Installing our Mattison 400S Grinder

Sometimes you guess right; sometimes you guess wrong. And sometimes the wrong guess is not the worst thing in the world. We did not anticipate that the demand for our existing Mattison 400S grinder would rocket. The work load was so great that we could not justify having operating it in a rented space along with the additional manpower costs as for safety’s sake we had to have two operators present. So we ended up having to tear up our “brand new” floor and build a base and bring the 400S grinder home. Watch the process; when you have a 100.000 pound (45,360kilos) machine you just don’t put it on the floor.

November 19, 2009 – First thing to do is to dig up our new floor for the machine base. Sounds easy: determine where you want the machine, snap some lines; do some saw cutting, lift out the concrete. Problem is you got to get someone to do the “heavy lifting”. So we again called on our friends at Scherrer Construction. They called in Roman’s Excavating do to the excavating and concrete removal – a process made easier with our 15 ton (13,600kilos) overhead cranes.

November 20, 2010 – Roman’s Excavating knew that this job was on a fast track so they were in and out the same day. Now Scherrer has to prepare the base before pouring the concrete. Styrofoam is placed around the perimeter to dampen vibrations and then Scott Bower and Robert Wagner begin to install all the rebar necessary to give the concrete base the strength to hold a 100.000 pound (45,360kilos) machine. This is the first layer; once completed the base will be interlaced with rebar.

November 23, 2000 – The rebar is installed and the concrete poured. Four truck loads with a total of 33 yards of concrete; we end up with a base weighing 66 tons (60,000kilos). Scherrer concrete finisher Dave Anderson uses a power trowel working the concrete to get the rich brown finish which tells him that the concrete has been adequately worked. Now we wait for 30 days as we want to “wet finish” the concrete and then give it a sealer.

December 23, 2009 – We waited 30 days and on the 31st day we started to install the machine on its base. An appropriate Christmas gift; remember when you got your kids a toy for Christmas and the box said: “Some assembly required”. That’s Kinetic Vice-President of Operations Cash Masters practicing “some assembly required” on our 400S grinder.  Due to customer pressure to get this machine up and running we had to skip our normal practice of repainting any re-built machine and giving it a show room finish. This machine has to go to work!

December 28, 2009 – Now starts the task of leveling the base. To put things in perspective the base is 52’9” (16m) long by 36” (1m) wide by 29” (.75m) high and weighs about 45,000 pounds (20,400kilos). Before we can put the table on the base Sam Zackery has to do the leveling and straightening. Sam is an interesting story; he used to work at the old Mattison Machine Works in Rockford, IL. In fact he worked on assembling this very machine when it was manufactured. Sam retired and lives in the Milwaukee area. Cash Masters contacted him and said: “How would you like to help me work on putting a 400S together?” It didn’t take Sam long to let Cash know that he would love to get out of the house to help out Kinetic. What a great resource to have!

December 29, 2009 – Sam Zackery has the machine level within .001” (025mm); now he has to straighten the base to within .003” (.076mm). A machine tool with hardened ways has one flat way and one V way. So a thin wire is pulled tight centered on the bottom of the V at each end of the V way. Using a sliding microscope you can determine how much you have to “push” the machine one way or the other to straighten it out. Only problem is what when the machine base is 52’9” (16m)  long and weighs 45,000 pounds (20,400kilos) it is not the simplest task to “persuade” it to move.

January 7, 2010 – The column is installed and the table is ready to be placed on the base. People have asked: “How did you figure out how high you wanted to build your addition?” We didn’t throw a dart against the wall; Vice-President of Operations Cash Masters had to determine how much height was required under the crane hook at maximum working height to install the columns of these huge grinders. The cranes were used to tip the columns upright and set them in place. Then it was just a series of additions to add in the depth of the crane, room to install the crane, and extra 12 inches (305mm) – better to have a couple of extra inches just in case, and then the room necessary for the structural members and roof deck and the building height was determined. Just as the crane columns were designed so that both cranes could operate at full load right next to each other (in crane-speak that is “no bumper restrictions”) as Cash knew that he would need both cranes for installing the machine base.

January 11, 2010 – The base is level and straight, the column is mounted, and the table is on the bed. Now Sam Zachery is working to install the 250 HP spindle assembly.

February 10, 2010 – We have been busy the last month with a lot of work getting our Mattison 400S ready to grind. Pulling power cables, completing wiring the electrical panel, plumbing the water filtration system and grinding in the magnetic chucks to prepare them for the machine. Now it is crunch time; Operator Michael Searle turns on the power to welcome this grinder to its new home; it has a lot of work to keep it busy! And the 400S responds beyond our expectations.