When Sheffield-based Special Quality Alloys chose to bring the sawing of large-diameter nickel-based superalloys in-house, the company turned to Prosaw for advice on processing these extremely tough materials.

The decision to discontinue the use of subcontractors for this purpose was made all the easier since Prosaw had already provided three Danobat bandsaws to Special Quality Alloys. With the first machine installed 12 years ago, all three bandsaws have been used for sawing slightly smaller diameter billets, yet have performed reliably. The fact that these machines have functioned so consistently over such a long period of time has inevitably resulted in the operators becoming comfortable with the Danobat saws.
This time however, billets of up to 800 mm diameter were required to be cut in an automated continuous process, so a Danobat CP800A Auto-bandsaw was specified and duly purchased by the company.
Jonathan Gillet, works manager of Special Quality Alloys explains the thinking behind the decision: “Bringing the processing of the larger diameter billets in-house has meant a good deal less handling for us, resulting in faster turnaround times since we are no longer reliant on transport contractors.
“This has benefited the company in the form of lower costs and brought the whole process entirely under our own control,” he continues. “Even though these products are notoriously difficult to cut, we have complete confidence that when we put a large diameter billet on to the Danobat machine it’s going to be cut.
“From our recent experiences we believe that Danobat machines represent real value for money,” he concludes.
For further information www.prosaw.co.uk