At Helander, our metal spinning and sheet hydroforming processes produce a range of durable and high-quality metal parts. Tank heads especially are a perfect fit for our metal forming processes. We produce our tank heads in a number of dimensions and shapes, depending on each client’s specific needs. This blog will discuss how Helander makes tank heads and the advantages of using custom-made options instead of choosing stock tank heads.

Customizing Tank Heads: Metal Spinning and Sheet Hydroforming

Metal spinning and hydroforming are both efficient, fast, and precise processes—all of which are qualities that produce top-of-the-line tank heads.

Metal Spinning

Metal spinning is a metalworking process that creates high-performance, axially symmetrical parts. The process transforms a metal disc or tube by rotating it and forming it to a mandrel, clamping it to a lathe, and producing a round shape. Some of the advantages of metal spinning include:

• Lower costs to alternative forming methods
• Shorter lead times, with the components available within weeks instead of months
• Maximum design flexibility, as they can easily be changed to work with evolving product designs
• Seamless, high-quality construction that produces durable and smooth objects without seams or welds

Metals that are compatible with metal spinning include:

• Stainless steel
• Copper
• Aluminum
• Carbon steel
• Inconel
• Hastelloy
• Titanium
• Bronze
• Brass

Hydroforming

Hydroforming is a fast and efficient process that produces structurally strong components with minimal material waste. It is a reasonably priced technique that is the preferred method for shaping intricate components from ductile metals. The advantages of hydroforming include:

• Reduced overall time and costs of designing and creating the mold due to the use of a single form surface tool
• Easy access to resources, as the force that shapes the steel uses water, which is widely available and cost-effective
• Fast changes to the design of the mold, such as a few days, since the process requires just the single tooling

Compatible metals for hydroforming include:

• Steel
• Stainless steel
• Copper
• Brass
• Aluminum

At Helander, we implement advanced sheet hydroforming techniques and tools to produce tank heads that require a diameter of up to 20” with a depth of up to 10”. Our team produces tank heads of up to 100” in diameter for larger projects. These tank heads have a metal thickness of 2” for aluminum, 0.375” for steel, and 0.250” for stainless steel. We can produce sturdy and durable tank heads in many shapes, including elliptical, curved, and circular.

Custom vs. Stock Tank Heads

You can buy stock, off-the-shelf tank heads in bulk, but many businesses have a specific and custom design and model in mind which proposes a need for custom, specialty tank heads. The most notable advantage of custom tank heads is the certainty that it will fit. Using exact measurements for the tank head, there is a perfect fit every time, which decreases the back-and-forth time and energy that is spent acquiring stock tank heads.

At Helander, we offer custom tank head production per customer design and specification. That being said, we do not keep stock of tank heads because our tank heads are all custom made.

Contact Us for Custom Tank Heads

Helander has more than 80 years of experience in producing custom metal parts, and we provide our metal forming services to everyone from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. We ensure customer satisfaction through quality, on-time delivery, customer service, and ethical behavior, and we comply with all customer and regulatory requirements.

We are a custom manufacturer of tank heads with certifications, including ISO 9001:2015, AS9100 Rev. D, and ASME Section 8, Div. 1. We are proud to produce custom tank heads that meet the highest industry standards and exceed our customers’ expectations.  To learn more about the custom tank heads and capabilities at Helander, contact us today.

Hydroforming is frequently and advantageously applied within the aerospace industry. The typically high complexity of aerospace components necessitates a fabrication technique that can effectively produce the desired shapes and forms. Metal sheet hydroforming provides an economical manufacturing solution for parts with asymmetrical or complex geometries and irregular contours as the process requires fewer passes to produce the desired part than a comparable matched die stamping process.

Hydroforming is suitable for limited production runs of metal parts with irregular contours that cannot be formed by stamping. Additionally, unlike metal spinning, hydroforming allows fabricators to process extremely thin metal sheets and maintain original metal finishes.

Virtually all metals that can be cold formed can undergo the hydroforming process, including:

• Aluminum
• Nickel
• Copper
• Stainless steel
• Carbon
• High-strength, high-temperature alloys

In addition to the wide range of suitable materials, hydroforming offers a number of unique advantages for the aerospace industry. The following blog post will provide an overview of these advantages.

Unlimited Geometric Possibilities

(click to expand)

As opposed to matched die stamping which requires mated male and female dies, the only tooling that sheet hydroforming requires is a punch (to serve as the male die) and a ring (to hold the blank in place). A rubber diaphragm and pressurized forming chamber function as the female die component. As the urethane bladder does not have a distinct, solid shape, it can take on the shape of any conceivable geometry. This quality allows for the formation of more complex forms with concavities that would be difficult, if not impossible, to produce using standard solid die stamping.

Compared to conventional stamping techniques, hydroforming enables fabricators to form difficult shapes and irregular features within a single press cycle. This process characteristic reduces the number of forming operations required. Additionally, as hydroformed parts can be produced to net shape or near-net shape, a single hydroformed component is often able to replace multiple parts, resulting in assemblies with fewer parts, higher strength, and lower costs.

Combined, these process qualities make sheet hydroforming an ideal manufacturing solution for shorter press runs of uniquely shaped parts used in aerospace applications.

Superior Surface Finishes

In addition to its virtually infinite geometric possibilities, hydroforming also produces parts and products with superior consistency, strength, and surface finishes.

• Superior consistency. Compared to deep draw stamping operations, the uniform application of pressure during sheet hydroforming operations creates less friction, reducing the amount of strain and stretching experienced by the material and, ultimately, increasing its drawability. These qualities facilitate more consistent and even wall thickness formation.
• Superior strength. Less strain on the workpiece material also leads to parts with greater structural integrity. This quality allows fabricators to produce more lightweight and thinner parts with the same performance parameters as a stamped alternative, which reduces material and manufacturing costs.
• Superior surface finishes. Due to the decreased friction and absence of rigid tool contact, sheet hydroforming creates blemish-free formed parts with smooth surface finishes that do not require additional finishing operations, such as polishing or buffing. Process capabilities for precision fabrication ofcontoured and flat surfaces and utilization of exotic materials also reduce the number of surface imperfections requiring further finishing. By minimizing the amount of finishing operations required, the hydroforming process decreases the total cost of production.

The above advantages lead to hydroforming being the manufacturing technique of choice for critical aerospace parts and components that require superior surface finishes.

Economical, Streamlined Prototyping

Hydroforming provides a quick, low-cost prototyping solution. Compared to the tooling used in similar manufacturing processes, hydroforming tooling can be up to 90% less expensive.

At Helander, we use a state-of-the-art 20-inch hydroforming press for our aerospace prototyping projects. We can produce parts with diameters between 1–30 inches and part thickness ranging from 0.030–0.250 inches to ±.003 inches tolerances.

During the design phase, our engineers use CAD and CAM technology to produce prototype models for our client’s products. At any stage of the production process, clients can provide notes or observations for design revisions. Our team can also offer recommendations for part improvements if the client needs a more aesthetic or resilient product.

Our hydroforming capabilities, combined with our commitment to maintaining open client communication, results in superior quality metal components for precise aerospace application needs. For more information about our aerospace-specific capabilities and services, contact us today.

Contact Helander Today

Hydroforming provides several advantages in the manufacture of aerospace parts and components, including greater geometric possibilities, superior surface finishes, and more economical, streamlined operations.

For over 80 years, Helander has offered industry-leading metalworking services. Our hydroforming capabilities enable us to meet our clients’ needs and the stringent manufacturing, engineering, and precision requirements of the aerospace industry. To learn more about our hydroforming services and capabilities for aerospace applications, contact us today.

Helander Company has been a staple of the industry for generations, producing prototypes and full production runs for industries ranging from high-end furniture, to medicine and aerospace.

Even with our decades of experience, clients deserve confirmation that the work they receive is the best available. To that end, we make it a point to maintain certifications from the industry’s top organizations, including:

• Nadcap — The National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (Nadcap), a certification program administered by PRI (Performance Review Institute), ensures that all contractors working within the industry meet stringent quality and safety criteria. The cooperative program aims to improve reliability and quality while reducing quality assurance costs. To become certified, a company must undergo a PRI on-site audit, which examines their execution of a particular industry specialty, such as chemical processing, heat treating, or conventional machining. Helander team received our latest certification in welding in November, 2015, reinforcing our inclusion on the Nadcap approved vendors list.

• Honeywell SCA (Source Certifying Agent) — We employ a number of Source Certifying Agents (SCAs) to oversee production at Helander. All SCAs must register and take a detailed exam in order to qualify as an Agent. Serving as highly educated, highly trained process experts, SCAs act as the key contact point between our team and our customers. For example, we have an SCA certified in Honeywell processes who specifically manages our work with Honeywell and ensures that we maintain technical compliance with all Honeywell equipment, procedures, and requirements.

• AS9100C — Helander holds AS9100 Rev. C certification in metal spinning services and hydroforming for the commercial, aerospace, and defense sectors. A standard quality management system used by contractors across the aerospace industry, AS9100 supplements our ISO 9001:2008 certificate and ensures consistent adherence to the industry’s most stringent standards of service, safety, and quality. We have been certified as consistently following the best existing practices, materials, and metal spinning processes outlined by all regulatory agencies associated with the commercial, aerospace, and defense fields.

Our certifications demonstrate our deep commitment to quality, but we don’t stop there. Our team is dedicated to meeting the tight tolerances and fast turnaround times that our clients need to keep their projects on budget and on time.  

Working with titanium, stainless steel, aluminum, and more diverse metals, our experienced staff delivers certified quality products to customers around the world. For more information about our certifications or to inquire about we can help with your project, contact us directly.

Solutions for Custom Furniture Design

The modern use of metals to construct furniture dates back to cast iron tables created in the early 19^th century; contemporary designers seeking custom parts still frequently rely on metal for the construction of high quality furniture. Metal furniture not only remains durable and strong throughout its lifetime, but it also offers construction flexibility and deeply pleasing aesthetics.  While many metal forming processes exist for furniture construction, one of the best methods to create attractive and complex furniture projects is metal spinning.

Flexible Options for Design and Construction

An Ideal Material for Furniture

To create components like metal table columns and chair bases, it is imperative to use materials that can maintain strength as well as beauty. Steel not only offers the strength needed for furniture applications, but also offers excellent longevity with minimal maintenance.

More Than Just Metal Spinning

A range of methods can be used to augment and complete the metal spinning process; welding, hydroforming, and other metal-working processes are also employed in fabricating furniture from steel. At Helander Company, we offer a full variety of metalworking processes to manufacture furniture that fulfills our customers’ exact specifications. We also provide a variety of finishes to create furniture offer the most pleasing aesthetics with superior strength.

To learn more about metal spinning and how it can add a unique and distinctive style to custom furniture, check out our latest eBook: Metal Spinning = Cost Effective Metal Forming.  In it, you will learn about the process’s many advantages, including its flexibility, excellent metal yield, reduced material requirements, and more—all essential for custom furniture and a wealth of other applications.          

Durability in the Most Important Settings

In the world of food processing, manufacturing the highest quality equipment is of paramount importance.  Not only does food need to be kept safe, but the equipment itself must be able to function smoothly even in the most difficult industrial conditions. 

Food processing equipment needs to endure high temperatures and resist corrosion in damp environments.  While there are a number of different materials and processes that are commonly used to manufacture this equipment, metal spinning using stainless steel allows for highly durable equipment that meets customers’ exact specifications.

The Advantages of Stainless Steel

Corrosion-resistant, easy to clean, and recognized worldwide for its adherence to tough quality standards, stainless steel is known for being an excellent material for food processing equipment.      

• Corrosion-resistant —The material is known for maintaining smooth surfaces even years after manufacture.

• Highly Durable — Its excellent longevity comes from unparalleled corrosion resistance, saving money in the long run by reducing maintenance, repair and replacement frequency.

• Recyclable—An environmentally friendly metal, stainless steel is not only 100% recyclable, but it can also be easily cleaned. This eliminates the need for harsh, aggressive chemicals that would then be added to wastewater.

• Excellent Flavor Protection—Stainless steel is completely non-reactive when it comes into contact with food; it does not take on any odor or flavor of food during manufacturing. This not only ensures the quality of the food, but also makes steel processing equipment easier to clean and re-use multiples times.

• The Most Hygienic Metal—When sanitation is of the utmost importance, stainless steel is an excellent choice. The material is easy to clean and does not have any pores, which means that it will never retain dirt or bacteria when cleaned properly.

• Meets All Relevant Standards—Parts made from stainless steel meet all applicable legislation and standards, including National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) guidelines and US CFR 21, part 110, subpart C, Sec. 110.40.

Metal Spinning and Hydroforming: A Superior Process

While a number of different processing methods can be used to manufacture commercial food equipment, metal spinning and hydroforming are among the strongest options.

Each method is highly efficient when compared to other processes, such as metal stamping.  Not only do metal spinning and hydroforming reduce scrap and material costs associated with stamping, but they also allow for maximum flexibility in equipment design.

These processes allow procurement professionals to fulfill almost any design specification, from heavy duty industrial cooking kettles to decorative bottles and more.

Helander From Start to Finish

At Helander, we lead the industry in manufacturing the highest quality commercial food equipment. Using a broad range of processes, including hydroforming, metal spinning, and welding, along with a complete array of finishing options, we manufacture every component to be ISO 9001:2008, AS9100 Rev. C certified.

This guarantees the highest quality at every step of the process.  To find out more about how Helander can help you fulfill your most demanding requirements for food processing equipment, please contact us.

Helander Company is proud to have received an ASME “U” Stamp for our boiler and pressure vessel products. We have always been committed to quality and reliability, but what does this ASME compliance mean for you and your applications?

What is ASME?

ASME is an organization that allows engineers from all disciplines to share their knowledge and develop their skills through collaboration. Currently, the organization has more than 140,000 members across 151 countries. These members are college students, project managers, researchers, executives, and more.

Along with membership, ASME is capable of providing codes and standards across both private and public manufacturing industries. With such a broad reach, ASME safety standards apply across many different products and a range of applications.

Helander Quality

We have been certified as ASME compliant as an extension of our commitment to providing high-quality, ASME-compliant parts. We always strive to meet all requirements put forth from the client and regulatory standards.

We apply our high standards to the fabrication of float products, pressure vessels, and pressure heads.

• Float Products – Our precision hydroforming and welding processes allow Helander to engineer and fabricate custom components for float valves. These products will meet or exceed the highest standards set by both our clients and all applicable regulations. We can provide a vast range of shapes and sizes in order to accommodate even the most demanding applications in industrial processes.

• Pressure Vessels – Using a specialized hot spinning process, Helander is capable of producing seamless pressure vessels for use as gas storage reservoirs. Vessels can be produced with or without bottlenecks, depending on customer requirements, and can be produced with stainless steel, mild steel, aluminum, and more.

• Pressure Heads – Vessel pressure head products can be produced through either our high-precision hydroforming capabilities or through our metal spinning process. Each of these heads can then be welded to the body of the pressure vessel, and are guaranteed to meet all ASME standards, as well as your own specifications.

If you are in need of pressure heads, pressure vessels, or float products, we can provide you with materials that meet all of your requirements. Our adherence to ASME standards for boiler and pressure vessels ensures that the finished product provides you with the highest quality and longest life possible.

For more information on our products and how we can assist with your needs, contact Helander today.

While you're here, check out our eBook, Metal Spinning and Hydroforming- The Stamping Alternative, by clicking the link below.

The metal spinning process consists of a tube or a disc of metal that is rotated at high-speed and machined into an axially symmetrical product using either a vertical or horizontal lathe. The advantage of spinning over other forming processes is its capacity to create seamless products from a single piece of material, with relatively low-cost tooling. Without seams, parts can withstand much higher internal and external pressures.

You will typically find spun metal components in decorative and architectural parts. Spun metal parts are also featured in variety of machines, cookware, gas cylinders, and brass instruments, and can be made from a variety of materials. Let's discuss the three most common materials for spinning. 

When considering material choices for spun parts, the most important factors are cost, the finished part's desired shape, and the application. It is well known that commodity prices fluctuate based on global supply and demand forces, fuel prices, and input material costs, but steel is generally a cheaper option than most other metals.

Steel is an extremely durable material, and much harder than aluminum. Its strength makes it less prone to warping, deformation, and bending under high forces or heat stress. Moreover, steel is a very dense material. In fact, it is 2.5-times denser than aluminum. This ensures that steel spun parts will not dent or scratch easily.

Aluminum

While aluminum is generally a more expensive option, it is more malleable and elastic than steel. It can therefore be used to create shapes with deeper and more intricate features – shapes that would end up cracking or ripping if spun with steel.

In addition to its malleability, aluminum is naturally resistant to corrosion and does not rust, and therefore it does not require any surface treatment after spinning. Since coating/painting is not required, you do not have to worry about scratching and surface wear, exposing the part to corrosion. This makes aluminum the natural choice for wet or abrasive environments. 

Copper

Copper, along with steel and aluminum, is one of the most commonly used materials in metal spinning. It is non-magnetic, versatile, and aesthetically appealing. Typically, copper is a more expensive option than aluminum or steel.

It is particularly known for its exceptional thermal and electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, high ductility/workability, recyclability, and antimicrobial natural. Interestingly, its tensile strength actually doubles when work-hardened. Moreover, copper is a soft metal that is easy to work with.

Copper spun parts are often used for lighting, medical equipment, pipes and sinks, roofing, and decorative applications such as jewelry. 

Other Metals

In addition to steel, aluminum, and copper, Helander also manufactures spun parts using a variety of other metals such as Inconel, Hastelloy, titanium, bronze, and brass, each with their associated pros and cons. 

Metal spinning is often the best choice for symmetrical parts because of the seamless construction, low-cost tooling, and low levels of wasted material. A variety of metals can be formed into spun parts: the right choice depends on the cost requirements, the shape of the part, and the working conditions.

Steel is a low-cost material offering high strength and durability, while aluminum permits more complex part shapes and a greater resistance to corrosion. Copper is like aluminum in many ways, but is typically more expensive. For this reason, copper is often appropriate for applications where its aesthetic properties outweigh its high cost.

Want to learn more?

Contact us to learn more about our metal spinning capabilities and the various material options for your application, or check out our newest eBook, 5 Metal Spun and Hydroformed Items that Required Surface Finishing, to learn more about how we can assist in your project from start to finish. 

Too often in the metal fabrication industry, the phrase “we're not set up for that” really means “we don't want to do that.” When customers are met with either the unwillingness to manufacture their parts to print or the inexperience to know how to do so properly, the end project suffers greatly. Granted, it's important for designs to be practical and feasible, but when a manufacturer says, “metal spinning with special alloys is just too difficult” it's simply not true...for Helander anyway.

Special alloys are in no way a hindrance to getting the custom parts you want, in the specifications you want them, and in the tightest of tolerances. In fact, one of the major advantages of creating parts via metal spinning is the ability to create quality, uniform, products out of traditional metal, alloys, and exotics alike. As long as a part is ductile it can be metal spun and even high-strength alloys are workable and machinable. 

What Kind of Alloys?

To reiterate, alloys are not only feasible to work with, they are actually highly malleable and form very efficiently. This includes high-strength materials as well as high-temperature and other special alloys, some of which include:

• Hastelloy® – Considered an exotic metal, Hastelloy® is used when a project needs extra strength but also must be corrosion-resistant. Hastelloy® is a nickel alloy that can also include chromium, iron, copper, cobalt, and manganese. There are almost two dozen different types of Hastelloy® alloys and some of the properties can exceed that of stainless steel in corrosive environments. Despite being a high-performance, 'super' alloy, Hastelloy® forms well and responds to metal spinning, creating durable, rigid, resistant parts for use in a wide variety of industries.

• Inconel® – A nickel alloy containing a large amount of chromium, Inconel® can be difficult to form in other metal fabrication techniques but responds very well to spinning. Inconel® is known as a high-strength steel that is not only extremely durable, but also resistant to corrosion and oxidization. It can be used in aerospace, chemical, and aqueous applications to name a few.

These are just two of the many special alloys that Helander can fabricate using our metal spinning capabilities. To learn more about how we work with a variety of materials, or for specific information on your project needs, feel free to contact us today 630.268.9292. 

Light reflectors are used by architectural and commercial lighting professionals to augment artificial light. Since people obtain the majority of their information through their sense of sight, light reflectors are always in high demand; these products can provide appropriate lighting, which helps people process visual information faster and with greater clarity.

Proper lighting establishes your ideal ambiance; light reflectors aid in controlling the amount and intensity of light in specific rooms or areas. To achieve desired consumer results, light reflectors are often manufactured through metal spinning—a specialized metalworking process known for its abundant benefits, including extreme customization, low-tooling cost, and quality finished products.

Spun metal light reflectors can be custom engineered to enhance any lighting set up; these products can have either seamless or riveted/welded constructions, and are available in diverse sizes, shapes, materials, and finishes.

With the use of metal spinning, companies can choose between cylindrical, spherical, or hemispherical products made from any metal material—these include brass, copper, stainless steel, and aluminum (the most common material for light reflectors).

The metal spinning process is well-suited for any production volume, from prototype to high volume, and the speed of the process allows for timelier delivery of higher-quality products.

Click here to download our Metal Spinning and Hydroforming eBook, or click the button below.

Metal spinning is a well-known fabrication process that produces axially symmetric parts. This process is simple and yields high-quality results, and as such, it has become a primary production method for several manufacturers.

Metal spun parts have proven to be essential to various industrial and commercial applications. A wide variety of shapes and geometries can be achieved using metal spinning.

• Hemispheres and Spheres are highly versatile shapes. Hemispheres are frequently used in the lighting industry as decorative fixtures and in the communications industry as satellite dishes. Hemispheres can be welded together to create spheres, which provide the strength needed for demanding geological applications.

• Cones are used in applications that include alternate energy support and soil and concrete testing; in fact, two cones can be welded or soldered together to create slump cone funnels, which are required for concrete testing in the U.S.

• Flanged parts are crucial when producing diverse air calibration nozzles. The flanged shaped can be altered to accommodate

• Manufacturers utilize metal spun cylinders for different types of custom piping, tubing, and other products. These seamless cylinders are created using processes such as rolling, bending, and forming; these pieces are commonly used to create pressure vessels capable of withstanding high pressures.

• Reentrant spun metal pieces are easily identified due to their narrow shape. Reentrant-shaped pieces are primarily used in the food industry—applications include housing for pressure cookers and smokers, different cooking kettles, and individual soup cans. Metal spinning the most cost effective forming solution for this shape.

• The parabolic shape is frequently used in the communications industry. This metal spun shape is extremely conducive for accurate signal transmissions; antenna reflectors and satellite dishes are prime examples of parabolic products.  

• Venturi metal shapes closely resemble hourglasses. These shapes are highly versatile; venturi pieces are used for dust collection in the power and bulk solids industry and spray painting in the automotive industry.

Different metal spun shapes are utilized throughout several industries, such as aerospace and defense, waste storage industry power, oil and agriculture, architecture, furniture manufacturing, HVAC, and many others.

Due to the assortment of shapes produced through this process, metal spinning is highly valued in both commercial and industrial applications.