When most people think of a rolling mill, they visualize sizable machinery in ferrous (iron, carbon steel and stainless steels) and non-ferrous (copper, brass, lead, etc.) integrated or electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill of today, to small manually cranked rolling devices used at jewelers to reduce the thickness of the precious metal or impart a pattern on the surface of the metal to be fabricated into a chain or ring.

Rolling mills have many functions. They can be used to reduce the thickness of material quite accurately (+/-.0001”) or compress the material to create a uniform density throughout the strip or impart a surface finish on one or both sides of the material, just to name the most common methods.

Rolling mills are not a standard machine tool, nor are they built for stock.  They are designed and built-to-order to specifically accomplish an end product or process.

At one point during the industrial revolution in America, the United States led the world in hot and cold rolling, plate mills, slabbing mills and blooming mills.  Companies such as Mesta, United, Blaw-Knox, Lewis, Continental, and Bliss were attributed to building some of the largest rolling mills in the world before World War II.  In fact, Mesta and United pioneered the rolling process to reduce very thick as cast slabs into plate, the plate into hot rolled coils and the hot rolled coil into cold rolled coil.

Many of these old mills are still running today as a result of upgraded electrical and hydraulic systems, including hydraulic screwdowns, hydraulic roll bend, and tension control.

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Before metal is cut to a specific weight or width, it comes in the form of a massive coil weighing thousands and sometimes even tens of thousands of pounds. These coils are then processed by a machine known as a slitting line. The function of the slitting line is to break down these coils into smaller pieces based on the customers’ needs. Once the coils are uncoiled they are then cut to the specifications need; they are then recoiled and shipped off to be used by the client.

When considering what machine is right for a specific job, it is important to consider the thickness of the material being processed, the type of material being used, the end usage of the material, and the amount of metal that will be processed by the machine on an annual basis. These are all important factors to ensure the finished product is produced on time and within the correct specifications needed.

American Steel Products Company is dedicated to providing the right machines, on time and on budget to clients all over the world. Our dedicated team is consistently looking for new technologies and opportunities to grow our industry while providing cost effective solutions for our clients. For more information regarding out products and services visit our product pages or call or email us directly.

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