Chat with me  







TDI provides a variety of parts to wire manufacturers throughout North and South America. Listed below are the products we offer and the reasons why you will find them to be superior to similar products on the market.

CERAMIC MATERIALS

TDI provides a unique combination of engineering expertise and the ability to diagnose your problem areas and then recommend solutions to significantly improve your manufacturing operation. Our years of experience in the utilization of ceramic materials in wire manufacturing can provide you with technically superior products. We offer the following:

LARGE CERAMICS used in wire drawing. The following products are typical of what we produce, although they are not the only products we manufacture for wire drawing machines:

Step cones - We provide both monolithic ceramic cones and metal and ceramic assemblies. Our engineers have many years of experience in design, production, and installation and can help you solve your most difficult problems in wire drawing. Our designs provide for products that provide long life, cost effectiveness and ease of maintenance.

Capstans - Capstans come in all sizes and shapes. Our manufacturing experience allows us to provide you the best solution to both solid ceramic capstans and metal and ceramic assemblies. We have the capability to dynamically balance each capstan so the capstan will run true and without vibration.

Pulleys - We provide a wide range of pulleys made of aluminum (both coated with a tungsten carbide material and without) and ceramic and aluminum assemblies, plastic flanged with ceramic roots with "v" root, "U" root, and flat designed root. We can provide pulleys in all sizes and shapes from high speed applications to dancer assemblies. Provide with and without bearing assemblies.

Rings - TDI provides drawing rings from about 22" down to small ODs with ground tolerances to +/- 0.001. We provide both solid ceramic rings (longer life) and tungsten carbide coated rings (very cost effective).

Rollers - Made in both Zirconia and Alumina these rollers provide long life and ease of service.

Metal and ceramic assemblies - Our engineering capabilities are unsurpassed as evidenced by our years of experience, design capability and problem solving. Combined with our years of sales and service experience we can provide you designs that match any currently available products or we can offer new designs for your application that will improve efficiencies and output. Best of all we have the ability to troubleshoot your problems and recommend solutions based on our experience and engineering expertise. We can engineer the ceramic to fit your current metal design.


* Custom Engineered Solutions *

Opportunity: Reduce the down time when changing the ceramic rings on a Rod Breakdown Machine (RBD). In the current design of the RBD the carriers are installed with a shrink fit to the shaft. This is done because of the high torque used in the RBD machines and to help prevent damaging the keyways.
 
Current Procedure: When the ceramic rings need to be replaced on a RBD machine the metal carriers must be heated so that they can be removed or installed on the shafts of the machine. Pullers are used to remove the assembly from the shaft, and sometimes a port-a-power must be used to install the assembly. The shafts on the machine can be damaged during this process.  Additionally, the heated assembly increases the risk of injury to the technician working with the hot and very heavy assembly. The down time required to heat the carriers enough to expand them so that they can be removed or installed from the shafts is time lost producing wire. 

The Challenge: Design the metal carriers so that they can be easily removed from the shafts but still prevent damage to keyways due to the high torque and continue to use the standard ceramic rings, so that the customers’ current inventory can be used. Also, the overall length of the assembly must be the same size and continue to use the current shafts in the RBD machines.

Engineered Solution: The hubs of the metal carriers have been redesigned so that two keyless bushings are now used. The keyless bushings allow the assembly to “slip” on and off the shafts without shrink fitting.  Instead of using an individual assembly for each step; now there is a step #1 – 2 combination and an individual step #3 assembly. The only required modification to the machine is to trim the key stock. This new design also has an end cap with two O-rings to prevent the copper fines from coming into contact with the keyless bushings so that they can be kept clean during machine operation.  This end cap also helps to reduce shaft erosion due to the electrolysis that occurs when the copper comes into contact with the steel shaft.  Complete installation procedures are available by contacting TDI Enterprises, Inc. This engineered solution now allows all of the ceramic rings to be changed by 1 technician in an 8 hour shift; compared to the minimum 24 hours of down time that it previously took.


Guide rolls - We can provide a variety of ceramic materials to replace your current tool steel guides and pinch rolls. Customers who use our ceramic rolls can reduce scrap, improve operational efficiencies (less downtime) , reduce maintenance costs and increase quality. We can provide custom designs based on our years of experience.

Drawblocks - Our drawblocks are both standard designs and custom engineered to fit your requirements.
       
     
             
   
             
           
     

 

 

 

Engineered for your machine

 

 

 

 

 

      

 



  
MATERIALS
Alumina
Our Alumina is a fine grain material offering extreme hardness, exceptional corrosion resistance and withstands temperatures up to 1500 degrees F. This material is widely used for small eyelets and guides and has exceptional wear resistance.

Zirconia
Zirconia is a highly fracture resistant material and is the premium ceramic material used in wire
drawing today. This material provides a highly polished surface that produces fewer blemishes on
wire surfaces. Our partner, RTP Paganoni, has developed two formulas for Zirconia (yellow and white) each with different characteristics to best meet your needs.

SMALL CERAMICS used in guiding wire throughout the wire manufacturing process are typically made from Alumina Ceramic. Our partner, Keir Manufacturing, has developed manufacturing processes that allow them to produce a variety of special application parts at competitive prices. They produce their own raw materials that are superior to other ceramics on the market. Alumina has exceptional hardness and because of its composition it is the ideal material for the following parts:

•Guides
•Eyelets
•Small pulleys
•"U" guides
•Rods
•Tubes
•Flat plates/blocks used on Niehoff machines
   
     
 
 
AIR WIPES
The need for air wipes.
It is essential that extruded products, such as wire and cable, be economically dried following immersion into cooling solutions.  The removal of water and other cooling solutions is necessary to insure proper inspection, testing, printing and packaging.  Equally essential is the use of the most cost effective drying system.  This not only pertains to the unit cost but also the energy cost needed to operate the system.
 
How does an air wipe work?
The air wipe works by creating turbulence around the wire or cable.  The turbulence is created by controlling the direction and flow of the compressed air.  What makes the KEIR air wipe so unique is that the patented design relies on the controlled use of compressed air which is allowed to decompress to atmospheric pressure within the chamber size to the wire(s) according to a proprietary formula and does not depend on high volume air flow.  The air accelerates to nearly the speed of sound in a thin layer surrounding the wire.  This release of Kinetic energy stored when the air was compressed does far more work than other systems which rely on high volumes of air.  The configuration of the air chamber within the ceramic inserts keeps the wire centered within the airflow.  This design also discourages the entrainment of ambient air which typically dilutes the energy available to dry the wire.
 
Why is the KEIR air wipe so economical?
The cost to produce compressed air is expensive.  In KEIR'S patented design the amount of compressed air needed to a controlled air flow air wipe is significantly less than that of an open line or adjustable air wipe.  The cost to produce the compressed air for a controlled air flow air wipe is also significantly less than the cost to operate a centrifugal blower.  The KEIR air wipe has been designed to operate as low as 20 psi, depending on application, but the typical psi is engineered at 60 psi.
 
What other factors effect efficient drying?
Various parameters have an effect on drying.  These include line speed, material size, the viscosity and quality of the solution being removed, the temperature of the product as it leaves the cooling trough, and the quality of the air being supplied.
 
Line speed is one of the most important aspects of drying.  The amount of time available for a product to spend inside the air wipe affects the end result.  Obviously, the greater the line speed the more difficult it will be to dry.  Some applications may require multiple units to produce a satisfactory result.
 
Clean, dry air is needed for maximum efficiency.  It is also important to note that very contaminated or oily solutions can end up introducing and attracting other contaminants to the product surface.
 
Why is proper sizing of the air wipe so important?
In order to obtain maximum drying power yet still maintain the lowest possible air consumption it is critical to "size" the air wipe.  This means that the diameter of the wire will dictate the size of air wipe needed.  Generally speaking, the diameter of the product is in the range of 50-90% of the air wipe orifice size. This will ensure sufficient clearance to allow the air to circulate around the product.  Too large or too small of a gap between the wire and air wipe chamber will not allow sufficient air flow to effectively remove the liquid. The wire size range covered by one Air Wipe size is dependent on the maximum compressed air pressure available to the production line.
 
The Bottom Line.
The KEIR designed and patented air wipe is a far more effective method that does not rely on the use of high volume air flow.  This air wipe system goes by the name of Frontiersman, with two designs called the SureShot and the SplitShot.  Each design utilizes high density alumina ceramic along the wire path for superb air wipe longevity.  These ceramic pieces are easily replaced.  The low CFM combined with effective drying and reduced noise is a great reason to consider the KEIR air wipe to replace your current air wipes.

Keir Manufacturing produces the only Patented air wipe on the market. Other manufacturers just blow air in an attempt to remove liquid from wire, Keir's air wipe effectively removes the liquid with less noise at lower psi thereby reducing your cost to produce compressed air. Two styles are available:

The SureShot is designed for bare wire. It has a cylindrical ceramic insert (replaceable) pressed into a polymer mount and seals with O-rings. This model can easily be made into 'gang' assemblies for multi-wire applications.

The SplitShot is a clam shell design used for jacketed wire and cable. The design allows for welds or extrusion bulges to pass through without damage. Ceramic inserts line the wire path and keep the wire centered within the powerful air stream. The polymer housing has an integral hinge that can take abuse, yet comes apart easily for service or ceramic replacement.

Both of these air wipes can operate at line speeds up to 7000 fpm.
   
   

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Actual photo of ganged Air Wipes in use)
ANNEALING HUBS, RINGS, BANDS
TDI manufactures nickel plated annealing hubs that are hardened. These highly polished hubs are proven to last longer than competitive products. Our tolerances are exact and concentricity, parallelity and dimensions make these annealing products what you want on your annealers.
   
 
FLYER BOWS
These bows are made in sizes up to 20 plus feet long for over 60 different machine manufacturers. We provide bows for twisters, twinners quadders, and bunchers. Flyer bows can be made from fiberglass, glass Kevlar composite, and carbon fiber. In addition to providing bows, we also offer ceramic and tungsten carbon guides, and holders in addition to a variety of wear strips to fit your bow.
Other products requiring wear resistant surfaces that we provide:

Thermal spray coatings on capstans, pulleys, rings using Chrome Oxide, Tungsten Carbide, Alumina, and Zirconia Oxide.
Pulleys with or without bearings made of ceramic or metal with thermal sprayed coatings. These products are ground and then polished to less than 4 microinches RA.
 
 
   
 

HARD COATED SPRAYED SURFACES

TDI can supply both Hot and cold coatings.

Diamond 2000 is a hot coating that is principally composed of tungsten carbide combined with other materials such as nickel, cobalt and chrome. The biggest advantage of Diamond 2000 is that this coating is sprayed on the piece and as a consequence the coating is much more wear resistant. This coating is recommended for simple shapes because of the size:price ratio.
Diamond 2000 is a very reliable coating and has been used for over 30 years.
CHARACTERISTICS:  This exclusive carbide mix is used to coat steel cones and rings, then machined and lapped to exacting tolerances. This type of coating provides an exceptional life. Extensive studies and tests with "DIAMOND 2000",have shown the perfect grit size to give exceptional wire pulling.
A superb level of finishing is attainable on this type of coating.
APPLICATION: "DIAMOND 2000" coating is suitable both for ferrous and non ferrous wires.

Diamond 3000 is a cold coating with a very high tungsten carbide content combined with a low percentage of other elements including nickel, cobalt and chrome. As a consequence it is harder than Diamond 2000 and the process is faster. Therefore it is priced very competitively. This coating is recommended for large shapes such as capstans with a big diameter of up to 1200mm. This coating can replace ceramic coating on the capstans because we can coat the capstans for all surfaces without the need to harden it.

Diamond 3000 is better than ceramic coatings due to its thermal properties. In fact, it is made of metallic elements which can better diffuse the heat thus obtaining cooler wire during the wire drawing process. For bigger shapes the price is more competitive than other coatings and on the small capstans the price is more favorable compared to ceramic.
TECHNICAL FEATURES :
• Carbide agglomerate
• Hardness HRC 60.0 - 61.0
ADVANTAGES :
• Excellent resistance to wear and hard abrasion.
• Strong adhesion to any type of material.
• Being a non-insulating coating, it permits heat to disperse throughout the wire.
APPLICATION : This coating has been tested as an alternative to ceramic for the dry drawing of steel wire up to 1200 mm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

Home | About Us | Contact Us | Credits | Quality Compliance
TDI Enterprises Inc. © 2011