What's New at Niagara Specialty Metals

My next favorite thing in the world after choo-choos is BFM’s (big f’n machines). I just retired from an IT career earlier this year, and I often wonder ‘what if’ I had gone into a career in my biggest obsession since childhood. Those things are so cool.
 
nsm said:

I've been told by a friend that YouTube works better for these posts. Still trying to learn.
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Awesome video, beautifully shot and edited. The plant looks amazing.

One day I'm coming to buy an entire heat lot of Magnacut and I'm sticking it on my front lawn like the Monolith in 2001! 🤣 ;)
 
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How much does one of those ingots of Magnacut weight and what does it roll out to in say 1/4" thick plate (dimensions?) Are they really 4" thick and 15" wide? 400mm x 115mm?
 
Taz said:
How much does one of those ingots of Magnacut weight and what does it roll out to in say 1/4" thick plate (dimensions?) Are they really 4" thick and 15" wide? 400mm x 115mm?
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The weights are written on the ends of the billet. 1500 to 1600 pounds each. Yes, those are the real dimensions.
 
Taz said:
How much does one of those ingots of Magnacut weight and what does it roll out to in say 1/4" thick plate (dimensions?) Are they really 4" thick and 15" wide? 400mm x 115mm?
Click to expand...
for what its worth....

400mm x 115mm is= 15.75" x 4.5"... not sure what kinda conversion math you use, but I'm Canadian, and know both very well, they translate like that ;) 1 inch is 25.4mm
 
I spent some of the day at Niagara Specialty Metals, taking a few photos and meeting some of the folks from Erasteel, who were in town. They seem like a great crew, and that crew now includes Bob Skibitski, all around good guy and former metallurgist at Crucible. I’ve been testing samples of the latest heats of their steel, and it’s always nice to be able to put faces to names. While I was there, I took a few photos.


The new automated arm that loads plate onto the conveyor that feeds into the furnace:


Z63_9720-XL.jpg




The new furnace that feeds the finish roller:


Z63_9719-XL.jpg





…and, of course the finish roller with its new automated thickness dimension control:


Z63_9714-X2.jpg






Plenty of steel in the yard, and lots of new stuff:


Z63_9731-XL.jpg




Z63_9730-XL.jpg




Z63_9729-XL.jpg




And, a shot of Bob Shabala nsm nsm standing next to a heap o’ Magnacut:


Z63_9732-XL.jpg






A quick video of the loading arm in action:







A bit of finish rolling, too:







I took photos of some of the inventory of finished rolled material in the warehouse, but I think I’ll post that in the knifemaker section, as I think it’s more pertinent to that audience.
 
Matthew Gregory said:
I spent some of the day at Niagara Specialty Metals, taking a few photos and meeting some of the folks from Erasteel, who were in town. They seem like a great crew, and that crew now includes Bob Skibitski, all around good guy and former metallurgist at Crucible. I’ve been testing samples of the latest heats of their steel, and it’s always nice to be able to put faces to names. While I was there, I took a few photos.


The new automated arm that loads plate onto the conveyor that feeds into the furnace:


Z63_9720-XL.jpg




The new furnace that feeds the finish roller:


Z63_9719-XL.jpg





…and, of course the finish roller with its new automated thickness dimension control:


Z63_9714-X2.jpg






Plenty of steel in the yard, and lots of new stuff:


Z63_9731-XL.jpg




Z63_9730-XL.jpg




Z63_9729-XL.jpg




And, a shot of Bob Shabala nsm nsm standing next to a heap o’ Magnacut:


Z63_9732-XL.jpg






A quick video of the loading arm in action:







A bit of finish rolling, too:







I took photos of some of the inventory of finished rolled material in the warehouse, but I think I’ll post that in the knifemaker section, as I think it’s more pertinent to that audience.
Click to expand...
Thanks for stopping by Matt, always good to see you. I'm glad you got a chance to meet the Erasteel team.
 
Matthew Gregory said:
I spent some of the day at Niagara Specialty Metals, taking a few photos and meeting some of the folks from Erasteel, who were in town. They seem like a great crew, and that crew now includes Bob Skibitski, all around good guy and former metallurgist at Crucible. I’ve been testing samples of the latest heats of their steel, and it’s always nice to be able to put faces to names. While I was there, I took a few photos.


The new automated arm that loads plate onto the conveyor that feeds into the furnace:


Z63_9720-XL.jpg




The new furnace that feeds the finish roller:


Z63_9719-XL.jpg





…and, of course the finish roller with its new automated thickness dimension control:


Z63_9714-X2.jpg






Plenty of steel in the yard, and lots of new stuff:


Z63_9731-XL.jpg




Z63_9730-XL.jpg




Z63_9729-XL.jpg




And, a shot of Bob Shabala nsm nsm standing next to a heap o’ Magnacut:


Z63_9732-XL.jpg






A quick video of the loading arm in action:







A bit of finish rolling, too:







I took photos of some of the inventory of finished rolled material in the warehouse, but I think I’ll post that in the knifemaker section, as I think it’s more pertinent to that audience.
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing this..... Great job too!!!
 
Matthew Gregory said:
I spent some of the day at Niagara Specialty Metals, taking a few photos and meeting some of the folks from Erasteel, who were in town. They seem like a great crew, and that crew now includes Bob Skibitski, all around good guy and former metallurgist at Crucible. I’ve been testing samples of the latest heats of their steel, and it’s always nice to be able to put faces to names. While I was there, I took a few photos.


The new automated arm that loads plate onto the conveyor that feeds into the furnace:


Z63_9720-XL.jpg




The new furnace that feeds the finish roller:


Z63_9719-XL.jpg





…and, of course the finish roller with its new automated thickness dimension control:


Z63_9714-X2.jpg






Plenty of steel in the yard, and lots of new stuff:


Z63_9731-XL.jpg




Z63_9730-XL.jpg




Z63_9729-XL.jpg




And, a shot of Bob Shabala nsm nsm standing next to a heap o’ Magnacut:


Z63_9732-XL.jpg






A quick video of the loading arm in action:







A bit of finish rolling, too:







I took photos of some of the inventory of finished rolled material in the warehouse, but I think I’ll post that in the knifemaker section, as I think it’s more pertinent to that audience.
Click to expand...
Fabulous photo's and video Matt. Thank you for sharing. 🙏 👌

This plant always seems like the antithesis of what you imagine a steel mill will look like. The orderly clean yard, immaculate factory floor and space between all the machines.
I really would love to see it sometime.

Without NSM so much of our little world would not exist.
 
Thanks, guys - I’m grateful for the opportunity to witness a lot of this stuff. It’s amazing to have been able to personally bear witness to this local, employee-owned American business grow and expand the way it’s done under Bob’s leadership over the past 20 years. Seems like the least I can do is try and share what I’m seeing every now and then.
 
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