Rotational Moulding: The Process & Advantages
Rotational moulding, also known as rotomoulding, is a plastics moulding technology which is ideal for making hollow articles. It is a casting technic but unlike most other plastics processes there is no pressure involved. Moulds for the process are relatively inexpensive as they do not have to withstand pressure and therefore relatively short production runs can be made very economically.
Rotomoulding is used to make a very diverse range of products. The process offers the product designer exceptional freedom as just about any shape can be produced. There is almost no limit to the size of mouldings and there are literally thousands of applications.
The Process
The concept of rotational moulding is very simple. A plastic material, normally in powder form is placed into a hollow mould, usually made from cast aluminium or fabricated from sheet steel. The mould is closed and rotated slowly on two axis. The mould is then heated in an oven whilst rotating and the polymer gradually melts and ‘lays-up’ on the inside of the mould. Once the polymer powder has fully melted the mould is moved to a cooling station and cooled usually with air and sometimes a fine mist of water. As the mould cools the part solidifies. When the material has finally cooled sufficiently to release away from the mould surface the process is stopped and the product is taken out of the mould (de-moulded).
Whilst the concept of rotational moulding is extremely simple anyone who has ever been involved in the process will tell you that it is in fact extremely complicated. It is a casting process and there is normally no pressure involved which means that the material cannot be controlled in the same way as high pressure processes such as injection moulding. There are many variables that can affect production and the end product such as ambient temperature and humidity, type of mould, material specification and powder quality.
Materials
Today the industry is heavily dependent on Polyethylene (PE) and 97% of rotomoulded products are made from this material. Polyethylene is a versatile, easily mouldable and readily available polymer which has come to dominate the process. Rotomoulding is a casting technique in which powder is nearly always used rather than granules, meaning the material must be ground. Polyethylene is relatively easy to grind at ambient temperatures.
The development of other polymers has been hindered by the fact that the process is relatively long and therefore aggressive on polymers, however there is some usage of PVC (usually in liquid plastisol form), Polypropylene and Polyamide (PA6, PA11 & PA12). Many of these non-Polyethylene materials are difficult to grind and most need to be made into powder using cryogenic grinding – that is freeze grinding, which is a more costly process. There is a welcome increase in R&D to expand the range of materials available to the industry.
Uses And Advantages Of High-Quality Plastic Pulverizer Machine
When deliberating on high-quality pulverizer machines, take a look at the plastic pulverizer machine.
The plastic pulverizer is a piece of magnificent equipment used in crushing plastic into small and tiny sizes.
Former plastic pulverizers are highly difficult and complex and the results it produced are inaccurate sometimes.
To solve this problem customized powder pulverizer machines are introduced, and they generate colorful masterbatch.
All thanks to the manufacturer of the high-quality pulverizer. With this machine, you have the chance to achieve standard quality and colorful powder used in the manufacturing and compounding of masterbatch.
Also, the plastic pulverizer machines give the perfect and equal size of particles which ensures an adequate blending and mixing of additives.
Furthermore, plastic compounds such as Polycarbonate (PC), Polyamide (PA), and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are processed in an ambient heat through this processor.
Once this is ongoing, the downstream fan will transfer the end product into a cyclone from the disc mill.
One notable thing is that this whole process is totally mechanical but the control cabinet will maintain and regulate all the activities.
However, for advanced and latest high-quality pulverizer to smash your plastic materials, buy PVC pulverizer from a reliable manufacturer.
Obviously, this is the most recommended option for your best processing services.
Materials That Can Be Ground Using Plastic Pulverizer Machine
PVC pulverizer machine can be used to grind many items such as buckets, bottles, pipes, and jugs.
After grinding, these materials are converted into granules which are afterward ready to be remolded into different other products.
A plastic granulator is normally large which allows it to grind much plastic at once.
More so, you can also buy PVC pulverizer which is smaller in size for home use.
High quality plastic pulverizer machine can be used to grind thermoplastic materials such as Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVA).
Other materials include Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polyester, cross-link, ABS, High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and Nylon.
When you buy PVC pulverizer, you can also use it to pulverize film waste, sheets, and tubes of soft and hard, impact, and brittle resistant materials.
High-quality pulverizer is easy to clean and maintain and has an economic option. It doesn't consume power and it has a robust design. In fact, time and effort are saved by its ease of operation.
Why You Should Go for an Air Cooler Over an Air Conditioner?
In the ongoing debate of air conditioners vs air coolers, we list down few important pointers that will offer a clear idea of why you should opt for an air cooler.
But first things first, should you buy an air cooler?
A cooler can be used by everyone, especially people living around hot and dry weather. One can choose from a dessert cooler, a window cooler or even a personal cooler, depending on the requirements.
Read on to know more about why to choose an air cooler over an air conditioner.
Have you ever wondered about how an AC or an air cooler functions and how does it affect the quality of air in your home?
An air conditioner circulates the internal air of the room over and over again, whereas an air cooler pulls fresh air from outside and then cools it down. Also, air cooler doesn’t make the air overly dry like an air conditioner. Because of the way it operates, an air cooler offers better quality of air for your room. So much so, that the air circulated from an air cooler is preferable for people with asthma or dust allergy.
Economical Alternative
When it comes to value for money, an air cooler definitely scores high over an AC. Even though both end up cooling the room, an AC can cost anything ranging from ₹30,000 to ₹60,000, whereas a cooler will be available from ₹5000 to ₹15,000. Also, apart from the initial cost of purchasing, even the operating cost of an air cooler is less than an AC. You can approximately expect 80% less electricity bill from a cooler as compared to an AC, making it economical in the long run.
Going green is something that concerns all of us, and air coolers trumps the card here as well. Air conditioners use CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) and HFC (hydro-chlorofluorocarbons) as their refrigerant, which is quite harmful to the environment. On the other hand, air coolers are eco-friendlier, since they use water as the refrigerant.
Industrial Cooling Fans: Overview, Benefits, and Applications
It is quite common to see various types of fans in industrial facilities. They are used to regularize the airflow to various structures or parts of the building. There are several types of industrial fans, which are categorized based on their designs, applications, and so on. Industrial cooling fans and industrial cooling blowers are two types of industrial fans used across the industrial facility for cooling purposes. Do you want to know how these fans differ from other types?
This post gives an overview of industrial cooling fan, their beneficiary features, and industrial applications.
What are Industrial Cooling Fans?
Industrial fans are the mechanical devices that create fluid flow for industrial purposes. The industrial fans often considered as fluid displacers since the air or gas is displaced from one point to another due to the rotational motion of blades. The primary purpose of the industrial cooling fans is to blow cold air and drive hot air out of the environment. Therefore these industrial fans are also called industrial cooling blowers. However, cold air intake or hot air exhaust depends on the design and construction of the specific fan. Unlike other industrial fans, the cooling fans have large diameters, which help them produce large volumes of air and low pressures, as required in several environments. Regardless of the fan design, the fundamental components of industrial fan remain the same. They are discussed in detail in the next section.
Fundamental Components of an Industrial Cooling Fan Assembly
Industrial cooling fans comprise a motor, a rotor shaft, and the blades or impellers. These are the fundamental components of the assembly. Check out on the function of these fundamental components and other important features in a fan assembly.
Motor:
An electrical motor is the primary input source in an industrial cooling fan assembly. The motor can be AC or DC as per the design and performance requirements. The motor transfers’ electric power to the hub of the rotor shaft as the energy input.
Rotor Shaft:
The rotor shaft is connected to an electric motor with an intermediate hub. The hub transfers electrical energy to the rotor shaft. The shaft rotates on receiving this electrical energy. This all suggests the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical to get the desired output.
Impellers/Blades:
The blades or impellers are the components that cut through the surrounding air to form a fluid drag. The blades are mounted on the rotary shaft at a specific distance. The blades rotate to push or exhaust air drag. These blades can be designed in multiple shapes according to aerodynamic standards.
Fan Casing:
The fan casing is a metal casing that houses the whole assembly. The main purpose of fan casing is to protect the assembly from dust, external damage, as well as the environmental impact such as corrosion, moisture, dust, etc.
Fan Mountings:
The mountings are bearing on which the fans are fixed on. The industrial cooling fan assembly can be mounted by using a ball or sleeve bearings. The bearings are the foundation of the fan assembly therefore, the quality and function are very important.
These components of the industrial fan assembly remain constant irrespective of the types of industrial cooling fans.

Wpc Vs. Spc: What You Need To Know About Water-Resistant Vinyl Plank Flooring
What Is Rigid Core Flooring?
Rigid core flooring is the innovative vinyl flooring for today's demanding consumers. Available in both plank and tile shapes, it's a luxury material that can stand up to a lot of abuse, including water.
To understand rigid core, you have to move beyond the vinyl flooring you're familiar with. Standard vinyl flooring is a fairly thin, flexible material that is glued down to the sub floor. Rigid core is stiffer, thicker and sturdier, which gives it some unique advantages. One of its most-hyped pluses is its ability to handle water, but that's not the only check in the “pro” column. It can also handle sub floor imperfections, offer excellent sound insulation and superior comfort underfoot.
Here's where we get to the technical jargon: The assorted positives of vinyl plank flooring (or vinyl tile) depend on whether you go with a WPC or SPC construction.
How WPC and SPC Come into Play
Like engineered hardwood, luxury vinyl plank flooring is constructed from layers of material—typically four, though that can vary between manufacturers. Let's look at the different layers, starting with the surface:
Layer #1 is the wear layer. It's clear, durable and scratch-resistant.
Layer #2 is the vinyl layer, composed of multiple, compressed layers of vinyl. This layer facilitates the authentic embossing technology applied to the printed decorative film that lies between the wear layer and this vinyl layer.
Layer #3 is the rigid core layer. It's made from either wood plastic composite (WPC) or stone plastic composite, also referred to as a solid polymer core (SPC).
Layer #4 is the base layer. This is the bottom of your plank or tile, and it's usually made from foam or cork.
Many WPC and SPC options also feature an attached pad (underlayment) that provides sound absorption and allows for under floor heating systems.
What Is WPC?
Wood plastic composite flooring, or WPC flooring, is a vinyl plank or vinyl tile flooring with a rigid core that's made from either recycled wood pulp and plastic or polymer composites that are expanded with air. It's sometimes called “wood polymer composite flooring.” It is a light weight, low density construction that is warm and soft underfoot with greater comfort.
What Is SPC?
Stone plastic composite, solid polymer core, or SPC flooring, is a vinyl flooring material that has a rigid core made from powdered limestone, polyvinyl chloride and stabilizers. Sometimes, you might see it referred to as “stone polymer composite flooring.” It is dense, dimensionally stable, quiet and strong. Pure from Beauflor are great options in this category and both include an attached pad.
SPC and WPC – Key Differences to Know
Similar to dryback luxury vinyl flooring (which is the traditional type of luxury vinyl that requires an adhesive to install), SPC and WPC flooring are comprised of multiple layers of backing that are fused together. However, unlike dryback flooring, both flooring options feature a rigid core and are a harder product all around.
Because SPC’s core layer is comprised of limestone, it has a higher density in comparison to WPC, though is thinner overall. This makes it more durable compared to WPC. Its high density offers better resistance from scratches or dents from heavy items or furniture being placed on top of it and makes it less susceptible to expansion in cases of extreme temperature change.
One important thing to note is that although SPC and WPC are often marketed as being waterproof, they are actually water resistant. Though neither product is entirely waterproof if submerged underwater, topical spills or moisture should not be an issue if properly cleaned in a reasonable amount of time.
Applications
Rigid core products including WPC and SPC were originally created for commercial markets because of their durability. However, homeowners have started using rigid core as well because of its ease of installation, design options and durability. It is important to note that some SPC and WPC products vary from commercial to light commercial use, so it is best to always consult your manufacturer to know which warranty applies.
Another highlight for both SPC and WPC, aside from their easy-to-install click locking system, is that they do not require extensive subfloor prep prior to installation. Though installing over a flat surface is always a good practice to be in, floor imperfections like cracks or divots are more easily hidden with SPC or WPC flooring due to their rigid core composition.
And, when it comes to comfort, WPC is generally more comfortable underfoot and less dense than SPC due to the foaming agent it is typically comprised of. Because of this, WPC is especially well suited for environments where employees or patrons are constantly on their feet.
In addition to offering more cushion when walking, the foaming agent in WPC provides more sound absorption than SPC flooring does, although many manufacturers offer an acoustic backing that can be added to SPC. WPC or SPC with acoustic backing are ideal for settings where noise reduction is key such as classrooms or office spaces.
What's the Difference Between Lvt Vs. Lvp?
LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) and LVP (Luxury Vinyl Plank) are two different types of luxury vinyl flooring. LVT is vinyl flooring designed in a tile shape, whereas LVP is vinyl flooring designed in planks to resemble traditional hardwood floor planks.
Here are some more details on these two wonderful luxury vinyl flooring choices…
What's Luxury Vinyl?
Luxury vinyl is a specific type of vinyl flooring. Old-school vinyl flooring used to be offered in sheet form only, and therefore wasn't able to mimic the realistic natural materials that luxury vinyl floors now can. Modern LVT and LVP floors are now offered in countless patterns and colors, and designed so that they appear to look almost exactly like natural materials such as wood, stone, and tile. Some LVT and LVP flooring options are even textured to appear like these materials as well. Many LVT and LVP floors even have seams for grout, and the planks can come in narrow or wide styles, as can the tiles.
Are LVT and LVP floors waterproof?
Yes! Both LVT and LVP floors constructed from layers of plastic, so they're waterproof, making them an ideal flooring choice for any room in your house, especially kitchens, bathrooms, and basements. LVT and LVP floors are designed to withstand moisture, heavy foot traffic, and plenty of scratches and spills.
What's VCT flooring then?
VCT stands for Vinyl Composite or Vinyl Composition Tile flooring. Though VCT floors are also made with some vinyl in them, unlike LVT floors, they contain less plastic and more natural materials such as limestone. Because of this, VCT floors are more porous than LVT floors, and thus they are not as waterproof and require more maintenance.
What about Engineered Vinyl flooring?
Engineered Vinyl flooring, or Engineered Vinyl Plank (EVP), is a subset of LVPs. EVPs are simply even more durable than many LVP options, as they're built with the strongest high-density fiberboard core, and have a rigid stone-based core. EVPs are often considered the luxury vinyl planks on the market that most closely resemble real hardwood floors, but personal preference will often determine this for you!
What Is The Most Durable Garage Floor Covering?
Whether you use your garage as a car parking area, laundry area, or home gym, you want a floor that sustains your uses. A durable garage floor is an asset because it saves costs on floor repairs. It also gives you the freedom to maximize garage usage. A floor that sustains high traffic, resists damage and offers easy cleaning is crucial. While most garage floor finishes are durable, not all may match your needs. With this list of garage floor coverings, you can find the perfect floor finish. The right floor covering transforms your boring garage into a modern, inviting space.
Epoxy is one of the most durable garage coatings. You can lay it on your concrete subfloor to liven up your garage. It provides unique colorful hues, metallic and natural stone finishes. Once dry, the epoxy forms a hardened and thick coating. This layer protects your floors from scratches, dents, chemical spills and cracks. No matter what you drop on your garage floor, the epoxy will resist damage.
The installation process may take 3-5 days or longer, depending on the floor size. You need to find alternative parking, but it's worth the wait. A professionally installed epoxy floor serves you for 5-10 years. However, it may last longer, depending on usage. For instance, commercial garage flooring wears faster than a private garage at home.
An epoxy floor expert prepares your floor before applying at least three coats. The preparation and layers provide the best durability. The primer is the first layer, followed by the base coat and, finally, the topcoat. As you can imagine, the finished coat is thick and hard enough to resist impact and chemicals. The base coat lets you play around with colors and designs. Lastly, the final coat gives you a smooth glossy finish.
Epoxy is also great for commercial garage flooring because it resists wear. You can park cars and walk over the years. With a non-slip additive, the floors resist slipping to prevent injuries. The thick coating also seals cracks and imperfections. You can enjoy a durable and smooth floor finish
Purpose of Skirting
Skirting in some projects is an aspect of beautification and for some, it’s a method to hide the unwanted features in the interior walls. These skirting boards were known as mop boards as they protect the wall from water when the floor was mopped. Different purposes for which skirting are installed are mentioned below:

1. Hide exposed electrical wiring: Skirting can be used to cover up the exposed electrical wires and connection that cannot be removed. Hiding these wiring under the skirting board is found more economical and practical compared to hiding under the ceiling board.
   
   
2. Cover the gap between the walls and floors: Some construction flops may result in unwanted gaps between the wall and the floor. Redoing such works is time-consuming and costly. One alternative is to install skirting so that the poor work is covered and cleared economically.
   
   
3. Avoids marks from furniture: The skirting board installed has a projection that always keeps a gap between the nearby furniture and the interior wall. This way rubbing and scratching from the furniture are avoided letting the wall free of scratches.
   
   
4. Improve Interior: A matched and good colored skirting gives the room a finished and cleaner look. Skirting throws a professional touch to the room it is installed.
   
   

Linear Bearings: What You Need to Know
Linear bearings are rolling-element and fluid-film devices that reduce friction in motion systems where the motion acts along a straight — or sometimes curved — pathway. They are distinguished from radial bearings in which motion is rotary. Linear bearings are used in machine tool applications such as sliding doors, 3D printers, and automation settings where reducing friction and guiding linear motion is needed. They can be loosely grouped as ball and roller types that use the rolling motion of rolling elements and sliding types that rely on lubricant and low-friction surfaces. This article will discuss the distinct forms that linear bearings take and highlight some general applications.
SLIDE-TYPE BEARINGS
Sometimes called linear bushings, linear bearings are manufactured in sintered aluminum bronze, metal/polymer composites, carbon insert styles, polymer-lined sleeves, etc. and rely on a lubricating film to form between the bearing and the shaft while the two are in relative motion. Powdered-metal bronze bushings have been used for many years as die-post bushings. Their porous constructions, often with carbon plug inserts, are vacuum impregnated with oil that flows to and from the bearing under the frictional heat developed as the shaft moves and stops, providing a film of oil between the bearing and the shaft.
Polymer, self-lubricating linear bushings have captured some of the market that had been dominated by sintered metal bushings. The polymer itself — typically PTFE — provides slipperiness for the running shaft. These are popular in food packaging for their ability to run without lubricants and their ability to withstand washdown chemicals. They can run on unhardened shafts having high corrosion resistance. Because polymers are subject to cold flow at high loads and do not dissipate heat well, polymer is often bonded in thin sections to metal backers in the construction of these bearings.
Linear bushings can be crowned slightly to permit some angular adjustment of the bushing relative to the housing to adapt to shaft deflection. In more extreme cases, the bushing is supported in the housing by O-rings. Linear bushings are available as naked units or housed in pillow blocks and flanged units.
Bushings can be arranged as tandem installations in common housings to provide higher axial spread for the bearing surfaces. They are available as open and closed varieties, with the selection depending on how the shaft is supported. Shafts supported continuously over their lengths require open bushings that can clear the rod rails. Shafts supported on their ends can use closed bushings. Linear bushings are tolerant of dirt as a result of having no moving elements.
What Is a Rod End Bearing?
A rod end bearing is a common type of mechanical joint used on the ends of control rods. The steering columns in most cars, trucks and other vehicles, for example, feature tie rods with a rod end bearing. Of course, tie rods are designed to connect a vehicle’s steering rack to its steering knuckle. As a result, tie rods must be able to rotate according to the direction in which the wheel is turned. Rod end bearings allow tie rods to perform this rotation in a precise and controlled manner. To learn more about rod end bearings and how they work, keep reading. If you’re looking to purchase Rod Ends, Monroe has you covered.
Rod End Bearings Explained
Also known as a heim joint in the United States or a rose joint in the United Kingdom, a rod end bearing is a mechanical joint that features a rounded ball-like swiveling tip. They were invented in Germany during the 1930s to 40s for use in aircraft control systems. This promoted a company called H.G. Heim Company to patent and produce its own rod end bearings in North America, which is why the mechanical joint now has the moniker “heim joint.”
H.G. Heim Company has since closed its doors for business, but rod end bearings are still produced and used throughout the world. Automotive tie rods are just way in which rod end bearings are used. They are used in countless other applications in which an articulating joint is needed, including aircraft control systems, steering links, track rollers and more.
Rod end bearings are typically made using the following materials:
Steel
Stainless steel
High-carbon steel
Aluminum
Male vs Female Rod End Bearing: What’s the Difference?
A rod end bearing can be classified as either male or female depending on the way in which the threading is designed. Male rod end bearings are designed with external threading. In comparison, female rod end bearings are designed with internal threading. With interior threading, female rod end bearings can handle unique applications that aren’t possible with male rod ends bearings. Helicopters, for instance, often use female rod end bearings to adjust the direction of the blade. They allow pilots and aviation technicians to fine tune their blade adjustments.
You can see an example of both male and female rod end bearings in the photo above. The red rod end bearing is male because the threading is located on the exterior, whereas the black rod end bearing is female because the threading is concealed inside it.
Lead Screw
A lead screw is a kind of mechanical linear actuator that converts rotational motion into linear motion. Its operation relies on the sliding of the screw shaft and the nut threads with no ball bearings between them. The screw shaft and the nut are directly moving against each other on a large contact area, so higher energy losses due to friction are produced. However, the designs of lead screw threads have evolved to minimize friction.
The lead screws are a cost-effective alternative to ball screws in low power and light to medium-duty applications. Since they have poor efficiency, their use is not advisable for continuous power transmission. Unlike ball screws, they operate silently with no vibration and have a more compact size. They are typically used as a kinematic pair (linkage) and actuation and positioning in equipment such as lathe machines, scanners, recorders, wire bonders, and disk drive testers. They are used to transmit forces in testing machines, presses, and screw jacks.
The components of a lead screw are the following:
Screw Shaft
The screw shaft is a cylindrical rod that has a single or series of grooves running helically around its length; this is referred to as the external thread.
Thread
The thread is the structure responsible for converting rotational motion into linear motion as the screw shaft and the nut slide with each other.
Nut
The lead screw nut is a cylindrical section that has an internal thread that matches the external thread of the screw shaft.Lead screws may be operated in two possible ways. One mode of operation is either the screw shaft or the nut rotates and moves linearly while the other component is fixed. This mode is commonly seen in printers and helical pairs. The other mode of operation is either the screw shaft or the nut rotates but does not move linearly. This mode is commonly seen in presses and lathes.
The design aspects of lead screws are the following:
Major Diameter
The major diameter is the largest diameter of the thread. The major diameter of the screw shaft is the distance between two opposite crests, while the major diameter of the nut is the distance between two opposite roots.
Minor Diameter
The minor diameter is the smallest diameter of the thread. The minor diameter of the screw shaft is the distance between two opposite roots, while the minor diameter of the nut is the distance between two opposite crests.
Crest
A crest is the raised helical structure in an external thread (screw shaft) and the recessed helical structure in an internal thread (nut).
Root
A root is the recessed helical structure in an external thread (screw shaft) and the raised helical structure in an internal thread.
Thread Depth
The thread depth is the distance from the root to the crest, measured radially.
Flank
The flank is the surface that connects the root to the crest.
Pitch Diameter
The pitch diameter, or the effective diameter, lies concentrically and approximately halfway between the major and minor diameters. It is the diameter of the imaginary cylinder whose circumference intersects half of the thread pitch.
Pitch
The pitch is the axial distance between two adjacent threads measured parallel to the axis. It is equivalent to 1/number of threads per inch.
Lead
The lead is the linear distance traveled by the screw shaft or nut along its axis in one complete revolution (3600 rotation). As the lead increases, the linear speed also increases, but the load capacity of the lead screw decreases, etc.
Ball Bearings - A Complete Buying Guide
Ball bearings are rolling-element bearings which use balls to maintain the separation and distance between the bearing races. They are designed to reduce rotational friction while supporting both radial and axial loads.
The types of ball bearings that we think of today were initially manufactured at the end of the 19th century. The Welsh inventor Phillip Vaughan was given the first patent for ball bearings and his was the earliest design to feature a ball running along the groove in the axle assembly. Another major development came in 1869 when the Paris-based bicycle mechanic Jules Suirray created the first ball bearing of the radial variety. This radial bearing was included in the manufacture of the bicycle that French racer James Moore rode to victory in the first Paris-Rouen race of 1869.
The use of ball bearings for manufacturing purposes has become widespread since the turn of the 20th century. They are integrated into the production of various mechanical instruments and devices due to the associated ease of movement and friction reduction. Ball bearings allow for the injection of motion between different parts and transmit energy for mechanical operation.
Open-style ball bearings are the most common variety. However, there are also shielded-style bearings, which feature metal shields on either one or both sides. The shield prevents dirt and debris from contacting and affecting the operation of the bearing. However, it also allows for the free flow of oil through the bearing for smooth operation. The use of ball bearings featuring seals has become increasingly common during recent times. These bearings also function effectively and are particularly unlikely to fail. The more balls featured within the ball bearing, the greater the load that the bearing will be able to take.
What Are the Uses of the Claw Hammer?
There are several types of hammers used for different construction processes; however, the claw hammer is the most common type used. The hammer contains a steel head and a handle made from various different types of materials. It is used primarily for pounding or extracting nails from wood.
Specifications
Claw hammers are commonly used for everyday purposes and for construction projects. These types of hammers weigh anywhere from 7 to 32 oz. The weight is derived from the head of the hammer only. The handle of a claw hammer is made from either wood, fiberglass or steel. If a claw hammer is laid down, it resembles the letter "T." The handle is the long part of the "T," while the top line of the "T" is the hammer's head.
Uses
The main purposes of a claw hammer are to pound nails into wood or extract nails. One side of the hammer head is flat and is used for pounding. The other side of the hammer head contains a claw and is used for extracting nails out of surfaces such as wood. The claw side of the hammer head resembles the letter "V" which allows a nail to fit into it. The person using the hammer places the claw hammer with the claw around the nail and pulls up or down with the handle to extract the nail.

Considerations
Higher priced hammers typically are built stronger with sturdier handles. Claw hammers are built using two pieces: the handle and the head. The two pieces are then attached. Other claw hammers are built and forged using only one piece. These types tend to be harder to break when using them.
Details
Claw hammers are designed to be used with wood working projects. They are not built for metal projects. One type of claw hammer is called a framing hammer. This type is designed to reduce the number of strikes it takes to pound a nail into wood and contains a larger, heavier head.

What is Hook and Loop?
Hook and loop fasteners are constructed from of two different pieces of nylon, one side acts as the "loop" (softer to the touch) the other side is the "hook" together these create a strong closure, whilst pulling the strips apart directly is easy, trying to separate them any other way is very difficult. Hook & Loop fasteners can be so strong that a two inch square piece is enough to support a 79 kg person. The strength of the bond however depends on how well the hooks are embedded in the loops & how much surface area is in contact with the hooks, along with the force pulling the two pieces apart.
If Hook & Loop is used to connect two rigid items together for example and picture frame to a wall the bond is very strong as any downward force is spread across the entire surface of the Hook and Loop sections, this only enforces it's strength by engaging more hooks into the loop, but by peeling the frame away from the wall, removal is relatively easy.
On garments and footwear, where hook and loop is used as a strap or pocket closure, opening is easy as a peeling action is used, this pulls each hook from the loop in smaller sections.
The Actual Definition of Textile & Its Surprising Difference from Fabric
If you work in the fashion industry, chances are you work with textiles almost constantly. Whether you're shopping for, printing on, or working with textiles, they never seem to differ much from any fabric you've worked with. Ever wonder why this is? And if they're truly the same thing, what's the definition of a textile and how is it different from fabric?
As it turns out, textiles have many uses outside of the fashion world. Aside from the obvious— clothing, bags, home decor, and so on— textiles are an important part of the medical field, toy manufacturing, weaponry, agriculture, and other unexpected fields. If you're wondering what's the difference between textiles and fabric, the answer is a lot more specific than you'd think.
To discern the vital differences between textiles and fabric, the term ‘textile’ must be clearly defined. The definition of textile is any material made of interlacing fibers, including carpet and geotextiles. Any woven or knitted fabric is a textile. What every textile has in common is that it’s made from textile fiber.
Products of textile fiber include yarn, thread, natural silk, rayon, chemical fiber short-hair silk, elastic silk, and metal wire. Textiles are created by processing, weaving or knitting these materials. These can create typically manufactured goods, such as clothing, accessories, gloves, hats, and blankets, or any type of plastic, industrial, natural fur, agricultural or medical fabric. This means that beyond the world of fashion, textiles comprise of any woven or knitted material for any use.
One example of specialized use of textiles are geotextiles, a permeable fabric that separates, filters, reinforces, protects or drains soil. Geotextiles are commonly used to improve the soil where structures, roads, or pipelines are built. These textiles have various types of material like open-mesh, warp-knitted, and non-woven textiles.
Another example is medical dressings and bandages, which are classified as medical textiles, or healthcare textiles. These textiles are more specifically used in the medical field for first aid, clinical or hygienic purposes and rehabilitation. Medical textiles must have specific qualities to be useful in the field such as biocompatible, good resistance to alkalis, absorption, and repellence, among others.
You can categorize agrotextiles, automotive textiles and other specialized textiles by their industry-specific usage. While they may consist of similar components, their use is vastly different. For this reason, you categorize textiles by industry, not components.
Textile fibers can be classified using 3 different methods: by structure, utility, and production of the textiles.
The first classification of textile fibers is according to the structure, the materials, processing technology, texture, appearance and main use of textiles which can be divided further into 14 different categories.
The second classification method is by the use of textiles, divided into clothing textiles, decorative textiles, and industrial textiles.
Lastly, textiles can be classified according to its production, into line, belt, chenille, woven fabric, textile cloth, and more. These various methods help to distinguish the specific fibers needed for a certain product.
A guide to cable ties
What are cable ties used for?
They're fasteners that bundle your cables and wires together to keep them organized and prevent damage. They come in different sizes, lengths, materials and even colors. The different uses of cable ties vary across industries, but what they all have in common is that they're the most effective way to manage your cables.
First, let's get a picture of the type of cable ties available. The table below is by no means exhaustive, as there are subsets of cable ties within this table. For example, standard cable ties can be weather resistant, which gives them different applications than their cousins'.
Standard cable ties are a fantastic all-rounder, but when you need specialized cable ties, you can get those too.
The most common material for cable ties, nylon is a tough material with good thermal, and abrasion resistance. It also resists fuels and most chemicals. Nylon 6/6, the grade most often used for cable ties, meets UL94 V-2 flammability ratings and has a working temperature range from -40°F to 185°F.
Nylon cable ties can be heat stabilized for continuous or extended exposure to high temperatures of up to 250°F. The cable tie manufacturing process can also produce UV stabilized ties for outdoor use. For example, you can have the same cable tie, but manufactured for different applications.The average passenger airplane wields 124 miles of cables, so excellent cable management is absolutely critical. The types of cable ties needed vary. For small, tight spaces, miniature heat-stabilized cable ties are a must. For hoses and larger cables, heavy duty heat stabilized cable ties are needed. Push mount cable ties also work well for aerospace and it's best to go with a heat-stabilized option for thermal endurance.
The inspiration behind hook-and-loop fastening
Hook-and-loop fastening (also known as ‘touch-and-close’) has been used by footwear designers for many years. The system is commonly used where ease and speed of fastening is desirable – for instance on young children’s shoes (where the wearer has not yet mastered the skill to properly tie laces), and some items of sportswear. It has even been utilised in certain styles of fashion footwear.
What is hook-and-loop? Two components are involved, typically consisting of a pair of lineal fabric strips (or shaped items) which are attached – normally by stitching or adhesive – to the opposing surfaces to be fastened. The first face features tiny hooks, and the second has even smaller loops. When the two components come into contact, the hooks catch in the loops and the two pieces bind together. When separated, by pulling or peeling the two surfaces apart, hook-and-loop strips make a distinctive ‘ripping’ sound.
Birth of an idea
It is a common misconception that the first hook-and-loop fastening was designed by the USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for its space programme. While it is true that the organisation made good use of this product (each space shuttle reportedly flew equipped with ten thousand inches of a special fastening made of Teflon loops, polyester hooks and glass backing, used in the astronauts’ suits and to anchor equipment), the idea for hook-and-loop fastening actually dates back to the early 1940s.
The hook-and-loop fastening system was conceived in 1941 by Swiss engineer, George de Mestral. The idea reportedly came to him after returning from a hunting trip with his dog in the Alps. He took a close look at the burrs (seeds with hooks) that kept sticking to his clothes and his dog’s fur. On examining them under a microscope, he observed hundreds of ‘hooks’ that caught on anything with a loop, such as clothing, animal fur, or hair. He soon saw the possibility of binding two materials together in a way that they could be easily parted – if he could work out how to reproduce the hooks and loops. This is a classic example of the copying of nature's mechanisms, called ‘Biomimicry’.
With the help of a weaver, two hook-and-loop strips based on cotton were made. However, the cotton wore out quickly, so Mr de Mestral turned to synthetic fibres. He finally selected the recently developed nylon and, through trial and error, eventually discovered that, when sewn under hot infrared light, nylon forms hooks that worked well for the hook side of the fastening. Although he now knew how to make the hooks, he had yet to work out a way to mechanise the process, as well as making the looped side of the fastening.
At this point, Mr de Mestral found that when nylon thread was woven in loops and heat-treated, it retained its shape and was sufficiently resilient. Nevertheless, the loops had to be cut in exactly the right place so that they could be repeatedly fastened and unfastened. He bought a pair of shears and trimmed the tops off the loops, which worked well. It took another eight years to mechanise the process of weaving the hooks and a further 12 months to create the loom that trimmed the loops after weaving them. In total, a decade passed before an efficient mechanised process was created.
Mr de Mestral submitted his idea for patent in Switzerland in 1951, and this was granted four years later. The original product – ‘Velcro’ – was born, a name taken from the French words ‘velours’ (velvet), and crochet (hook). Within a few years, patents were also obtained in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK.
Mechanisms: Hook And Loop Fasteners
If you're going to be inspired by natural mechanisms, it pays to be out in nature. During a hike in the Alps with his dog in 1941, George de Mestral, a Swiss electrical engineer, found his inspiration. He and the animal had picked up a multitude of burrs during their walk, and as George picked them out of the fur and off his clothes, he wondered how they managed to attach themselves so tenaciously.
For anyone unfamiliar with these unwelcome travelers, burrs are the spiky ripe fruit of any of a number of plants, most commonly the Burdock. The burrs are a dispersal strategy used by the plant to send its seeds far and wide by hitching a ride on the coat of a passing animal.
George put a burr under a microscope and was fascinated by what he saw. Each spike on the burr ended in a sharp point that looped back into a hook shape. Mixed in with the spikes were strands of the dog's hair, knotted and tangled around the multitude of hooks. What's more, the wool of his trousers and socks, standing out from the surface of his clothing as tiny loops, were the perfect medium to catch the burr's hook.
In that moment, George found inspiration for a new kind of fastener, and he would labor for the better part of a decade perfecting his invention. Early prototypes using natural fibers worked, but not for long as the shape of the mechanism quickly wore out. George found that the new miracle fiber Nylon was perfect for hooks and the loops that would stand up to repeated use, and was soon able to create small amounts of working fasteners. But perfecting a mechanized process for creating the stuff proved difficult. He finally hit upon weaving stiff Nylon threads into loops while heating the thread, causing it to stick out from the backer. A clip with shears then formed the hooks, and loops came from thinner threads similarly woven but left unsnipped.

What is MDF? Plus Tips for Using MDF
MDF (medium-density fiberboard) is inexpensive, durable, and a good choice for many woodworking and carpentry projects. Learn how to use it correctly, and how to avoid common mistakes.
Medium-density fiberboard is the most versatile building material I know of. Because it's inexpensive and fairly durable, medium density fiberboard s a good choice for practical projects like shelving and storage cabinets. But MDF wood is great for decorative projects too. The smooth surface of medium density fiberboard is perfect for painting, and a router leaves crisp profiles with no splintering, burning or tear-out.
Over the past 15 years, I've used MDF to build everything from crude shelving in my shop to fancy trim in upscale homes. I've even used it for furniture and ornate millwork like the trim board shown in the lead photo. In fact, my own home is entirely trimmed out with MDF moldings made from about 50 sheets of MDF. Yes, I'm a fan of the stuff. This article will cover the most important things I've learned about working with MDF—and help you avoid some of the frustrating mistakes I've made.
MDF is basically sawdust and glue, fused together under pressure and heat. It varies in color from tan to chocolate brown. Common thicknesses range from 1/4 in. to 1 in., but most home centers carry only 1/2-in. and 3/4-in. Full sheets are oversized by 1 in., so a “4 x 8” sheet is actually 49 x 97 in. A full sheet of 3/4-in. MDF costs about $30 (as of 2010). Some home centers also carry MDF boards in various lengths and widths. Working with MDF is no different from working with wood or plywood; you use the same tools to cut and shape it.
When a job calls for painted trim, I almost always cut costs with MDF. Even inexpensive wood, like this poplar baseboard, costs four times as much. To make trim, I cut MDF sheets into strips and shape the edges with a router or router table. With the right bit, I can create just about any trim profile, simple or fancy. (Check woodworking stores or online for a large selection of bits.) Some home centers carry ready-made MDF wood trim for less than the price of solid wood.
MDF or Plywood: Which One is Better for Your House?
Though these two materials may have found a place in your home, they are definitely not interchangeable. Both are often used in building kitchens and modular furniture and like every other material, MDF and plywood come with their set of advantages and disadvantages. Given their frequency of use, we thought we'd give you a lowdown on the MDF vs Plywood comparison,. A little extra information never did any harm, right? Read on.
MDF is medium-density fiberboard, which is basically engineered wood obtained by breaking down hardwood and softwood composites. Since an MDF board is made up of small wood fibres, there are no visible wood grains or knots. The fibres are joined together using wax to produce panels by applying pressure or high temperature.
Advantages of MDF Material
Now that we know what an MDF board is composed of, we are sure you want to know how good or bad it is.
MDF is generally cheaper when compared to plywood
The surface of an MDF board is very smooth and makes for a great base for painting
Thanks to the smooth edges, it is easy to cut and carve designs out of MDF
It is denser and stronger than a particle board

Advantages of Plywood
Plywood has a lot of advantages that you could consider while getting it installed at your home.
Made up of multiple layers of veneer, plywood is a tough material to use at home
It does not soak water and liquids like MDF. Thus, it is less susceptible to damage
Because of the grains that plywood has, it is easier to stain and thus makes for a great material for cabinets and tabletops
Since it is made up of layers, plywood holds screws tightly, as each layer ensures better holding for the screw
This material comes in various designs and thicknesses
Reasons why PVC boards are much better than Plywood? What are their characteristics?
PVC boards and plywood are widely used for making cabinets and other items for the house or office needs. They are mostly used for kitchen remodeling. Although both PVC and plywood has equal role and importance to play in any renovation or remodeling works, the PVC boards are broadly used when compared to the plywood. There are certainly a few reasons to validate this.
Here are a few facts that make PVC a better choice than plywood:
PVC foam board consists of materials like thermoplastics. This is the combination of wood fiber and PVC and thus also termed as Wood-plastic composite. This material may also contain some filler materials, which are inorganic. Whereas plywood's are mostly two or three wood boards glued together.
We know that kitchen is an area that is most exposed to moisture and heat. Perhaps at such circumstances, plywood may not efficiently sustain both the conditions. If you expect the longevity and durability of the materials to sustain moisture and heat, then PVC will be a perfect choice
When it comes to shaping, PVC is very flexible compared to plywood. You are absolutely flexible to cut or shape PVC however you want it, but it is not possible to do the same with plywood
PVC never needs any polish works before it is to be installed. Whereas plywood should certainly be polished to get a complete look after installation and completion of all works
In the case of plywood, it may split when the atmosphere is moisture or hot. But in the case of PVC foam sheet, there are no such worries for you, as this material is resistant to heat and moisture
If you are more worried about environmental impact of material you are using for kitchen interiors, then PVC will be a perfect choice. Since PVC is made of recycled waste plastic and wood, there is absolutely no need to cut trees, whereas if you want plywood then you need to think of deforestation.
The application of PVC is wide and huge when compared to plywood. You are flexible to use PVC plastic Sheet for various decorative purposes and you are never limited by its usage. You can design your dream design without any limitations by using PVC, whereas this may not be possible with plywood. This may cause some limitations in your designing works.
It is not only these factors that may influence your selection process, but also the price of PVC is comparatively less than plywood and thus becomes affordable to all.
What is Marine Plywood Made From?
Marine plywood is constructed from water resistant tropical hardwood, and as these are naturally water resistant, they make marine plywood better than other types of plywood in situations where moisture levels are higher.
There are certain wood species, such as cedar, cypress and redwood, Western Larch or Douglas Fir, that have a natural resistance to decay.
Whilst marine plywood is not pressure treated to enable it to withstand decay, high quality grade veneers are used to increase its resistance.
As a result of this, it is made to withstand moisture far better than standard plywood as it will be well protected with water resistant materials.
How is Marine Plywood Made?
Marine plywood is available in different grades namely:
A-A
A-B
B-B
MDO
HDO
As with other types of plywood, marine grade plywood is composed of thin sheets of wood veneers, which are arranged in perpendicular layers so as to make it stronger.
Cross lamination is used so as to have the plies perpendicular to each other, so that the panel will be given additional strength in both directions.
Finally, the panel is bonded under high heat and extreme pressure.
When it comes to marine plywood, waterproof glue is used to bond the layers, making it ideal for use in areas where humidity levels or moisture is higher than normal.
Due to the waterproof glue, you do not need to worry about the layers de-laminating over time.
What is film faced plywood used for?
Film faced plywood is an exterior plywood used in building and construction projects. It has a special film coating on its surface made from phenol or melamine on either or both sides which gives the plywood a higher resistance to moisture, abrasion, chemical degradation and fungal attack compared to ordinary plywood.
Because of its increased stability and resistance to moisture, ultraviolet radiation and corrosive chemicals, film-faced plywood is ideal for outdoor applications such as the external surfaces of new buildings. The extra film layer and acrylic varnished edges of this type of plywood make it more durable and less able to distort when used outdoors in harsh weather and adverse conditions. Buildings in direct sunlight are less prone to wear and tear if they are made from film-faced plywood, at least as part of the overall structure.
The plywood is useful for forming level molding boards and girder molding boards, which need to be resistant to strong forces, large amounts of fast-flowing water and yet still maintain their structural integrity and shape. There is a choice of thicknesses available, depending on requirements, from 12mm, 15mm and 18mm to 21mm, 24mm and 27mm. Some examples can reach 30mm.

History & Development Of Printing Machines
Printers in Indonesian mean printers (printing devices) and as already known together, the printer is an output device in the form of hardware that is connected to a computer or other digital device. The printer has a function to print text, images and other digital displays to various print media such as paper and the like.
The printer in its development has undergone rapid changes as well as output devices and other computer inputs. The development of printers is still continuing today. Competition between printer manufacturers is increasingly intense where each producer constantly releases their best innovations and products. The evolution of the printer has also been done a lot since the invention of this device until now both in terms of size, speed, price, quality, quantity, and operating techniques.
Very simple forms of printing can be found in China and Korea around 175 AD. The look is upside down on wood, and then bronze has been made this year. The tool is then spiked with ink and then placed on a piece of paper and gently scrubbed using a bamboo stick. Functions that are almost similar to today's stamps.
Ancient Chinese Prints
The Chinese made many discoveries. They found paper in the first century and moveable types made of clay around the 11th century. Koreans first made a moveable type from bronze in the mid-13th century. However, there is no known connection between the early discovery of Asians and the discovery of printing in Europe in the 15th century.
The innovations made by Chinese people to create ink and block printing greatly influence the writing tradition. However, developments in China are not as powerful as developments in the European region. This is because the Chinese alphabet writing has thousands of specific ideograms, making it very difficult to apply to typewriter media. The impact is that there are almost no significant changes regarding the efficiency of production in China as developments in Europe have occurred.
A major breakthrough came around 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg from the city of Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg created a method of casting letter pieces on metal blends made from a mixture of lead, lead, and antimony that is critical for producing durable prints that produce high-quality printed books. Its discovery is considered to be the most ingenious invention, the special matrix allows the formation of new prints that are fast and precise from a uniform frame and prove to be more suitable for printing than clay, wood or bronze molds created in East Asia
Gutenberg is also recognized for introducing oil-based inks that are more durable than the water-based inks that were used. As a printing material he used a manuscript made of animal and paper skin, the last of which was introduced in Europe from China using the Arab method several centuries ago. People in Europe at that time were indeed developing movable prints, including those made by goldsmith Procopius Waldfoghel from France and Laurens Janszoon Coster from the Netherlands. However, they are not known to have contributed specific progress to the printing press.
Over time, printer technology continues to be developed to adjust the needs of users in its time. Post World War II in the early 1950s, in Europe there was a very rapid cultural development to make the need for a fast and inexpensive writing document production process. At this time, the latest innovation in the printing world began to be developed. Starting from IBM, which introduced the first dot matrix printer. Then, in 1984 ink jet printers were first introduced and produced on a large scale in 1990.
Different Types Of Industrial Printing Machines
In the industrial set up of the economy, the printing machines are growing in large numbers. Different printing techniques and processes are used by every industry for effective communication. Any machine used in printing ink on the substrate (printing medium) which can be cloth, paper or plastic, is referred to as the printing machinery. By applying pressure to the substrate, the printing machinery transfers the ink on the printing medium resting on an inked platform composed of movable type. The development of industrial printing machines changed a lot of things in the world. It would make transfer and preservation of historical records, scientific findings, and knowledge easy and possible. There's a great advancement in the printing machinery introduced in the market today given the improvement in science and technology. There's a competition in the industry, as many companies are now making printing press. As every company is introducing better features and making an effort to overcome the other competitors, this has led to the introduction of many enhanced features in printing machinery. With the introduction of various features in these types of machinery, printing is now easier to be done than it was in earlier days.
Today, printing machinery is available in many sizes to suit different needs. Bigger sizes of printing machinery are available for heavy-duty printing or big-time printing businesses. You can get small and medium sizes too for small and medium printing businesses. The machinery size determines the volume of printing that will be done in a day, to a greater extent. When compared with small-sized printing machinery, the heavy industrial printing machines can print a lot of things per hour or regularly. There are different types of printing machines for printing on a different medium since different printing machines make use of different printing technology. Each of the below-mentioned printing machinery is meant to serve a particular purpose. You must consider your printing needs or the type of printing that you are doing before you want to buy or order for your printing machine. Several factors such as the size, the type of printing done, the seller, the brand, and others determine the cost.
Types Of Printing Machines

• Digital Printers
  
  
• Ink-jet Printers
  
  
• Screen Printers
  
  
• Embossing Machines
  
  
• Flexographic Printing Machine
  
  
• Letterpress Printing Machines
  
  
• Offset Printers
  
  
• Laser printers
  
  
• Wireless Printers
  
  
• 3D Printers
  
  
• Thermographic Printers
  
  
• Electrostatic Printing Machine
  
  
• Pad Printers
  
  
• Rotogravure Printing Machines
  
  

• Help produce tubing in a single operation
  
  
• Regulates film width and thickness depending on the volume of air in the bubble, extruder output, speed of the haul-off.
  
  
• It eliminates effects such as edge bead trim, non-uniform temperature.
  
  
• Bi axial orientation is possible.
  
  
• Can be used for food packaging.
  
  

What Does the Radiator Support Do?
The radiator plays a critical role in your engine's performance and overall function. The radiator is ultimately responsible for keeping your engine at the optimal running temperature. When the radiator becomes damaged, it can cause serious engine performance problems. The radiator support, naturally, is there to keep your radiator intact and performing well.
Just like the engine has its own mounts and supports, the radiator also needs a mechanism to keep it supported and protected. Without the front radiator support, the radiator can be in significant danger of becoming damaged. Not only does this mechanism keep the radiator held securely under the hood, but it also adheres the radiator to the engine. When this support becomes damaged, it compromises the integrity of the engine-radiator assembly line where the cooling system is able to efficiently maintain the engine temperature.
How to Fix the Issue
Repairing the issue of a bent or damaged front radiator support is complex, and greatly depends on the nature and severity of the issue. Sometimes the support can be repaired and restored, but those cases typically require a considerable amount of effort in labor and time, which usually means more money for the job. When the front radiator support is damaged or bent significantly, the part needs to be replaced, which can be pretty expensive—it is an intensive project that takes a long time. Furthermore, it requires special tools and equipment, access to the right OEM parts, and specialized knowledge in MINI frame repair.
How Much Will it Cost?
As we’ve previously mentioned, the cost of fixing the front radiator support is completely subjective to the nature and severity of the problem; however, the cost will also depend on the automotive shop you bring your MINI to. Since the problem is likely due to an accident, other damages must be fixed alongside repairing the radiator support, driving up the cost further. Often insurance companies total out cars that encounter this type of frame damage, but the issue can certainly be fixed.
How To Replace A Radiator
SAFETY FIRST
Your radiator has electrical connections. Disconnect the battery before proceeding. You'll need to raise the vehicle so you can access your radiator. You can use a car jack and stands to keep the vehicle up, but remember to put a chock behind the wheels and engage the parking brake. Wait until the engine is cold before proceeding.
This job can be dangerous, so be extra careful. You will encounter sharp edges and other circumstances that could cause injury. Protect yourself by wearing quality safety gloves and goggles. Be watchful of any moving items while working.
And, to repeat, make sure the car, engine, and coolant are NOT hot!
INSPECT OR REPLACE
Before jumping in and replacing a whole radiator, take a minute to inspect your entire coolant system. Examine the radiator (or overflow) cap. Check the belts and hoses for damaged, cracked rubber or any leaks. Find the fan clutch between the radiator and the water pump motor (on some vehicles) and make sure there is no play in the bearings.
Don't forget about your engine thermostat. If your cooling problem has caused the engine to overheat, your thermostat may have been damaged. You may want to replace this small part when replacing the radiator.
DRAIN THE RADIATOR
There are two ways to drain radiators. Remove the radiator cap for either way. Once the cap is removed, you can either open the petcock valve or remove the bottom radiator hose to drain the coolant. Drain the coolant into a plastic reservoir.
DISCONNECT THE RADIATOR
With the coolant drained, you can start removing hoses, clamps and the radiator bolts keeping the radiator in place. You'll have to disconnect the following parts on most vehicles:
• Radiator reservoir hose
• Upper radiator hose
• Lower radiator hose
• Cooling fan connector
• Cooling fan mounting bolts
• Cooling fan
• Cooling fan shroud
• Transmission cooler lines (many vehicles require special tools to disconnect)
• Engine oil cooler lines (these appear in many high-heat vehicles like 4x4 and Deisel trucks)
• A/C Condenser mounting bolts
• Radiator mounting bolts
Remember to keep all the hoses, connectors, bolts, and components organized. You'll have to reinstall the parts in reverse order.
REMOVE THE OLD RADIATOR
With all the hoses, bolts, and lines removed, you should be able to remove the radiator from the vehicle. Many radiators can be removed by lifting up and out of the vehicle, but some need to be removed from underneath the vehicle.
Signs of a Bad Radiator
Bad Radiator Symptoms: Common Signs that Your Radiator is Failing
When the radiator isn't working properly, you might notice several symptoms. While this isn't an exhaustive list, here are the most common complaints.
Overheating engine
A common sign that something is wrong with the radiator is when your engine starts to overheat. This can be caused by a faulty thermostat. When a defective thermostat no longer opens, the engine will overheat and cause a breakdown.
Leaks
You might notice coolant leaking under the vehicle. It can be a red, yellow, or green fluid. When the radiator is leaking, coolant levels become too low, and when there isn't enough coolant to reduce the heat, the engine might become too hot.
Radiators are made of metal and plastic. And because plastic isn't as durable as metal, it's typical for these components to become brittle and start cracking—hence the leaks.
Shifting issues
If you have an integrated transmission cooler, you might notice trouble with shifting as the fluid becomes contaminated with coolant. This problem stems from cracks and faults in the system.
Fluid discoloration
Vehicle coolant is commonly bright yellow or green. Sometimes it can be pink or red. It flows freely between the radiator and the coolant passages located in your car's engine.
If you have a bad radiator, deposits and sludge can contaminate the coolant and turn it into a rusty color—it may even look like oil.
Look in your coolant overflow tank and inspect the color. If it's contaminated, it may also appear thicker. This causes trouble with the flow and leads to a clogged radiator.
A radiator flush might be a solution in this case.
Your Guide to Yellow Fog Lights
What Are Yellow Fog Lights?
Yellow fog lights are specially made to help drivers navigate the road carefully in foggy conditions. Yellow lights are the best among fog light colors because they hit your retina in a way that enables you to focus on the road. Staring constantly at white light can frustrate the eye, and darker colors like blue and green have limited wavelength.
In addition, yellow fog lights penetrate foggy weather better than other light colors. Fog tends to reflect the color of the driver's lights directly in front of their eyes. Staring at white light is already a difficult task, and having the white color reflected close to your retina when you are driving might destabilize your focus. In the same way, looking closely at blue lights can make your sight fuzzy. Yellow lights are the only light color most drivers can withstand in the fog.
LED Fog Lights
LED fog lights are one of the most durable light types. Although these fog lights can be quite expensive, they compensate for their price with their energy-efficient capabilities. Also, the light-emitting diodes in LED fog lights provide higher visibility for drivers on foggy roads.
Should I Get a Car with Fog Lights?
When we start writing about Thanksgiving around these parts, you know that winter isn't far behind. With winter's inevitable onslaught of snow, freezing rain and fog, we are going to use our blog to discuss things drivers should know before heading out on roads with less-than-stellar traction.
The first thing we're going to take a look at is fog lights. Available on many different types of vehicles, fog lights are a recognizable part of a vehicle's front bumper and fascia. Usually, fog lights are mounted low on a vehicle, often directly in front of the wheel well.
They look like small headlights, and can be stylishly incorporated into the exterior front-end design of a vehicle. While the design may differ, their purpose is the same – to help you, a driver, gain visibility in poor weather.
What do Fog Lights Do?
All exterior lights are usually beneficial in poor weather. We say “usually” because there are times when standard headlights, and even high beams, can be a detriment to safe driving and visibility. What's even worse about this, is it that the better the headlights are (HIID or LED for example), often the worse they become under certain circumstances.
Those circumstances involve heavy fog or snow. In these situations, headlights – both standard and high beam – can limit visibility. What happens when fog accumulates, or when snow is falling densely, is that the light put out by your headlights reflects off of the fog or snow. This creates less visibility, and makes it harder to see oncoming traffic, or even the road in front of you.
It can be especially bad at night when you are counting on the reflection of your lights to provide a path forward. Fog lights allow you to see in these circumstances, illuminating the road in front of you but not the fog or snow.

MEK Inhibitor Mechanism of Action, Side Effects, and Uses
Metastatic melanoma is a deadly cancer for which conventional chemotherapy provides little benefit. However, newer therapies involving a pathway called the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway have demonstrated success in inducing remission.
The MAPK pathway is more accurately termed the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway, and involves the regulation of cell proliferation and survival. It is constitutionally overactive in 30% of cancers. Two enzymes in this pathway, namely, BRAF and MEK, are target kinases which play crucial roles in the cell cycle.
The first therapies to target this pathway were BRAF inhibitors, but intrinsic and acquired tumor resistance quickly led to treatment failure by reactivation of the MAPK pathway. MEK inhibitors have emerged to partially overcome these resistance mechanisms and are now used in combination with BRAF inhibitors to extend the time to resistance.
MEK is a dual specificity threonine/tyrosine kinase, so called from the term MAPK/ERK kinase. It is a key effector of the three-layered RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling cascade, expressed by seven genes from MAPK1 to MAPK7.
MEK inhibitors bind to and inhibit MEK, inhibiting MEK-dependent cell signaling. This inhibition leads to cell death and the inhibition of tumor growth. These are allosteric binding inhibitors of MEK which inhibit either MEK1 alone, or both MEK1 and MEK2.
What is the mechanism of action of MEK inhibitors?
The MAPK pathway is an intracellular signaling cascade that is involved in the proliferation and survival of tumor cells. Many mutations cause cancer development by activating this pathway, including BRAF and NRAS mutations. MEK is a downstream protein kinase which can be targeted to prevent reactivation of the MAPK pathway in the presence of BRAF or RAS mutations.
Normally, ERK1/2 activation initiates a variety of cellular and nuclear pathways, while also inhibiting Raf activity by a feedback loop to modulate the activity of the MAPK pathway. MEK1/2 inhibition inactivates ERK1/2 and also removes the feedback inhibition on Raf.
Drugs which selectively inhibit the MEK enzymes are able to inhibit growth and to induce the death of cells in the presence of these mutations.
Thus, MEK1/2 is highly selective in inactivating ERK1/2 but leaves other signaling pathways intact. In addition, the non-ATP binding site means they do not typically need to compete with ATP, which is present in very large amounts inside cells. A new ATP-competitive inhibitor has also been designed which is effective in mutants that display drug resistance to the ATP-noncompetitive inhibitors.
The advantages of using combination MEK inhibitor therapy with a BRAF inhibitor is the increased progression-free survival and lower toxicity, when compared with the latter alone.
What are the side effects of MEK inhibitors?
Adverse reactions with MEK inhibitors occur in two stages: immediate (within days of initiation of therapy) and chronic (following several months of exposure). Mild toxicities need not interrupt the treatment, but moderate to severe adverse effects may require temporary withdrawal of the drugs and re-initiation following resolution of the reaction. Such cessation of treatment for short periods does not seem to affect outcomes. In some studies on mice, intermittent dosing was associated with improved survival, and perhaps less toxicity.
MEK1/MEK2 inhibitors have a tendency to cause a papulopustular rash, seen in 57% of patients. Other side effects include diarrhea in 43%, whereas peripheral edema is observed in 26%. More serious adverse effects include hypertension in 12%, rash in 8%, and fatigue in 4%.
Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels are high in some patients, though without any evidence of underlying disease processes such as rhabdomyolysis.
Abnormal liver function tests and pneumonitis are also observed, similar to immune checkpoint inhibitors and PD-1 inhibitors. The appearance of cough, difficulty in breathing or abnormal chest signs must be followed up with chest radiography or a CT scan of the chest, and if pneumonitis is present, treatment must be stopped for a time at least.
Ocular toxicity, comprising blurring of vision and reversible chorioretinopathy (especially central serous retinopathy, CSR) is another feature of MEK inhibitor toxicity. Among these, retinal vein occlusion is irreversible. For this reason, a baseline ophthalmologic examination should be recorded. If any visual disturbance occurs, examination should be repeated and compared with baseline findings. If retinopathy is diagnosed, the drug should be withdrawn temporarily. If the retinal appearance and function normalizes within three weeks, and RVO is absent, the drug may be resumed at a lower dosage.
Other adverse effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, alopecia, and lowered left ventricular ejection fraction. An uncommon adverse effect is the dropped-head syndrome, where the neck extensors become progressively weak because of focal non-inflammatory myopathy. CPK levels are high, and the condition fails to respond to steroids but resolves when the MEK inhibitor is discontinued.
Hallucinations and confusion are rare reactions, presumably due to the penetration of some of these drugs into the central nervous system.
Patients at increased risk of adverse events include those with pre-existing liver derangements.
How Do Antineoplastic Egfr Inhibitors Work?
Antineoplastic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors are a class of drugs used to treat hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (breast cancer that depends on hormones such as estrogen to grow), medullary thyroid cancer, advanced head and neck cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
EGFR inhibitors are anti-cancer medications that block the activity of a protein called EGFR. EGFR is found on the surface of some normal cells and is involved in cell growth, also found at high levels on some types of cancer cells, which causes these cells to grow and divide. Blocking EGFR helps in preventing unregulated cell division, thus preventing the growth, and spread of cancer cells.
EGFR inhibitors can be classified into the following:
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors: targets the intracellular domain in EGFR and stops the activity of the EGFR.
Monoclonal antibodies: targets the extracellular ligand-binding domain of EGFR and prevents cell division.
EGFR inhibitors are administered via intravenous (into a vein) and oral routes.
EGFR inhibitors work in the following ways:
They belong to a class of medications called “tyrosine kinase inhibitors” that work by slowing down or stopping the growth of cancer cells.
They work by blocking the action of an abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the spread of cancer cells.
They block the activity of a protein called "EGFR" and thus prevent unregulated cell division.
HOW ARE ANTINEOPLASTIC EGFR INHIBITORS USED?
Antineoplastic EGFR inhibitors are used to treat conditions such as:
Breast cancer
Non-small cell lung cancer
Medullary thyroid cancer
Metastatic colorectal cancer
Advanced squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck
Pancreatic cancer
Malignant gliomas
What Are Cyclin-Dependent Kinases?
Of the many proteins involved in cell cycle control, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are among the most important. CDKs are a family of multifunctional enzymes that can modify various protein substrates involved in cell cycle progression. Specifically, CDKs phosphorylate their substrates by transferring phosphate groups from ATP to specific stretches of amino acids in the substrates. Different types of eukaryotic cells contain different types and numbers of CDKs. For example, yeast have only a single CDK, whereas vertebrates have four different ones.
As their name suggests, CDKs require the presence of cyclins to become active. Cyclins are a family of proteins that have no enzymatic activity of their own but activate CDKs by binding to them. CDKs must also be in a particular phosphorylation state — with some sites phosphorylated and others dephosphorylated — in order for activation to occur. Correct phosphorylation depends on the action of other kinases and a second class of enzymes called phosphatases that are responsible for removing phosphate groups from proteins.
How Do CDKs Control the Cell Cycle?
All eukaryotes have multiple cyclins, each of which acts during a specific stage of the cell cycle. (In organisms with multiple CDKs, each CDK is paired with a specific cyclin.) All cyclins are named according to the stage at which they assemble with CDKs. Common classes of cyclins include G1-phase cyclins, G1/S-phase cyclins, S-phase cyclins, and M-phase cyclins. M-phase cyclins form M-CDK complexes and drive the cell's entry into mitosis; G1 cyclins form G1-CDK complexes and guide the cell's progress through the G1 phase; and so on.
All CDKs exist in similar amounts throughout the entire cell cycle. In contrast, cyclin manufacture and breakdown varies by stage — with cell cycle progression dependent on the synthesis of new cyclin molecules. Accordingly, cells synthesize G1- and G1/S-cyclins at different times during the G1 phase, and they produce M-cyclin molecules during the G2 phase (Figure 2). Cyclin degradation is equally important for progression through the cell cycle. Specific enzymes break down cyclins at defined times in the cell cycle. When cyclin levels decrease, the corresponding CDKs become inactive. Cell cycle arrest can occur if cyclins fail to degrade.

The Science of Heat Transfer: What Is Conduction?
Heat is an interesting form of energy. Not only does it sustain life, make us comfortable and help us prepare our food, but understanding its properties is key to many fields of scientific research. For example, knowing how heat is transferred and the degree to which different materials can exchange thermal energy governs everything from building heaters and understanding seasonal change to sending ships into space.
Heat can only be transferred through three means: conduction, convection and radiation. Of these, conduction is perhaps the most common, and occurs regularly in nature. In short, it is the transfer of heat through physical contact. It occurs when you press your hand onto a window pane, when you place a pot of water on an active element, and when you place an iron in the fire.
This transfer occurs at the molecular level — from one body to another — when heat energy is absorbed by a surface and causes the molecules of that surface to move more quickly. In the process, they bump into their neighbors and transfer the energy to them, a process which continues as long as heat is still being added.
The process of heat conduction depends on four basic factors: the temperature gradient, the cross section of the materials involved, their path length, and the properties of those materials.
A temperature gradient is a physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the temperature changes in a specific location. Temperature always flows from the hottest to coldest source, due to the fact that cold is nothing but the absence of heat energy. This transfer between bodies continues until the temperature difference decays, and a state known as thermal equilibrium occurs.
Cross-section and path length are also important factors. The greater the size of the material involved in the transfer, the more heat is needed to warm it. Also, the more surface area that is exposed to open air, the greater likelihood for heat loss. So shorter objects with a smaller cross-section are the best means of minimizing the loss of heat energy.
Last, but certainly not least, is the physical properties of the materials involved. Basically, when it comes to conducting heat, not all substances are created equal. Metals and stone are considered good conductors since they can speedily transfer heat, whereas materials like wood, paper, air, and cloth are poor conductors of heat.
These conductive properties are rated based on a “coefficient” which is measured relative to silver. In this respect, silver has a coefficient of heat conduction of 100, whereas other materials are ranked lower. These include copper (92), iron (11), water (0.12), and wood (0.03). At the opposite end of the spectrum is a perfect vacuum, which is incapable of conducting heat, and is therefore ranked at zero.
Materials that are poor conductors of heat are called insulators. Air, which has a conduction coefficient of .006, is an exceptional insulator because it is capable of being contained within an enclosed space. This is why artificial insulators make use of air compartments, such as double-pane glass windows which are used for cutting heating bills. Basically, they act as buffers against heat loss.
Feather, fur, and natural fibers are all examples of natural insulators. These are materials that allows birds, mammals and human beings to stay warm. Sea otters, for example, live in ocean waters that are often very cold and their luxuriously thick fur keeps them warm. Other sea mammals like sea lions, whales and penguins rely on thick layers of fat (aka. blubber) – a very poor conductor – to prevent heat loss through their skin.
LV & MV Aerial Bundle Cable (ABC)
Aerial Bundle Cables, often referred to as Aerial Bundled Conductors or simply ABC, are cables for overhead line power, so called for combining multiple single core cables together. With applications including temporary power distribution to street lighting and secondary pole-to-pole service cables, they are lightweight stranded aluminium conductors, both single core and multi-cores. Whilst Aerial Bundle Cables are used in rural power distribution in some countries, they are more commonly used in temporary power installations such as on construction sites. As insulated cables they are often preferred to bare conductors which are installed and separated by air gaps but where sparks and shorts in the event of high winds may cause resulting bushfires in dry climates or risk nearby property. The XLPE insulation material, and where relevant the sheathing material, allows the ABC to be tightly bundled together – additional steel wire supports similar to those in ACSR can also be incorporated as catenary wires .
LOW VOLTAGE ABC
Our Low Voltage ABC are manufactured in accordance with a range of national standards - British standard BS7870, French standard NF C33 209, Australasian standard AS/NZS 3560 Part 1, and IEC standards IEC 60502-1, TNB Specification, and HD 626 S1. They have a voltage rating of 0.6/1kV. With the insulation it also meets Class II according to IEC 61140 in protecting against electric shock. Aerial Bundle Cables have an operating temperature range of -40oC to +80oC and can be installed in temperatures as low as -20oC. These ABC are unscreened and without an additional outer sheath.
The LV ABC have both phase conductors and a neutral conductor - both Class 2 stranded Aluminium - with core identification being provided by ribs on the insulation: Phases by longitudinal ribs (I, II, III), Neutral core by longitudinal ribs (≤ 50 mm2 min.12 ribs; ≥ 50 mm2 min.16 ribs).
MEDIUM VOLTAGE ABC
We also supply Medium Voltage Aerial Bundle Cables, in voltages of 6.35/11kV, 12.7/22kV and 19/33kV. Manufactured in accordance with IEC 60502-2, we also have variants made specifically to Australian and New Zealand standards AS/NZS 3599 Part 1. In addition to the XLPE insulation, these higher voltage cables are sheathed with High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). They are available with and without additional screening, in light and heavy duty copper wire or tape, depending on the installation parameters and requirements.
What Types of Wire Are Used on Solar Farms?
Solar power installations in the US have grown 35 fold since 2008, while the average cost of photovoltaic panels has dropped 50% since 2014. Over 242,000 people work in the solar power industry in the US, which is more than double the number in 2012.
With this undeniable level of growth there's a lot of interest in solar panel wire, or photovoltaic (PV) wire (UL 4703). What makes solar farm wire unique comes down to its material, form, and insulation.
Wire Materials used in Solar Farms
The two main materials used to make solar farm wiring are copper and aluminum. Copper is more conductive than aluminum, which means a copper wire carries more current than an aluminum wire of the same size. Aluminum wiring is also more vulnerable to bending and flexing during installation, which can weaken it faster than copper wire. Another challenge with aluminum wire is the higher maintenance costs. Aluminum is more susceptible to temperature extremes. The expansion and contraction of the metal will require a technician to periodically tighten the terminals where aluminum is used. The main benefit to using aluminum is that the up-front cost is cheaper than copper.
Solid and Stranded Forms of Wire
Solar farm wire mainly comes in two forms, solid or stranded. Solid wire is one single conductor, which makes it more compact while still providing the same current as stranded wire. It also makes it less flexible, so it is best used in static applications. This can be a particular concern when building solar farms where wire can be exposed to wind and other vibration interference.
Stranded wire is made of multiple conductors put together. This configuration makes stranded wire more flexible than solid wire, and more resistant to vibrations.
Solar Farm Wire Insulation and Durability
Photovoltaic wire insulation has to be tough. It needs to resist UV radiation, weather, and abrasion caused by chemicals and salt water. Most electrical contractors use cross-linked polyethylene insulation, also known as PEX, XPE, or XLPE. This insulation is resistant to moisture, oil, and gasoline, can withstand temperatures up to 90 °C, and uses a black coating to resist UV radiation.
USE-2 Wire vs. PV Wire
Most solar installations are outdoors in harsher environments. Therefore the wiring has to meet standards for heat, moisture, and UV resistance.
There are two types of wire commonly used in solar farms: PV wire and USE-2 wire. They can both be used in grounded arrays, but only PV wire can be used in ungrounded ones.
PV wire is used for interconnecting PV modules, and was developed to be able to handle 90°C in wet conditions and 105°C in dry conditions. Characteristics of PV wire are thicker insulation and stranded wire construction for resilience and flexibility. It also requires a more stringent vertical flame test.
USE-2 wire is used for connecting terminals of service equipment. It is mostly found underground and for 90°C in wet conditions and 105°C in dry conditions. Like PV wire, USE-2 wire must pass a flame test, but it requires a less stringent horizontal flame test. Additionally, it needs to pass physical testing outlined in the UL standard.
Three Major Types Of Network Cables Used In Communication Systems
Fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, and coaxial cable are the three main types of network cables used in communication systems. Each of them is different and suitable for various applications.
Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is capable of transmitting messages modulated onto light waves.
Fiber Optic cable has a complicated design and structure. This type of cable has an outer optical casing that surrounds the light and traps it within a central core. The inside of the cable (the core) must configured in two different ways – Single-mode and multi-mode; although the difference may seem small, it makes a tremendous difference to the performance and the usage of fiber optic cables.
Twisted Pair Cable
Twisted pair cable is a type of ordinary wiring which connects home and many business computers to the telephone company. It is made by putting two separate insulated wires together in a twisted pattern and running them parallel to each other, which helps to reduce crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires. Twisted pair cable is suitable for transferring balanced differential signals. The method of transmitting signals dates back to the early days of the telegraph and radio. The advantages of improved signal-to-noise ratio, crosstalk, and ground bounce that balanced signal transmission brings are particularly valuable in wide bandwidth and high fidelity systems.
According to whether the cable has a shielding layer, there are two common types of twisted pair cables—shielded twisted pair (STP) cable and unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable. STP cable is available for Token Ring networks, while the UTP cable is more suitable for Ethernet networks. The most common UTP cable types applied in Ethernet network are cat5e, cat6a, and cat7 cables, etc. The following image shows the different structures of UTP and STP cables.
Aluminum processing
aluminum processing, preparation of the ore for use in various products.
Aluminum, or aluminium (Al), is a silvery white metal with a melting point of 660 °C (1,220 °F) and a density of 2.7 grams per cubic cm. The most abundant metallic element, it constitutes 8.1 percent of Earth’s crust. In nature it occurs chemically combined with oxygen and other elements. In the pure state it is soft and ductile, but it can be alloyed with many other elements to increase strength and provide a number of useful properties. Alloys of aluminum are light, strong, and formable by almost all known metalworking processes. They can be cast, joined by many techniques, and machined easily, and they accept a wide variety of finishes.
In addition to its low density, many of the applications of aluminum and its alloys are based on its high electrical and thermal conductivity, high reflectivity, and resistance to corrosion. It owes its corrosion resistance to a continuous film of aluminum oxide that grows rapidly on a nascent aluminum surface exposed to air.

What's the difference between disc replication vs. duplication?
Depending on the size of your CD or DVD order there are two different ways your discs get made.
1) Replicated Discs
The most common way to manufacture CDs is to replicate them. This involves a process where we mold each disc from melted polycarbonate (plastic) pellets. Before we replicate your disc we create a metal stamper that contains all the data (music or video) that goes on your disc. This stamper gets mounted in the disc molding machine, and when we inject the liquid polycarbonate into the mold, the disc that is replicated already includes your music (or video) content! Disc replication is a highly efficient process, with a disc with your content on it molded every 3 to 4 seconds. However, there is a significant amount of setup work required to make the stamper, and for that reason there is usually a minimum order required of 500 to 1,000 discs. Because Disc Makers specializes in small orders for independent artists, filmmakers, and business, we are (to our knowledge) the only US factory that will replicate discs. Replicated discs are preferred for larger quantities (quantities of 500 units and up).
After your discs are replicated we will print on the disc surface using either silkscreen or offset printing technology, depending on the type of artwork you have.
2) Duplicated Discs
If you need less than 300 discs, we will duplicate them. Instead of molding a disc from polycarbonate pellets we start with a blank CD-R or DVD-R, and burn your content on it. We use automated duplicators that can burn multiple discs at once for a very fast and efficient process when you only need a few discs. We will also print on your discs using either an industrial inkjet printer, or using silkscreen printing.
Is there a quality difference between replication and duplication?
Your order size determines whether Disc Makers replicates or duplicates your discs. In terms of the audio or video quality a consumer experiences, replicated discs are identical to duplicated discs. However, there is a very small possibility that if your discs are duplicated there might be some older generation disc players (including in cars) that experience errors when playing the duplicated disc. That is because disc duplication is a more recently developed process than disc replication, and some older CD and DVD players that pre-date the duplication specification may not be able to read all the content.
It is very infrequent that this happens. And to make sure your Disc Makers discs perform better than anyone else’s discs we use only the highest grade blank discs for all our disc duplication needs.
There is a clear difference between replicated and duplicated discs, but they each serve useful functions in bridging the gap between your content and fans.
Why are vinyl records black?
Think back to the first vinyl record you ever owned. Reverently sliding it out of its sleeve for the first time, taking care to only hold it by the edges so as not to damage it, admiring the ambient lighting dancing off of the delicately crafted grooves. Your first record is uniquely personal, varying in artist, genre, album artwork, title, theme, and countless other things that make it special to you. Chances are, one thing remains near-universal: that record is black.
Why is it that vinyl records are generally black? PVC (polyvinyl chloride), the material that vinyl records are made of, is clear in its natural form, allowing records to be manufactured in just about any color imaginable. Despite this endless array of choices, black is still overwhelmingly the most common option, leaving the burning question: why?
The Theories
A number of theories have been suggested, but each falls short of a satisfying explanation. One theory is that the carbon black material that provides a record’s pigmentation also increases its structural integrity. In the late 19th and early 20th century, manufacturers used shellac, a brittle resin-like substance produced by insects, to press their records. In order to ensure that the shellac held up, manufacturers would add ground up stone and carbon black powder to the mix in order to strengthen the otherwise brittle material. Of course, this is unnecessary in modern record pressing. Vinyl is tough enough on its own. And even if such supplements were necessary, there simply isn’t enough carbon black added to today’s records to make a difference on its own.
Another school of thought, also perhaps inspired by the origins of record pressing, is that the deep black color hides flaws in the vinyl. While this may have been necessary in the days of shellac records , modern technology allows for perfectly clear, defect-free records. Unlike when manufacturers pressed records with a mixture of shellac and ground-up stone, modern vinyl makers don’t need to worry about bits of bugs and dirt making it into the final product.
Still others think carbon black could reduce friction inside the groove and improve audio quality. Carbon is used as a dry lubricant in a variety of fields, but there is simply no documentation of such usage in records. This theory may have come from the fact that shellac records contained a small amount of other lubricants to ensure they released from the mold easily. One of the reasons that PVC is a perfect material for pressing records is its smoothness, which minimizes friction between the record grooves and the needle and eliminates the need for additional lubrication (although groove lubricant does exist).
The Electric Truth
While none of these popular theories hold up to scrutiny, Furnace Record Pressing Staff Engineer, Willem Ytsma, dug a little deeper to provide an explanation. Researching the pigmentation of records, Willem stumbled upon a patent for a conductive phonograph record, and in that patent lies the answer.
PVC is a natural insulator, meaning that it will build up a static charge over time as it’s handled and interacts with other objects. Due to the fact that static electricity attracts dust, that insulative property could be potentially disastrous for records. Any dust that accumulates in a record’s grooves will grind in between the needle and the groove wall when played, wearing down both the groove and the needle, and potentially even becoming permanently lodged in the wall.
Carbon has conductive properties, so adding it to the PVC increases the overall conductivity of the material, lessening the accumulation of static, and therefore, dust, on a record. By coloring records black with carbon-based pigment, manufacturers ensure their records last longer and sound better.
So if you ever pull out a record and someone asks about its color, you can tell them that is why records are black.
How does the pricing work?
Pricing is based on the artwork and packaging of your project.
A popular example is a full-color CD, 4-page insert (think of it as a booklet — a piece of paper folded in half, the cover and back are pages one and two, and the inside are pages three and four), a tray card (the very back of the CD — under the tray holding the CD) assembled in a standard jewel case and shrink wrapped.
Another popular package is a 5×5 CD full color sleeve and disc, assembled and shrink wrapped. Many bands choose this option when their main goal is using the CD as a demo to submit to potential venues.
The possibilities and packaging options go on from there. If you have a specific idea in mind just let us know and we'll be happy to put a quote together for you.
What do you need to provide in order to place a CD order?
We need your CD master or DDP file and the electronic art files in our templates. Accepted formats are Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign files. You can also provide hi-res pdfs.
If your project doesn't consist of all original music, then you do need to have mechanical licenses for any cover songs. Make sure you give credit on any song to the writer.
Need help with the graphics or layout?
We can help there too! We offer both graphic design and layout services, and the pricing is based on your needs and specifications.
What information do you need to include on your graphics?
Short answer — anything you want. It's your project. Things that are commonly included are artist, album title, photos, bios or special thanks, credits for everyone that participated on the project, and copyright information. Booking or contact information should be included if you are using the CD as a demo for potential venues.
How Do Vinyl Records Work?
Vinyl record players are electromagnetic devices that change sound vibrations into electrical signals. When a record spins, it creates sound vibrations that get converted into electrical signals. These signals are fed into electronic amplifiers. Electric amps vibrate and feed the resulting sound into speakers, which amplify it and make it louder. Record players still use the whole needle and groove methodology that a phonograph used, although record players today are much more high tech.
So how do they work exactly? The needle, or stylus of a record player is one of several parts that make up a transducer. A transducer is what changes mechanical energy into electrical energy and changes electrical energy into mechanical energy. The whole system contains a stylus, magnets, coils, cantilever, and a body within a cartridge. The mechanical energy from the sound waves is converted into electrical energy, which is then sent into the amplifier and out to the speakers.
When a vinyl record is made, a needle is used to create grooves in the vinyl that is basically recorded information of the desired sound or music. A needle (or stylus) is also used to read the information contained in the grooves, playing it back so that we can hear the recorded information. On the left side of the groove and on the right side are channels of audio information that makeup stereo sound.
Fun factoid; once upon a time, records were made of rubber. Now, they are vinyl. Another fun factoid; the little grooves in a record would be roughly 500 meters long if you were to unwind it into a straight line.
A master copy of a record is made using a stylus to cut grooves into a round disk. It's sent off to be formed into a master copy of the record. The master copy is ridged instead of grooved. It's basically the “negative” imprint of the record which is formed into a stamp of sorts. The stamp is pressed into steam-softened vinyl, using a hydraulic press. The vinyl disc is cooled with water and viola… a finished vinyl record is born.
Once a vinyl record is made, it is played on a record player. A record player is sometimes called a turntable. Turntables spin wheels using an electric motor. Some are called direct-drive turntables, which use gears to turn the table, and some are called belt-drive turntables, which use a rubber belt and central axle to turn the table. It's important that the turntable spins at just the right speed, because a turntable that spins too fast makes a sound resembling The Chipmunks, and a turntable that spins too slowly makes a sound resembling Eyore.
The cartridge and stylus of a record player trace the groove in the record to reproduce the sound information contained there. The tip of a stylus (also called the needle) is made of industrial diamond, a hard, impure substance that's molded into a point that's shaped like a cone and attached to a little strip of flexible metal.
Mechanical Recording
Long before the digital age came along, devices like Thomas Edison's phonograph were born. The phonograph is considered the granddaddy of modern record players today. The word phonograph actually means sound-writer. Essentially, the phonograph recorded and stored sound mechanically by etching sound waves (or more accurately, the electrical signal of the sound waves) with a needle, onto tinfoil cylinder.
The cylinder was rotated by a hand crank and the needle moved to cut a groove into the tinfoil, recording the sound wave signal. A needle and amplifier were used to reverse the process (in the case of the phonograph, the amplifier was a horn) and the recorded sound was then played back. Of course, the phonograph had many limitations, but it was the early vision of what would later become known as the record player.
Originally, Thomas Edison created the phonograph as a way to record dictation, with intentions for using it in office work and as a way for teachers to record lessons. His very first recording was said to be a recording of the nursery rhyme “Mary had a Little Lamb.” Unfortunately, phonograph recordings weren't very practical as the tinfoil didn't last very long and the phonograph device itself was too complicated for most people to use.
Not long after Thomas Edison set aside his vision to work on other projects, Emile Berliner came along and developed similar technology, except instead of etching grooves to record sound waves into a tinfoil coil, the grooves were cut into a flat disk using a needle. Another needle was used to read the grooves and it was called the gramophone. It has a much closer resemblance to record players today.
Unlike the phonograph, which could record and play sound from one machine, the gramophone could only playback sound. Disks (or records) to play on the gramophone were made separately, which opened the door to recordings being produced in mass to be shared with listeners over and over, using the gramophone to play them. Sometimes the terms gramophone and phonograph are used interchangeably, but both are considered early precursors to modern-day record players and used the needle and groove design that has lasted through the ages.
The main difference between the phonograph created by Thomas Edison, the gramophone, and the record players that are still around and used today, is that the phonograph and gramophone were both completely mechanical technology. Record players, however, especially modern-day record players, use a combination of mechanical and electromagnetic technology to record and reproduce sound waves.
The needle is attached to the tone arm of the record player and is the part that rests in the grooves that have been cut into the vinyl and traces them, following line as the record spins on turntables. The vibrations that result run through the cartridge and converts the vibrations into an electromagnetic signal that is amplified and ultimately produces the noise that we call music.
Vinyl records and record players became more popular over time, but originally, they were only designed to produce monophonic sound. With the advent of stereophonic sound technology, it made it so that two sound waves could be recorded to play tracks at the same time. This dual playback of sound waves created a richer, more robust sound that could be pumped through two speakers instead of just one.
The history of vinyl record players and how vinyl records work is long and colorful. Ultimately, vinyl records and record players sparked revolutions that allowed listeners to experience greater diversity in the music they listened to, giving people wider access to different styles and varieties of sound. Plus, records gave musicians the ability to share their art with more than just the locals, which helped to grow the music industry into the behemoth it is today.