value in equipment available today.  Here at MGF Equipment, we are prepared to analyze and discuss your equipment needs and find a new solution that best suits your operation.   From  Flexographic ...

I get lots of questions about Harden Slitters, Anvil, and Score Rollers from my clients and potential clients in the Printing, Packaging, and Industrial industries.  There are hundreds of designs for slitters, whether it’s pneumatic or mechanical for razor, score or shear slitting substrates such as: paper, film, foil, cloth, non-woven, or vinyl. I will generalize a little bit in this post, because it's impossible to cover every type of design in detail. During the lifetime of your equipment you will need to replace your harden rolls more than a few times depending on your operational hours and applications. People often ask me, “How do I get the best value and extended life on my replacement?”   One of the biggest keys to harden rolls’ longevity is the hardness scale and effective depth on the roller construction.  The Rockwell hardness on the slitters must be at least 2-4 points less than the roller construction hardness. The average hardness scale th...

I've worked around "Rollers" for decades. I practically grew up around them. Rollers are such an important component of any press and lots of industrial manufacturing machinery. Rollers get used a lot in a variety of ways. Whether they're pushing something through or slowing something down, there is a constant state of friction. Friction causes wear. And rollers can wear out quickly. But now, there are incredible coatings for rollers, that allow the rollers to wear at a much slower pace. Nylon rollers are so versatile...let me tell you a little more about the logic behind it: Copper and Ebonite® rollers have traditionally been utilized as metering, transfer and oscillator rollers in ink trains in offset and letterpress.  Nylon (Rilsan-11 ®) has come into its own as a higher performance replacement for copper and Ebonite ®. It provides superior ink transfer and virtually eliminates stripping and expensive maintenance.  Nylon (Rilsan-11 ®) is more chemical resista...

Draw rollers, also known as pull, traction, driven, all have one thing in common: Tungsten carbide (Wolfram) coating.   The primary function of draw rollers are to guide and draw paper. The coatings on the roller determine the "lifespan of the roller." The life of the roller coating depends on the operational use, of course. Typically, however, this coating will last years. How do you know when it's time to repair? When the roller starts to look "smooth" or takes on a glazing appearance, it is time to "recover" your roller.   In my experience most customers that we service don’t have spare or extended downtime to recover. What you need to have is a pre-planned repair which includes: Verifying dimensions Verifying tolerances Knowing the base material of roller Knowing the type of grit (fine, medium, or coarse)  How many times has your roller been recovered Committing to confirmed dates the press will be down to expedite your roller recovering....

The printing industry is ever-changing, but your machines are always running. When things start to fail, how are you supposed to know if it's better to repair or replace your machinery parts? Unless a part has reached its threshold to repair, you should be able to refurbish most mechanical applications. Such as:  Ceramic rollers  Idler rollers used in handling adhesives, hot plastics, sticky material  Draw rollers  Stationary jaws  Former board and noses  Corona Treater rolls  Chrome rollers  We have some more information on our website: http://www.mgf-services.com/coatings   These parts can be extremely costly to replace. I have been repairing these types of parts for decades. If you hire the right company, you can save a lot of money by expertly refurbishing worn parts. However, there are certain mechanical parts where repair/refurbished are not viable options. In these cases, replacement parts are the only reco...

In today’s technology, thermal coatings have become Surface Engineered Solutions,  which can be overwhelming to companies looking for repair or new applications.  Things to consider:  Materials-substrate/coating/sealer  Temperature-Processing/operating  Shape of part-line of sight  Size of part to be coated  Coating thickness  Operating environment  What are you trying to accomplish?  Wear resistance  Corrosion/chemical resistance  Traction  Release  Low friction  Conductivity-electrical/thermal  Dimension restoration  Abradable surface  My company, MGF Services, provides a large selection of coatings, competitive pricing and reliable service. We have been helping our clients with Surface Coating services in the manufacturing industry for decades. We specialize in all types of chrome and specialty coatings & treatments. Cl...