Edge beveler gives plate cutting company mirror-smooth weld seams without rework

Situation

Riam Dordrecht BV is a steel supplier and provider of cutting work. It started as a source of custom cutting for shipyards in the Rijnmond area of the Netherlands and has expanded its scope over the years. Today it handles small and large orders for about 1,500 customers in industries such as shipbuilding, offshore, petrochemicals, and windmill construction.

"Our parts are everywhere," said Riam’s Henk Van de Graaf. “We often don't even know exactly what we're cutting. We get a sketch with the task: do it."

The company recently moved from Dordrecht to Tiel, Netherlands, into a smaller but improved production facility. Its 23 employees cut metals up to 30 cm thick using two plasma cutters and an oxyfuel cutting machine.

An important part of its services is edge preparation for welding. These edges can be made directly on the cutting machine, but then reworking is required before the plates can be welded. Milling produces much better weld edges, and workers have always done this manually with a hand machine that moves along a plate over a rail. However, this labor-intensive process generates a lot of dust and noise, the processing speed is slow, and the quality is not consistent.

Resolution

After seeing the CEVISA model CHP-60G plate edge beveling machine in the Th. Wortelboer B.V. booth at a tradeshow, Van de Graff and Riam Owner/Director Siem van den Berg decided to rent the machine to test it on the company’s edge preparation jobs and soon decided to purchase one.

The machine has been in operation at Riam for about two years, producing straight, mirror-smooth welding edges. Processed plates are ready for welding immediately, with no rework required.

The edge beveler mills with carbide inserts that have two cutting edges. Seven inserts are put into a milling head with a diameter of 80 mm, and the machine mills a bevel onto a plate or part of a plate. It has a variable speed per minute and a separate drive for feeding or transporting the machine along the plate.

The system mills plate thicknesses up to 70 mm, with a maximum bevel length of 60 mm, which requires several runs. It can remove 28 mm in one pass, regardless of the type of material. The angular position is adjustable from 15 to 70 degrees, and the pneumatically adjustable working height is from 750 to 950 mm. The machine also has a spring-loaded chassis, so if the plate sags, the system can adapt.

The beveling machine is a portable device on wheels. Riam placed them on three tables with a total length of 12 m. Rollers are fitted in these tables so that one plate can be rotated for processing on the other side.

“It works ideally,” said Van de Graaf. “You adjust the machine, place it against the plate, and it pulls through it. In the meantime, you can get yourself a cup of coffee.

“We've improved tremendously in terms of speed. With the hand machine on a rail you can reach 180 mm per minute. The CEVISA machine reaches 350 to 400 mm per minute, and with steel we can even reach half a meter per minute. It's also very accurate. It mills much better than a manual machine. An ironworker no longer needs staples."

Van de Graaf also likes that he can get more out of the machine than the manufacturer and supplier promise. "You have to take it seriously and work according to the regulations," he explained. These rules are not complicated. Setting up the edge cutter is simple, and a clear diagram shows the suitable feeds and milling head speeds for different material types and thicknesses. Setting the degrees and determining the zero point also are simplified. “It has wonderful thermal protection," said Van de Graaf. "This way you can exceed the limits and get the most out of the machine without risk of damage."