PRODUCT REVIEWS
Stretch levelling lines for coil processors
Athader designs, manufactures and installs coil processing lines designed for high quality and productivity. Its head office and manufacturing facilities are in the San Sebastian area, north of Spain. Its product range includes slitting lines, cut-to-length lines, recoiling lines and coil / sheet automated packaging systems. The manufacturer also specialises in revamping and upgrading existing coil processing lines
“ We have delivered more than 350 coil processing lines to over 30 countries,” it said.
Athader, with its partner Leveltek International, has now supplied five stretchlevelling lines( including the last four cut-tolength lines with stretch levelling installed in Europe) over the last four years. In the stretch-levelling process, the coil is uncoiled, stretch-levelled and either recoiled or cut to length.
“ This positions our companies as European market leaders in this technology. The stretch leveller eliminates visible shape defects such as edge waves, centre buckles, quarter buckles and mandrel breaks. The stretching process can also eliminate‘ memory’, the distortion that can occur in cut parts after laser or plasma cutting of visibly flat sheet,” continued the company.
“ Through our proprietary non-marking process that grips and stretches the unrolled coil, our equipment eliminates shape defects such as edge waves, centre buckle, quarter buckle and mandrel breaks. This restores to perfection coils that would otherwise end up as scrap metal and is guaranteed not to mark or scratch the surface being stretched. The stretched material is‘ laser flat’, whether sheet or coil,” it explained.
The Athader-Leveltek process is suitable for coils that, said Athader, require“ exceptional flatness” in laser cutting, stamping, slitting and cut-to-length operations.
“ Even with materials that can be flattened using other methods, our process provides a higher standard of flatness for critical or special surfaces that are bright annealed,
polished, painted, patterned, plated or coated. Other benefits of stretch levelling, compared to other technologies, are simplicity of regulation, without the need for experienced operators, and a consequent reduction of adjustment and process time resulting in less rejections,” added the manufacturer.
Athader-Leveltek stretch levellers process various materials including carbon steel; stainless steel; titanium; aluminium; brass; copper; high-temperature alloy; galvanized steel and other ferrous and non-ferrous materials. The stretch leveller can be integrated into into existing cut-to-length lines or coil-to-coil lines. The company also provides new and retrofit cut-to-length or coil-to-coil lines.
“ Our unique design concept, stretchlevelling technology and flying shear with turnkey solutions give our customers a clear edge over their competitors. We will be highlighting this solution on our booth H-1060( Hall 10) at Blechexpo 2025 in Stuttgart, Germany( 21-24 October 2025),” concluded the manufacturer. n
www
. athader. com
Versatile MIG / MAG welding control
The new Expert 3.0 control for MIG / MAG XQ welding machines from welding specialist, EWM, offers precision settings and high levels of adaptation to specific welding tasks.
“ The control is characterised above all by a high level of user convenience. For instance, the high-resolution, seven-inch graphic display ensures perfect visualisation, and the intuitive menu navigation makes for easy operation even for demanding tasks,” said EWM.
“ With direct access to important functions and an overview of all parameters, the new Expert 3.0 control offers optimum support for numerous welding tasks. It is compatible with all XQ power sources in the flexFit housing( Titan XQ, Phoenix XQ and Taurus XQ) and the modular, decompact Phoenix XQ and Taurus XQ power sources. The control’ s userfriendliness includes the large display with colour image and graphic support for displaying important parameters and welding processes. The parameters are infinitely adjustable via a click wheel, so welders can operate the control even while wearing welder’ s gloves. The five‘ favourites’ buttons make it easy to save recurring application combinations.
Above left: The new Expert 3.0 control from EWM. Above right: The seven-inch graphic display allows the user to keep an eye on information at all times.
Colour coding indicates the current machine status,” it added.
The JOB finder helps with the correct selection of the welding JOB and allows the user to set parameters quickly via a defined selection list. Operation can be customised using the hotkey function. The double assignment of the quick selection buttons allows individual functions to be stored. The control is operated with push buttons. The integrated Xbutton secures usage via assigned access rights, designed to increase safety in the process.
Family company, EWM, was founded in Mündersbach, in Germany’ s Westerwald region, in 1957. Today, it has over 400 sales and service support outlets across the globe, making it one of the world’ s leading producers of welding technology. n
www. ewm-group. com / en /
52 | ismr. net | ISMR June 2025