5 Factors to Consider Before Buying an Industrial Shredder
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The industrial shredder is like a shredder on steroids'robust and powerful enough to consume anything continuously and swiftly, from floppy disks to confidential documents.
It's no wonder companies are now investing in their own industrial shredder, rather than renting one or outsourcing their shredding. Besides shielding their business intelligence, this has helped cut down their waste volume, and eliminated rental fees and outsourcing costs.
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A strong, heavy-duty industrial shredder is ideal for cutting the massive volume of materials in (but not limited to):
Similar to other pieces of office equipment like printers and joggers, a few specifications and features will make certain types of industrial shredders stand out.
Knowing these features beforehand will help inform your choices when it's time to make a purchase.
The first decision you need to make is on what you'll shred.
Many shredders can process CDs and DVDs; you most likely have one already. But the best industrial shredder is one that strips materials a regular shredder can't handle, such as:
Just like a car is only processed with a hammer mill, the industrial shredder will only cut what it's designed for. If you're getting rid of a wet or stringy item, inserting it in a shredder not made for that kind of material can break or clog the machine.
It's advisable to do thorough research to find the best industrial shredder that handles what your company processes now, and what you might want to process in the future.
At Armadillo Industrial Supplies, our industrial shredders are compatible with many types of waste. They can shred stacks of bulky files up to 650 sheets, ribbons, tapes, magnetic disks, computer forms, and many more. So, you won't have to buy a shredder for every waste you want to discard.
The shredding capacity refers to the number of sheets per pass the machine can shred. It's influenced by the shredder's physical size, weight, and amount of material it can process.
Be careful not to overload your shredder for optimum performance and safety, since an overburdened shredder can glitch.
The maximum amount of shredding an industrial shredder can handle ranges from 50' papers per pass. This gives it the highest shredding capacity, compared to other shredders as shown in the table below.
Type Of Shredder Shredding Capacity (Sheets Per Pass) Industrial Shredder 50' Personal and Deskside Shredders Up to 10 Office Shredders 20'30 Heavy Duty and Departmental Shredders 40'100During your purchase, make sure to confirm the industrial shredder's capacity rating and then leave room for extra space. Using the shredder when at its maximum capacity regularly will reduce its service life.
To shred multiple load sizes, consider the Formax FD B industrial shredder, which can comfortably handle massive loads of up to 650 sheets per pass.
But if you discard less load, a medium-sized shredder like the Formax FD SC is ideal since it can shred up to 100 sheets per hour.
Security is crucial when choosing an industrial shredder. You want to do all you can to protect your company's privacy'especially its financial information and your clients' personal data.
Shred sizes vary, with more sensitive documents requiring tinier shredding.
There are 7 shredder security levels: Levels P-1 through P-7 determine the shred sizes a machine will produce.
The P-1 shredder security level produces strips of 12 mm (½') wide or less. It's the fastest shredder and best geared for less sensitive information.
The P-7 shredder security level, on the other hand, releases the tiniest shreds, so that only a maximum of 4 characters are visible on a single shred. This machine is mostly used by the military and government officials to shred top-secret documents. However, it's the slowest shredder available, handling an average of 10 sheets per pass.
The P-3 shredder security level is often favored because it tatters high volumes of papers at a relatively high speed, but it's still secure enough to discard sensitive information like financial records and Social Security Numbers.
Armadillo Industrial Supplies offers both the P-1 and P-3 security level industrial shredders. Whether you want to discard top-secret information or junk documents with less sensitive information, you'll indeed find a machine for you.
Shredders produce different kinds of shredded paper. It's the difference in the final shred that categorizes them.
There are 2 major cutting types; strip-cut and cross-cut. Let's see what distinguishes them in the table below.
Strip-Cut Industrial Shredder Cross-Cut Industrial ShredderArmadillo Industrial Supplies offers both the Cross-Cut and Strip-Cut industrial shredders to cater to all your shredding needs, be it your employees' confidential financial records or junk documents like notes of your weekly meetings.
"This Formax shredder is absolutely powerful when it comes to destroying old CDs and waste paper." Formax FD CC Cross-Cut Industrial Conveyor Shredder
Industrial shredders can cause injuries if not handled appropriately. So before buying one, know the safety measures manufacturers have put in place to prevent such occurrences.
Here are a few safety points to note when shopping:
An industrial shredder tends to glitch when overstuffed or overheat when used continuously. We recommend a shredder with additional features like a load indicator, which sends instant feedback to the operator when the shredder is jammed or needs a break.
Ensure the shredder has self-maintenance properties. This prevents exposure to the shredder's interior of sharp grinding metal teeth that have caused many finger injuries, including amputations and lacerations.
The Formax FD CC cross-cut industrial shredder, for instance, has an automatic internal oiling system that regularly lubricates the cutting blade. You don't need to oil the cutting blades by yourself, minimizing the chances of an injury.
Ready for Your Industrial Shredder Purchase?
Once you have the necessary information on different industrial shredders and their features and specifications, matching the equipment with your requirements gets easier.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Recycling scrap metal shredder. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
In general, answering these questions will help you select the right industrial shredder:
At Armadillo Industrial Supplies, our customers always come first. We'll ensure you get the best industrial shredders from world-class vendors at affordable prices, including free shipping to any state across the US and zero sales tax if you live outside of Texas.
With decades of experience in customer service management, consultancy, and retail management, we've gotten to know all our products inside and out. We'll be able to advise you on the right industrial shredder that fits your needs.
Check out the entire collection of our shredders here.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. Our team of experts is always here to help clear all your doubts.
"The support from the sales guys is the best in the industry."
- Jacob Stowell
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This article will take an in-depth look at metal shredders.
You will understand more about topics such as:
Scrap metal must be processed to be effectively recycled and ready for reuse. Metal shredders are machines used to process a variety of metal scraps. Metal shredders are frequently used to reduce metal debris to a standard shape and size for sorting and additional processing in scrap yards and metal recycling operations. They provide long-lasting performance thanks to their robust design. Metal shredders make it possible so both ferrous and non-ferrous metals can be crushed before shipment to steel mills for recycling into new metal. Additionally, they make it possible to destroy metallic material for companies where necessary.
In their original state, scrap metals are frequently hefty objects that would be absurd to move. An excellent example is an old car, which takes up a lot of room but is much easier to move and handle after being crushed and shredded. Shredding significantly lowers the volume of scrap metal and breaks it up into smaller, more manageable bits. Separating ferrous from non-ferrous metals and other materials, including rubber, plastics, and fabrics, are made easier by the shredding process. To get the most value from metal recycling, some metal shredders can even separate magnetic and non-magnetic metals and materials.
Below are some of the different metal shredder parts and their functions:
Metal is significantly easier to carry to a facility for additional processing after it has been shredded. In addition, non-ferrous (non-iron) materials such as non-ferrous metals, plastics, foam, glass, aggregate materials, wood, rubber, textiles, and electrical components are extracted during the shredding process. These items are then taken for further recycling to keep them out of landfills.
The shredded ferrous metals are then transported to a location where a sizable furnace will melt them. The metal is refined once it comes out of the furnace to guarantee that it is of good quality and free of impurities. The most popular refining method is electrolysis, which involves applying a direct electric current to the metal substance in order to cause an artificial chemical reaction. After electrolysis, the metal is then cooled and solidified- making it ready to be used to produce new goods.
Rolling, shearing, impact, and grinding are the four external forces performed throughout the crushing process. The crushing of hard and large quantities of material is suited for press rolling (the process where a metal stock's thickness is reduced by bassing under a single roller or through a pair of rollers), primarily for coarse and medium crushing.
Shearing is a method of fine crushing that can be used to smash difficult materials. In addition, it is possible to crush brittle materials with impact, primarily used for medium crushing, fine grinding, and ultra-fine grinding.
For the crushing of small pieces and fine particles, grinding is used in fine and ultra-fine grinding. The actual crushing process frequently involves multiple external forces acting simultaneously.
The fundamental idea behind the metal crusher is the use of hammering. The main machine's rotor, powered by a high-speed, high-torque motor, rotates as the hammer passes through the lining plate, and the hammer strikes the object to be shattered into the cavity. The crusher can be classified as having a dry, wet, or semi-wet system, depending on how it operates. The key difference between a wet and dry system is that a dry system has a dust removal device built into it. In a dry system, the crushed materials travel through an air cyclone sorting system to separate metal from non-metal. A wet method involves spraying water while crushing, washing, and sorting material simultaneously. The semi-wet system does not clean; it merely sprays a tiny amount of water when it is necessary for crushing to prevent dust.
Single-shaft metal shredders have a rotor and hydraulic ram used to press garbage and scrap against the rotor, which starts the cutting process. Pressure sensors allow the ram to travel backward and forwards, preventing jamming and overheating of the material. Large bulk materials can be broken down into particles as small as 10 mm using these shredders, which can be equipped with various screen sizes. All single-shaft metal shredders have a classifier screen that provide a user with variable measurement settings that output units can be sized at.
The double-shaft metal shredder is a popular industrial shredder due to its low operating speed, high torque, and high throughput which can effectively treat a variety of materials. Industrial shredders with twin shafts may feature electric motors or hydraulic drives and can process various materials. Double-shaft metal shredders are especially useful for "volumetric reduction" of materials needed to reduce the space that would otherwise be occupied by waste materials. Even though industrial double-shaft metal shredders often lack a classifying grid, the unique design of the blades in these shredders and their control of production parameters provide them with size control of their output material. Industrial primary shredders result from cutting-edge technology that seeks to provide effective and adaptable equipment, and they are incredibly versatile and made for intensive operation. Depending on the material and final size desired, double-shaft industrial metal shredders can be fitted with various components, or may simply function with other shredder stages, to reduce a material to the desired size.
Three-shaft metal shredders can be utilized independently or as a central component in specialized shredding lines. Based on the type of material processed, the three models (800--mm) provide capacities between 1.5 and 3.5 tons per hour and come with a screen for separating the output material. The output sizes for the treated material range from 30x30mm to 50x50mm. A three-shaft metal shredder has a cutting system featuring tough rotor blades with a sweeper shaft. In addition, a three-shaft metal shredder's cutter discs can be replaced individually, while also providing a pivotable screen basket in the middle and protective bulkhead seals for the shaft bearing. Three-shaft metal shredders are available with mechanical or hydraulic drive systems with automatic power-down and reverse capabilities.
Four-shaft metal shredders have two drive rotors to push the scrap material onto their additional cutting rotors below. Separate gear motors propel these cutting rotors. These additional cutting rotors are used to pre-shred materials before size reduction or additional processing with a granulator. Four-shaft metal shredders are similar in size to twin-shaft shredders and are typically used for waste that cannot be processed by a twin shaft, such as cars. Due to the presence of replaceable classifying grids, industrial four-shaft metal shredders (both electric- and hydraulic-based) have been built for crushing various materials and for dimensional control of the output material. Four-shaft metal shredders are the outcome of a cutting-edge project that strives to build effective and adaptable devices. Industrial four-shaft metal shredders are incredibly versatile and made for intensive use. By using grids with anti-wear treatments and providing exclusive interchangeable shaft technology, four-shaft metal shredders have significantly decreased management expenses and maintenance interventions.
Both horizontal and vertical hammer mill metal shredders function by repeatedly striking a feed material with heavy hammers that weigh between 250 pounds and 1,000 pounds and rotate at rates of 500 revolutions to 700 revolutions per minute (rpm) while being driven by motors of 2,000 horsepower to 10,000 horsepower. With a hammer mill metal shredder, material is fed into a steel drum that rotates quickly while being struck by hammers placed on a shaft, breaking the feed material into small pieces. Horizontal hammer mill shredders have hammers that strike horizontally, while vertical hammer mill shredders have their hammers striking vertically.
No matter the design, all hammer mill metal shredders function essentially the same. Huge hammers attached to a rotor are used in hammer mill metal shredders to shred vehicles and other massive metal gear. Hammer mill metal shredders have several outboard flywheels with electric or diesel motors armed with spin hammers. Large, powerful hammer mill metal shredders include rejecting doors and a manganese liner for ejecting materials that can't be crushed. Hammer mill metal shredders can shred 350 tons of material, or 450 automobiles, every hour when operating at maximum efficiency. Every year, 2.5 million tons of high-density, uniformly fragmented metal scrap are produced by hammer mill metal shredders.
Although it may not seem like industrial metal shredders, especially those used by scrap metal recycling businesses, are doing anything to protect the environment, the truth is quite the reverse. Bulky scrap metal would be hard to process at such a high rate without metal shredders. This implies that, without metal shredders, we would need more time to meet the increasing global demand for scrap metal and that we wouldn't be able to quickly reduce the amount of scrap metal found across the world to a tolerable level.
If we want to protect the earth's natural resources, we must continue to reduce the amount of new metal used as a raw material in today's products and, instead, increase the use of recycled metal. In addition, the shredding procedure makes it possible to effectively separate scrap metal from non-metal and non-ferrous materials, which can then be kept out of landfills.
Capacity: The success of any metal-shredding facility depends on selecting an industrial shredder that can handle the required capacity. The amount of material to be shredded, its physical size, weight, and bulk density, all influence the capacity of a metal shredder. A metal shredder's cutting-chamber size could put a cap on a facility's capacity. Before buying a machine, one must carefully inspect its capacity rating and then assume they will require some extra capacity over their predictions. A shredder's lifespan may be affected if the required capacity is used too near its maximum capacity. However, a larger shredder than required can consume too much power and take up too much space on the floor.
Output Specification: Operators must clearly know the shredder's purpose and ability before purchase. The amount of metal provided by a metal shredder is less important in these situations because some institutions are not looking to shred metal but are simply using shredding equipment to lower the size of the bulky goods they no longer need and find difficult to store. Other users are motivated by escalating compliance demands, in which output performance is of utmost importance. Then some other organizations have very particular requirements that a metal shredder must meet. Therefore, hunting for a shredder that can produce the required output specifications is crucial. In a perfect scenario, a metal shredder would be adaptable enough to change along with the operator's requirements.
Environmental Consciousness: There are considerable differences in attitudes toward recycling and trash management in the US. Operators must therefore prioritize their performance standards when purchasing shredders that are appropriate for the job required. Due to their reduced carbon footprint, electric motors, rather than diesel hydraulic drives, are used to power several contemporary types of metal shredders because this technology uses less energy. If the expense of the manufacturing process is detrimental to the environment, there is little value in turning rubbish into raw materials for new products. Investing in more "green" machinery also makes financial sense because fuel-guzzling shredders can be expensive due to their high energy requirements. These energy requirements may reduce the potential ROI (return on investment) of a metal shredder and metal-shredding operation.
Types of Material to be Processed: Different shredder designs are better at processing particular materials. For example, a high-speed chipper is primarily used to shred tree branches. The most common way to treat plastics is in a granulator (rotary knife cutter), but bulky plastic shapes are frequently processed first in a shredder. This application is often followed with a hammer mill metal shredder when planning to shred autos. Although a four-shaft shredder may perform a specific job quicker, a twin-shaft shredder may be the best option if the user needs adaptability when processing various waste materials with less noise and dust.
Maintenance: Metal shredders are put through much stress. Thus, maintenance is required to keep them functioning properly. Under typical use, cutters, blades, or hammers will get dull and need to be sharpened, adjusted, or replaced. When selecting a metal shredder, consider upkeep, repairs, and the simplicity of obtaining replacement components. Never choose any equipment, including a metal shredder, without considering the accessibility for maintenance.
Safety: Industrial shredding has the potential to be a risky activity, which is why manufacturers have sought to ensure equipment safety through more careful design. Waste firms are aware of this potential risk for their operations. In recent years, equipment safety has increased maintenance procedures that limit operators' exposure to the shredder's inner workings and features proactive diagnostic control panels that eliminate the need for machine entry. These metal shredders provide foreign-object protection mechanisms that guarantee equipment auto-stops when processing an item that can't be shrunk, resulting in increased safety advantages. In addition, low-noise shredders can shield users from continual noise exposure. Furthermore, metal shredders can now include UV, infrared, heat, and spark detectors to help avoid fires. Even more, emphasis is placed on ergonomic design so that workers can service and maintain equipment quickly, safely, and in an upright position without having to stoop or overextend themselves, which can result in injury.
Metal shredders typically employ grease or oil lubrication techniques. The area around metal shredders can be reasonably simplified using grease lubrication. Grease lubrication makes the motion of all moving components smooth on the metal shredder. Oil provides the best lubricant for metal shredders. Still, regardless of the type of lubrication used, it is important to pay attention to the quantity and consistency of the lubricant to maximize a shredder's performance.
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