| Our goal at Shumaker Industries is to produce all new replacement drums that will last a long time. The single most important factor in making a long lasting replacement drum is using
high quality steel. The steel that goes into every Shumaker drum is a quality, high strength, abrasion resistant steel. Read on to find out how we do it.
1) Develop an ongoing relationship with a
domestic steel supplier.
 Shumaker
Industries consistently purchases steel from domestic mills. During
a time when steel prices have soared to over twice their recent
value and fierce competition has forced other manufacturers to buy
foreign steel, Shumaker Industries has remained loyal to domestic
mills because of their commitment to using the best steel in their
drums and other products. Shumaker Industries does not purchase
foreign market steel at a lower price because this steel may have
different physical properties from order to order. Instead, we control the quality of our plate steel by purchasing from the same domestic mill in heat lots so that we receive quality steel that is consistent drum after drum, year after year.
2) Develop a special
formula for plate steel that meets the demanding wear requirements of
the concrete industry.
Together with Shumaker Industries’ understanding of concrete mixers
and domestic mills' experience in producing high quality specialty steel, we have developed a formula for plate steel that best serves the needs of the concrete industry.
In fact, the formula is proprietary in nature, meaning Shumaker Industries has sole rights to its use and no other manufacturer in the industry is permitted to use it.
3) The result is a
formula for Abrasion Resistant (AR) plate steel that achieves the
following:
- Average Brinell hardness of 200.
- Thru-plate hardness.
**IMPORTANT**
Brinell hardness refers to the surface hardness of the
steel. While this is significant, it is more important to achieve
thru-plate hardness which allows the steel to resist wear
throughout the thickness of the steel, not just on the surface.
- True thickness steel (3/16” = .187”
and 1/4” = .250”).
Domestic steel is measured using the English system, while foreign steel uses the metric system (millimeters). The result is that foreign market steel can often be several thousandths of an inch thinner than domestic steel. This can mean a built in savings of around $800 over the life of the drum when domestic steel is used.
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