Finn-Power crimpers open new opportunities

Garrett Mine Supply recently changed its name to Garrett Industrial Supply. The company had decided the change was needed to reflect its product line and services to industries other than mining. “We started out with just mining products; today we serve paper manufacturing, timber industry, drilling industry, and repair shops with hose being a fairly large commodity,” said Jeremy Whitacre, Director of Operations.

Garrett’s corporate headquarters is located in Oakland, MD, but the company has three stores and a number of welding & repair shops. When the Morgantown Garrett location needed to replace an older model crimper it chose the Finn-Power FP120 crimper for the job.

FP120

The Finn-Power FP120 from Lillbacka is a high-speed, high production model crimper with a crimping force of up to 280 tons. It can adjust and crimp to exact dimensions and can do so in .01 mm increments. The FP120 is designed with soft and even die movement, using a twin-pump hydraulic system which eliminates pressure shock during crimping. The FP120 crimping machine is designed to handle large jobs with speed and efficiency. These models are full-scale production units. What distinguishes them are their larger die opening, strength, and speed. These production units can also accommodate small and larger assemblies. The large pass-through head design makes them ideal for crimping elbow assemblies, flange pieces, and oddly-shaped parts.

In addition, the FP120 also has a versatile control system, flexible change over from serial to single-piece production and is operated by push button, pedal (optional), back stop device, or using semi-automatic function.

“We purchased the FP120 specifically for hydraulic hose,” said Whitacre. “At that time we didn’t stock any of the other industrial hoses, and we only serviced the mining industry and MRO operations. That was what the crimper was designed. When we are crimping hydraulic hose, we only have .006” in tolerance to crimp the diameter to.”

Efficient production

“One of the best features of the FP120 for production crimping is the switch in the backstop that will automatically crimp the hoses,” continues Whitacre. “You just adjust the cycle. If you need to move metal ½-in., there is no need to let the machine fully cycle between each crimp. You can set the cycle parameters so when you crimp it with the switch in the backstop, you are minimizing the travel times for the dies. So you are making the process faster.” But the FP120 also had other uses for Garrett.
Since 2011, there has been a dramatic decline in the coal mining market. “As the coal mining business declined, we entered the oil & gas industry and soon realized that our crimping capabilities were not what they needed to be to service that industry. Our machines weren’t big enough.”

In late 2011, Garrett purchased a larger FP175 crimper that the company uses on all its industrial hose from 2 to 12-in.

The FP175 is used when the operation requires crimping of very large hoses or reduction of big pipes. It can be also be used for connecting parts requiring extremely high forces.

The FP175 has a crimping range of up to 320 mm, a variety of larger die sets available, horizontal construction available upon request and an included foot pedal.

“Each crimp is the same. When it crimps to a certain tolerance, it’s always spot on. It is critical that these hoses are crimped correctly. A failure could be catastrophic not only in injury but also environmental cleanup,” said Whitacre.

New capabilities…New Opportunities
Whitacre also explained that the FP175 gave them new capabilities. “When coal started declining in 2011, we were still learning the oil & gas market. Today, there are a many other industries that we can now service, such as construction companies.”

Lillbacka
www.lillbackausa.com