Keeping up with production demands is a proven challenge in the lumber industry. To stay competitive, operations demand higher performance and lower cost for automated equipment. Lumber processing end-users want solutions to the problems encountered in the rough environment of the mills where temperatures fluctuate, dust produced from the processes damages your equipment, and grate machinery.

We all know the name Steve Jobs very well. Jobs was fired from his own company in 1985. Jobs easily could have felt sorry for himself, felt defeated, and played victim after being fired. He chose otherwise. After he was fired, he saw the problem or crisis and took authority over the situation, seeing opportunity where others doubted. He went on to start a small animation company and turned it into the giant that is now Pixar. Once The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar out in 2006, Steve Jobs became the largest shareholder in Disney. Point being unwanted change happens; look beyond it and embrace the discomfort it brings. Every Problem presents an Opportunity.

 On the first day of December my rep sent to me...

Let’s face it, your maintenance team works hard for you. They put in their eight hours per day, five days per week, and then they are on call the other 128 hours each week that they are not out on the shop floor making repairs. They climb in the machines, deal with all of the dirt and oil, the metal shavings, they go outside to fix the heating system when it is 5° below zero, and are on the roof patching it when it is well over 100° outside.  These guys put in the extra hours when the shop is closed to make sure the machines are up and running every day to keeping the parts flowing out, and the money flowing in. Anything management can do to make their lives easier is ALWAYS appreciated.  When you are looking at purchasing cylinders for your machines that your maintenance team will have to install and maintain, there are some features you need to make sure you get to make their lives easier.

Much the same way that you want the columns on your front porch to have the strength to support the roof --avoiding any and all Tim the Tool Man Taylor incidents -- column strength is a critical piece when addressing cylinder design as well.  So many of us don’t understand what it is and how important it is; let's investigate some of the factors associated with it to help gain a better understanding.

As you crawl out from under your car after loosening and removing the oil drain plug, watching the black oil start to run out into the drain pan you think to yourself, I wonder how many people change the oil when it doesn’t need changing?   You inspect the oil drain plug, it has a magnet on it to attract metal in the oil, as you wipe it on a paper towel you don’t see anything unusual...

Today's post is written by Randy Logsdon, COO and Vice President of Sales and Marketing of the Sheffer Corporation. Randy is a husband, father, son and a life long fan of THE Ohio State Buckeyes. Tweets @rlogsdon19.

I remember the very first time I visited New York City. I vividly recall the sights, the sounds, the lights, the people, and yes even the distinctive smells.   The first day in the city was incredible. The promise of new adventure, the excitement of new experiences and the feeling that I had knowing I was now standing in one of the most recognizable cities in the entire world. It gave me a sense of importance and pride to be standing in New York City. 

                  As mentioned in an earlier article, one of the three N.F.P.A. cylinder mounting classes is fixed non-centerline mounts. These mounts include side lug (MS2), end lug (MS7), side flush (MS4), and foot bracket (MS1). In applications where a fixed non-centerline mount is required, Sheffer strongly recommends employing a thrust key plate or dowel pinning the cylinder depending upon the specific mount. This is done to minimize shear loads on the mounting bolts as well as providing a means of cylinder alignment.

In 1962, E.F. Houghton Co. published A Handbook On Hydraulic and Pneumatic Packings for the fluid power industry. In the opening chapter there is an illustration of a “typical animal hide” which depicted the best parts of the hide that could be fabricated into leather “U” cups, “V” rings, and gaskets to seal fluid power cylinders.