Welding Spotlight

Plastic Polymer Sheets
King Plastic’s polymer sheets work like wood and last a lifetime. The polymer sheets are easy to fab-ricate using common working tools and techniques.

A plastic welding technique called hot gas (air) welding uses a heat gun, known as a hot air welder, and creates hot air to melt the two pieces of polymer together with a plastic filler rod.

The polymer sheet can be bent and thermoformed using a heat gun and bending bar. To learn more visit www.kingplastic.com/videos.

King Plastic is the leading manufacturer of quality polymer sheets, slabs and massive shapes. Its polymers are sold worldwide through a network of top plastics dis¬tributors to customers who fabricate products for the marine industry (King StarBoard® brand), signage, food service, healthcare, architec¬tural, industrial and other markets.

For more information, contact Michael Fabbri, King Plastic Corporation, 1100 N. Toledo Blade Blvd., North Port, FL 34288, 941-493-5502, Fax: 941-497-3274, E-mail: sales@kingplastic.com, Web: www.kingplastic.com.

Powerful Hand Extruder
The WELDPLAST 600 is the most powerful hand extruder from Leister and is characterized by its high output of 13 pounds per hour. Its double-sided rod intake gives the powerful Leister hand extruder more flexibility when welding large objects made of polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP). The WELDPLAST 600 is suitable for welding plastic tanks, electroplating tanks, water reservoirs, fish breeding tanks, scrubbing systems, pipelines, etc.

In addition to the brushless blower motor, the WELDPLAST 600 has a brushless drive motor. This gives the hand extruder a lot of power and a long, low-maintenance service life. The increasing quality requirements for tanks and containers were also considered when developing this extruder. That is why the unit is equipped with the proven Leister Quality System (LQS). Via the myLeister app, the welding parameters can be clearly documented in a log while welding. This is an advantage for users, as it allows them to showcase the quality of the work they have carried out.

For more information, contact Ken Huber, Leister Technologies, LLC, 1275 Hamilton Pkwy., Itasca, IL 60143, 855-534-7837, Fax: 630-760-1001, E-mail: ken.huber@leister.com, Web: www.leister.com.

Pallet Welding Machines
WEGENER Welding, LLC is well known for their range of high-quality sheet butt welding and bending machines. But did you know Wegener also offers Pallet Welding Machines? The SML xx08 series has a proven track record in the world of custom pallets.

Wegener contact heating elements are made from high thermal, low-tension steel which makes warping impossible. A heating element height of up to 13” is common for a wide range of pallet heights and thicknesses. With the slim design, electronic regulation control is significantly more sensitive, thus heat output can be regulated more quickly. The element drive has multiple linear guides and is reinforced with a heavy-duty pneumatic drive.

Welding forces are applied using the Wegener patented table synchronization. The machine tables are constructed in a composited design which achieves a high level of bending stiffness. The combination of symmetrical construction and heavy-duty guides result in a well-balanced load characteristic, which ensures long term welding quality.

The machine is equipped with a modern S7-1500 color 12” touchscreen. The controller allows entering and storing of product specific parameter sets for easy recall. Multiple methods of data tracking are available for quality control purposes such as printout or USB download.

For doubling up on capacity, the machine can be equipped with individual clamping areas that are engaged via foot pedals.

Wegener Welding proudly offers a complete range of plastic welding equipment and services including hot gas hand welders, extrusion welders, sheet butt welders, bending machines, pipe butt, socket, and electrofusion machines, as well as AC & DC spark testers. With training programs and an in-house technical support and service team in our Chicagoland facility, you can feel confident that one call to Wegener Welding will resolve all your plastic welding equipment needs.

For more information, contact Leah Dockter, Wegener Welding LLC, 16W301 S. Frontage Rd, Burr Ridge, IL 60527, 630-789-0990, Fax 630-789-1380, E-mail: info@wegenerwelding.com, Web: www.wegenerwelding.com.

Welding & Fabrication Equipment
Laramy Products LLC has been manufacturing and supplying thermoplastic welding and forming equipment to the plastics industry for over 50 years. Their complete line of welders ensures a model to fit your needs and your budget - whether it be a shop unit, field application, or for nitrogen required welds. A wide variety of welding tips and a wide range of heat elements is available to complete your welding equipment.

Their bending bars and optional sword attachment provide an inexpensive tool for heating thermoplastic sheets to form bends. The units are available in two sizes to heat 4-foot and 8-foot sheets. The entire unit consists of two heating bars, two base supports and a stepless heat controller. The unique “Laramy Sword” is an optional attachment to the bending bars allowing a sharp, non-radius bend to be made on polypropylene and polyethylene. The result is a sharp attractive bend with a reinforced inner joint. Contact Laramy for a sample bend of your material.

For more information, contact, Sherry Stahler, Laramy Products LLC, P.O. Box 1168 Lyndonville, VT 05851, 802-626-9328, Fax: 802-626-5529, E-mail: laramy@together.net, Web: www.laramyplasticwelders.com.

Ergonomical Welders
When it comes to thermoplastic fabrication, it is essential that the welder used is not only high quality and economical, but is also user and ergonomically friendly. This is why Seelye, Inc. has been one of the lead¬ers in the thermoplastic welder industry for more than 60 years.

Seelye, Inc. manufactures two distinct plastic welder series. Both series of welders are capable of welding most thermoplastics. The Model 63 series (SI-1005, SI-1002, and SI-1167) have been a staple in the plastic industry since its creation in the 1950s. All three are excellent options for first time users, home use and small repair/production jobs. The 2001FC series are Seelye’s industrial production welders. This series is an excellent choice when welding high-temperature thermoplastics such as UHMW and PVDF. The SI-2001FC welder kit gives the user infinite heat control settings with its control board with rheostat, and adjustable air flow. The SI- 2001FCP is the portable version of the SI-2001FC welder kit.

All of Seelye’s welders have a lean (1.275” dia) and light (less than 1 lb) handle that fits easily into the user’s hand. This design allows users to weld full-time without the normal fatigue that can result from long-term use. A leaner and lighter handle means fewer injuries and burnout, a more efficient fabrication shop, and better-quality welds.

Seelye’s welders are all fitted with a 12’10” neoprene hose which allows the user to have more freedom to move while fabricating. Seelye’s SI-1005 and SI-1002 welders have an additional unencumbered 7’ of electrical cord, giving the user almost 20’ of range. By allowing more movement, users are not forced to work in tight spaces than their project requires.

Each welder comes with a standard 500-watt 120-volt heating element capable of welding the most popular thermoplastics; such as, PP, PE, PVC, ABS, etc. 400-watt or 650-watt heating elements are also available upon request.

For more information, contact Seelye, Inc., 946 Century Lane, Apopka, FL 32703, 407-656-6677, E-mail: customerservice@seelyeinc-orl.com, Web: www.seelyeinc-orl.com.

Plastic Welders & Fabrication Training
For the past twenty-five years Larry Rowold has been teaching plastic welding in classroom as well as on-site in North America, and on several other continents. His primary personnel include Sheila Carpenter, responsible for their website and responding to inquiries, and Chip Klinck. Klinck has been working in the plastic fabrication industry since the early 60’s and is a good source of knowledge; not only on equipment, but also on how to fabricate various tough components. He is also a manufacturer's representative involved in the selling of plastic welding equipment and plastic welding rod. He has strong associations with leading equipment manufactures.

Rowold performs the equipment repairs, and teaches the plastic welding/fabrication classes. He has taught companies how to get started doing hot gas and extrusion welding as well as retrained other companies to make their plastic welding operations more efficient and improve quality. Most of this training occurs at either a companies’ facility or on their jobsite.

The curriculum has been updated with the new American Welding Society (AWS) guidelines. Their training will conclude with a written examination and a practical bend test. Rowold offers the line of HSK Welders including the HSK 10 DE Compact. It is an extrusion welder for PE, PP and PVC. It features a temperature probe, located in the melt chamber; rod feeding with no additional gearing; control units for actual/desired mass temperature; cold start protection and accepts rod diameters of 3mm (1/8") and 4mm (5/32"). In addition, he stocks the larger HSK 18, HSK 28, HSK 40, a best seller, and the HSK 60. The numeral represents the output in kg/hr. Each of these units have independent digital temperature controllers for the pre-heat and extrudate. See their new line of HSK equipment on their website.

For more information, contact Larry Rowold, 1010 Vermont Ave., The Villages, FL 32159, 630-319-3480, E-mail: larowold@gmail.com, or Chip Klinck, 603-848-7153, E-mail: cklinck@comcast.net, Web: www.plasticweldingtraining .com.

McElroy Adds to Lineup
Building off the strong legacy of McElroy’s three existing TracStar® iSeries machines, McElroy is announced the addition of the TracStar 412i (shown) and TracStar 618i, expected to begin shipping in June 2024.

Like their current Series 2 counterparts, the TracStar 412i is designed to fuse pipe sizes from 4” IPS to 12” DIPS (110mm to 340mm), and the TracStar 618i fuses pipe from 6” IPS to 18” OD (180mm to 450mm).

These new machines include a few key differences from their Series 2 counterparts. The TracStar 412iand 618i will incorporate the FusionGuide™ Control system seen on other TracStar iSeries models, providing operators with three levels of control during the fusion process. Each level has varying degrees of assistance, from manual control to fully automatic fusion.

A new indexer keeps the heater and facer attached to the four-jaw carriage, condensing the heater, facer, and jaws into a single unit. Operators will be able to move the indexer side to side along a set of rails, allowing them to position the heater and facer between the carriage’s movable jaws as needed. The indexer also includes a built-in stripping and release mechanism. Once the heat soak phase of the fusion process has been completed and the operator opens the carriage, the mechanism will automatically strip the heater from the ends of the pipe. As the carriage continues to move, the indexer will then retract the heater out of the fusion zone.

Like the larger machines, the Tractor 412 i and 618i will be controlled via the DataLogger®, McElroy’s ruggedized tablet that records fusion parameters and other pertinent data during the fusion process. After the operator prepares the pipe and enters all joint details, the enhanced guided workflow manages machine pressures, carriage, shift sequence, and more to ensure standards compliance and a successful fusion.

For more information, contact McElroy Manufacturing, Inc., P.O. Box 580550, Tulsa, OK 74158, 918-831-9236, E-mail: customercare@mcelroy.com, Web: www.mcelroy.com.