Stand-Alone Rolling Mills
There are many different sizes and types of stand-alone rolling mills. They can be 2-high or 4-high. They can be used for large reductions or skin passing a single piece, strip, or plate. Stand-alone rolling mills can reduce expensive exotic alloys that cost more than the price of gold. These are used in the electronics industry for making what is called targets. Targets go into a sputtering machine for applying metal onto a surface with extreme accuracy. In fact, many targets are used to apply metal onto plastics such as the silver lining in potato chip bags to keep the potato chips fresh. Many unusual shapes can be made with a stand-alone rolling mill. In fact, in developing countries, many aluminum slabs are cast, and the material is reduced in a stand-alone rolling mill to produce aluminum sheet for cooking utensils. This process takes a substantial amount of labor. Many plate mills are stand-alone. Hot steel can be in slab form and reduced to plate. This is sometimes done on a revering basis with passes going back and forth with roller tables to allow for substantial reductions.
Rubber and certain plastics are made on a stand-alone rolling mill. Sometimes these are referred to as calendar mills. Many unusual plastics, such as brake linings, are made on stand-alone rolling mills. Expensive alloys, such as gold, silver, tantalum, and niobium, are made on stand-alone rolling mills
