cut a lot of roller chain

========== see

[3/4 way down page] a bunch more

for the clips you might try contacting the mfgrs direct. see

Unka' George (George McDuffee) .............................. Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be "too clever by half." The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.

John Major (b. 1943), British Conservative politician, prime minister. Quoted in: Observer (London, 7 July 1991).

Back in the day when I rode a bike, I used to carry a few links and a little tool called a chain-breaker for emergency repairs. The chain-breaker was a screw-powered tool for popping a pin out of a roller chain, fast and easy. Can't say I'd care to do it 320 times, though.

If you google "chain-breaker" and tool (to eliminate a lot of noise), there are over 43K hits. Oughta find something there to suit you.

Tove

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message news:dpt7h.308$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...

I'd make a die and set it up on a punch press. You probably don't have one so, how about making a lever powered die to punch out the pins. Should be easy to locate acuratly. Whatcha' makin?

>

Hand operated chain breakers work well, but they're slow, in terms of what you are doing. I would look for a way to drive one in forward and reverse with a pistol drill. Better yet, try to set it up so you can drive it with a drill press, and then also use the press to drive out the pins.

You don't need to grind off the ends of the pins. An arbor press with a fixure to locate the link and a hardened pin mounted on the ram should make quick work of pressing the pins out.

Or ask your PT distributor to quote the pieces. I know it's not too awfully expensive to get attachment chain with unusual spacings made up. What you're looking for is much simpler.

Ned Simmons

My FMC apple packing line uses rubber cups attached to roller chain in the feed section. FMC sold the product line to Agritech. Agritech went out of business. I'm having a mold built for the cups and thought I'd start on the chain. A complete rebuild should get another 30 years out of this machine. New weight sizers go for about 90K, makes doing a little special fabrication repair look like a good option.

FMC made a mistake by building too good a machine. They never wear out. (Well, the rubber got brittle after only 30 years) Seldom need parts. After they had sold to everybody the first time, there was no more demand.

Thanks everybody for the tips. Not sure which I'll go with yet.

Karl

Yes, I should have mentioned that I knew about chain breakers and they are way too slow. Now, automating it somehow has possibilities.

Karl

"Karl Townsend" wrote in news:dpt7h.308$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Karl, Give a shout out to Koz. He can probably fix you up with the 320 pieces 3" long without you having to do anything but send the PO. He can help you with any other chain/conveyor needs too.

Just order your chain allready cut from a bearing supply house... And yes they sell only the clips...

On Sat, 18 Nov 2006 04:57:41 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Karl Townsend" quickly quoth:

Not too slow for kids who need money for new bikes/motorcycles/dates. Get a couple or five and make a minimum-wage crew to get it all done in record time.

Will you be going with silicone rubber for the new cups?

So FMC has the Maytag reputation for apple slingin', eh?

------------------------------------------- Crapsman tools are their own punishment

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At this point, we'll use a bucket of rubber resin that "the Kid" found. Looks close but a little softer. I've really struck out finding a rubber materials expert. Both silicone and urethane don't look to be optimum for a material that must flex into a "U" millions of times. I figure my cups have flexed 1.8 million times.

Even better, haven't seen too many 30 year old Maytags with 15,000 hours on them.

Karl

have you tried any of the specialty urethane molders ? thomas.net has many listed that specialize in short run customs

call enough of them and you might find your oem that supplied fmc

--Howzabout dismantling the chain breaker and building a fixture from them so you can use an arbor press to do the pushing, instead of turning the screw forever?

Use an air impact wrench to turn the screw. Fab up some sort of adapter, lube the threads with high pressure grease, pull the trigger and pop out the pin.

Yup..do it all the time in bulk. The right method is with a die block and a press. Someone here suggested something implying using a vice as a press...you could probably scab something together to use the vice that way. An old sprocket segment can be used to support the chain properly while the pins are pressed. Assuming that like most seasonal packers, you've got a ton of time to kill for the winter, it would probably be your best option to save a buck or two.

Go to your local chain supplier and they should be able to get yout the clips in bulk. # 40 is way too small for most of what we do so all I've got here is larger or I'd just give you extras (we throw them out for our stuff..eventually one falls out into the food and that CAN'T happen) Shop around a little...all the chain suppliers make a TON of money on connector links and parts for some reason. OR..just tig weld a small washer on the pin end if it won't need disassembly for another 20 years. It's fast and reliable assuming you keep the heat down so as not to anneal the pins

One final note...DON'T CHEAP OUT ON THE CHAIN !!!!!!!!! (And a few more "!"s) Saving a nickel by using a chain from Taiwan or China will likely cost you more in the long run. Go Japanese or (if you are a rich man) USA made. If you already bought one of the lesser brands, save it for an art project and get the better stuff. A seasonal failure causing downtime is FAR more costly than the extra few bucks for a better chain.

Koz