Each wax pattern is dipped and hung to cure a total of five times to obtain the desired thickness of ceramic. The resulting wax “pattern” is fastened to a continuously moving overhead conveyer to be dipped into a ceramic slurry, while slowly rotating through various arcs to ensure continuity of thickness. The metal die is reused over and over again. Once the wax propeller pattern solidifies, it is removed from the die. There can be a multitude of different shapes and sizes of props going through this process at any given moment. There are numerous dies for three, four or five blades of whatever shape, size, pitch, and diameter is required for production at that moment. The wax is injected into proprietary, composite metal dies. “Aluminum propellers are made through a die-cast process, but because of the much higher melting temperature (approximately 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit) of stainless steel, ceramic investment casting has to be used.” That requires the utilization of wax to produce the propeller patterns. He showed me large barrels containing pellets of a special red wax being fed into a giant heated mixing machine where the pellets were melted and the thick liquid result was piped to the next operation.īauer explained. After being walked through a sophisticated on-screen CAD-CAM propeller program where multiple variables ranging from horsepower, to boat size and weight, to intended use such as fishing, water-skiing, performance boating, or simply family cruising could be input along with propeller variables such as number of blades, shape of blade, pitch, diameter, etc., I came away knowing that “art” had long been discarded.ĭonning a hard hat, safety goggles and special safety shoes, Bauer then took me in tow to, in his words, “Where it all begins.” I’ve been through several foundry-type facilities and Bauer’s “beginning” is not quite what I had in mind. I wanted to sort out in my own head the oft-recited folklore of propeller design being a mixed bag of half art and half science. To order a back issue call (800) 461-9128 or sign in to read entire article.īauer started by taking me upstairs to the design and engineering area, a typical cubicled office environment where I was introduced to several of the staff, some of whom had been with Mercury many years. The plant is running 6-day shifts, 24-hours per day to keep up with dealer demand. “The lower volume CNC Cleaver Racing props are made at another location.” Business must be good. “We’re geared more to higher volume production here,” he added. “All except original Kiekhaefer racing (now Mercury Racing) props,” he clarified. “All Mercury and Quicksilver stainless props are made here,” says Bauer. That brought design, engineering, manufacturing, finishing, and packaging all into the 68,000-sq.-ft factory. Originally Plant #98 was an iron foundry producing MerCruiser and Mercury outboard exhaust manifolds, flywheels, etc., but in the early 1990s, Mercury’s entire stainless steel propeller operation was consolidated in the facility. Bauer is a Mercury veteran of more than 30 years and was my “tour guide” for this episode of “How It’s Made.” Mackie and I were met at Plant #98 (no one is quite sure how all of the various buildings in Mercury’s Fond du Lac operations were originally numbered, but there definitely are not 98 of them) by Plant Manager Darlene Fyvie and by Rick Bauer, Process Manager, for Mercury Propellers. I’m fascinated by the show, so when Mercury Racing’s Marketing Director Rick Mackie invited me to Mercury Racing’s headquarters in Fond du Lac, Wis., to tour the stainless-steel propeller facility, I was tripping over myself to say yes. Have you ever watched that Discovery Channel show, “How It’s Made?” The host takes you through the entire process of making bubble gum, putting the caramel into a chocolate bar, making a plastic garbage bag, or even complex processes like micro-chips or producing steel bars from the iron ore to finished product. I was at Mercury Marine learning what goes into making the most popular propellers in performance boating. Were they making guns, ammunition, martial-arts weapons or something for heavy-duty industrial use? One wrong move and body parts would bubble and disappear from contact with the searing liquid. Three men clad head-to-toe in extreme heat-resistant clothing were pouring red-hot molten stainless-steel into specially made shells. It looked like something out of science-fiction movie.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |