Can Tooling
Durable Components Designed to Keep Your Line Up and Running
The leading manufacturer of ceramic can tooling materials, CoorsTek is internationally recognized as a leader in the development and use of ceramic technology. In fact, CoorsTek and Coors Brewing jointly pioneered the two-piece aluminum beverage can in 1959.
Manufactured in state-of-the-art facilities, our advanced ceramic canning tool components increase yields, improve quality, and extend machine life in can making plants worldwide.
BENEFITS FOR 2-PIECE AND 3-PIECE CANNING APPLICATIONS
CoorsTek ceramics offer high hardness, corrosion resistance, and thermal management to provide superior performance and life in a variety of tooling applications including:
- Necking dies and knockouts
- Z-Bars
- Stripper fingers
- Spin flangers
- Extractor rings and domers
- Seaming rolls
- Redraw sleeves
- Diablo rolls
- Decorator mandrels
Other Can Tooling Components
Ceramic Necker Tooling
CoorsTek Hot Isostatically Pressed (HIPped) zirconia materials are the industry standard for ceramic necking dies and knockouts, outperforming tungsten carbide in several ways. The sub-micron grain size enables an excellent polish for low-friction, voiding wrinkling, puckering, and splitting flanges. Hipped (Hot Isostatically Pressed) Zirconia has no surface voids to collect buildup and no binder phase to leach out which could create voids in service. Any residues built up after long run periods can be easily cleaned with mild caustic, reducing maintenance costs.
Ceramic Printer Mandrels
Developed and patented by CoorsTek, our ceramic printer mandrels are extremely hard and wear resistant, providing service life in excess of a decade. The highly polished, low-friction surface provides faster loading, and the low thermal expansion coefficient offers dimensional stability over wide range of plant temperatures.
Ceramic Z-Bars
Z-Bars generate the correct over-lap of sheet metal at the weld. As an electrical insulator, CoorsTek ceramics stop any current leakage — enabling the weld control system to be more stable.
Ceramic Stripper Tooling
CoorsTek ceramic fingers have exceptional wear resistance, offering superior life as compared to carbides. The ceramic fingers can be reground, further extending the service life. Smoother surfaces and lower friction provide a “velvet touch” that will not mark can bodies. Ceramic fingers are also low maintenance – any aluminum build up can be removed with a mild caustic or light diamond polishing.
Ceramic Diablo Rolls
Diablo rolls are used to hold the shape of the can during welding. Zirconia is used for its high electrical resistivity, so the roll is not heated up by eddy currents induced by the large magnetic field generated by the welding process.
Ceramic Spin Flangers
CoorsTek spin flangers provide dramatically reduced “angle hair” production (white lacquer stripped from the inside of the can)
CoorsTek helps the aluminum can industry save millions of tons of aluminum each year.
