All Shearmakers have a 2-bearing pedestal to control runout.  Small machines need a frame for stability and in this case also to get a center of gravity for the load cells to work properly. Shearmakers inside the mixer with full size seal block so the units can be removed for maintenance without getting inside the mixer.

A Shearmaker is a device that inserts blades through the side of the mixer turning at high speed to add shear to the mixer.  The concept of using a chopper goes back to the 1940’s.  It has been copied many times without any real improvement. 

We had a customer that was demanding something better – a predictable and repeatable result with less maintenance. They supplied us with masonry cement and pigments. See a demo on color developing with a Shearmaker. 

The final design is so much different than the chopper that we gave it our own name being Shearmaker. It has a different blade design, different speed, two-bearing pedestal, and our own patented seal that uses a film of air around the shaft to do the sealing. 

The PHLAUER^TM patented rotor is the component completing the marriage that gets results. First, we can install as many Shearmakers that will fit both sides of the machine, and we can compensate the paddles so there is no loss of mixing action.  This is unique worldwide.

All the particles pass each Shearmaker every 6 to 10 seconds,  a portion are reduced in size, quickly mixed in and transported to the next or same unit.  We don’t classify particle sizes so the norm is to run long enough or add enough Shearmakers to reduce the particles as far as they need to be.

We use a unique, full sized seal block—complete removal from outside the mixer, so you have the added safety of not having someone inside the machine.

We have many of these developing color and saving pigments in cement industry.  We are the only company that can guarantee a predictable and repeatable result on all colors in non-sanded material.  We have the two largest installations in the US.   They are producing 3.5 tons and 5 tons repectively of masonry cement with fully developed color in three minutes.  Biggest problem was over developing and reducing pigments to equivalent to the chart from their old mixer. I believe yellow was reduced 22% at one installation. 

There are some other fascinating installations. In one case, we took gum rejected because of lumps that had already been through a chopper, and made it all usable material. Recovery was about 20% of the ingredient. 

In another case, a company was using choppers and had some light shale that had to be reduced in size for extruding. Tests showed that minus ¼” worked. They were using a hammermill and choppers to achieve this, but were interested in a new installation without a hammermill.  The choppers wouldn’t do it. We are repeatedly producing the product that passes QC tests 100% of the time.

We have a good customer in Thailand and we just started up their second system, this one to do 100 tonnes per 8 hours of non-sanded tile grouts.

The design mixing with shear was 6 minutes with a 20% safety design factor on the total system.  Upon start up, they reduced all pigments 10%, and started at the 6 minutes, and we still over-developed some colors.

General Manager, Mr. Suppapong Phetsuit says:

“Everything is going well and we could save the pigment about 10 to 20%. The quality of our grout is better than our old (ribbon) mixer.”

Can you imagine the payback?

We have made many improvements in seals and blades and have many units operating one year without maintenance.  Motors don’t fail.

The “standard” used to be 6 to 8 weeks on seals and 2 to 3 years for motor replacement. 

Demonstration equipment is available. Contact us to request a site demo!