Solutions

May 2010: Stock Polypropylene Pipe Saves the Day

We are custom extruders but sometimes it pays to have a sizeable inventory of stock plastic pipes.

An interior designer needed flexible, translucent pipe with a specific inside diameter. And he needed it quickly, because the lack of this plastic tube was delaying a project.

Combing our inventory, we found natural polypropylene pipe that was of a size close enough for our designer to work with. For his long term needs, though, we were able to produce a custom-made translucent plastic tube that was exactly what he required.

April 2010: One-Stop Shopping for an Order of Clear PVC

An inventor was looking for a special kind of pipe. He wanted Clear PVC pipe about five inches long, drilled in ten places and threaded on the inside. Could we help him?

Luckily, we could. There are not a lot of companies that manufacture clear PVC, but Excalibur Extrusions is one of them. The drilling required a gang drill, a machine that has several drills operating together. Again, not many companies have gang drills, but we do. Still fewer are capable of doing internal threading, another capability of ours. Since our inventor friend wanted his pipe to be created in one shop, Excalibur was the perfect answer. We did all three operations under one roof. 

March 2010: Going green with plastic cores 

Who hasn't experienced the cultural shift of "going green" by taking more responsibility for the environment? Customers who take that responsibility seriously are finding that Excalibur can help them out. One way is by converting paper cores to plastic cores.

Because plastic cores are reusable and recyclable, we're helping our customers reduce energy consumption by switching from "paper" to "plastic." And the more often plastic cores are used, the lower the cost per use. They're also much more durable than paper cores and resist crushing, collapsing, or any other type damage.  Plastic cores are also waterproof and resistant to most chemicals and solvents. We specialize in plastic core products for the pharmaceutical, biomedical, food, beverage, chemical, and cosmetic industries. All plastic core products are manufactured, stored, and shipped using the cleanest methods possible. So let's save some trees! Use plastic cores!  

 

 

February 2010: Experience serves us - and a customer -well

Excalibur Extrusions has a great deal of experience in observing how various plastics react with a wide range of chemicals and with the environment.  That experience proved invaluable when a customer needed a special order for square tubing. This plastic tubing had to be non-conductive - that is, unable to conduct heat or electricity - and was going to be used in acidic, moist, hot conditions. We were able to determine precisely what would be needed, based on our deep knowledge of what works under certain conditions and what does not. Another happy customer!

 

January 2010: A creative solution for a Filipino customer

An order for plastic cores from a company in the Philippines presented a challenge for us: Not only did this customer need a number of keyways, which is a notch that allows the plastic core to be locked onto a turning shaft, cut into the inside of each core, but square, clean (or "burr-free") cuts also had to be made every inch. Because of the short length of the cores, the keyways, and the requirement of a clean, consistent, inside diameter, our solution was using our injection process to create exactly what our friends from the Philippines needed.  While our extrusion process is often the best process in manufacturing plastic tubing, injection allowed us to be little more creative with this fairly complicated order. Unlike many of our competititors, foreign and domestic, we have mastered both processes and are able to choose the best method for any particular order.

 

December 2009: Purple pipe is the answer for L.A. architect

An architect working on an irrigation project for the City of Los Angeles had a problem: He had to be able to identify which flexible hose was being used for reclaimed water. Being unable to do so risked possibly connecting "clean" lines with "reclaimed" lines. And, he was in a hurry to complete his project.

Alertline to the rescue!

Alertline, manufactured exclusively by Excalibur Extrusions, is the industry's first PVC pipe compounded and color-coded specially to carry reclaimed water. It eliminates the problem of dangerously cross-connecting to clean water hoses or pipes, because Alertline is purple-colored and easily identifiable.  

Working with reclaimed water carries special requirements, and we understand that. We also are able to make custom extrusions on short notice, and since the architect needed help, fast, we were able to providehim with the Alertline solution that met his needs.

 

November 2009:  Overcoming the pinhole challenge

A company was looking for a manufacturer that could provide ½” clear PVC with centered pinholes for a project they were working on that used a chemical weed killer.  The clear PVC would be set into a larger 6” diameter plastic tube.  Once we had the specifications,  Excalibur was able to do the intricate pinhole placements by setting up a separate work area for our drill press machinist.  And extruding large diameter tube and providing clear PVC are two area in which we specialize.  For our effort, we got a good review.

“We set out to find a supplier that had the strengths that matched the project," said Murray Phillip of Westward Products Ltd.  “With your company supplying the completed components to us we are able to fit this project easier into our lean manufacturing process. Processing the smaller plastic components through our large equipment would present us with some challenges that we are too busy to deal with at this time. Thanks for all of your help.”  

 

 

October 2009: Our clear PVC on "Big Brother" 

A call from Jeff Farrington of Our House Productions helped us illustrate the versatility of plastic PVC. Jeff needed clear PVC - and fast - for a game that pitted contestants against each other on the reality television show “Big Brother 11.” The game set was being constructed in the backyard of a home in Studio City, CA, and called for the use of  Clear Sch 40 PVC.  Jeff told us later that “you guys really came Clear PVCthrough for me as I was able to pick up several loads back to back. The tube looked great and performed well. Thank you for being there.” 

The tube was used to create a maze that formed an end-to-end spout that spewed foam. The setting was dark but illuminated with flourescent lighting. The neon-colored foam looked very psychedelic. Want to see our pipe on national television? Click on the following link. The "game" segment starts at about the four-minute mark.

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VADpgU0frNo

 

 

September 2009: Delivering on a stress-free order 

A customer of ours was concerned about getting his large plastic tubing orders in a timely fashion. Working closely with the customer, we began filling and preparing the orders for delivery by re-using collapsible containers. Doing this not only protects the product from the elements during delivery and eliminates waste by re-using packaging materials, it also allows us to make larger shipments more less often, reducing the stress to our valued customer.

 

August 2009: Machined nipples to the rescue

We recently got a phone call from a landscape contractor with a big problem. Seems an architect for a large turf project had specified machined nipples in the design. The installation was done, but not with machined nipples. When the work was inspected, the installers were forced to replace each and every nipple with an Excalibur machined nipple. To eliminate confusion and make sure installers and designers know they've received machined nipples, we've decided to modify our packaging. Our nipples now ship with tamper-proof labels reading "MACHINED NIPPLES." 

 

 



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