SPRING 2015

88 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

88 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK ROTORCLIP COMPANY INC. 187 Davidson Avenue, Somerset, NJ 08873 TEL 1-800-557-6867 FAX 732-469-7898 EMAIL info@rotorclip.com WEB www.rotorclip.com ENGINE HISTORY REBUILT by Vincent Rodgers Rotary engines were developed in the very early portion of the 20th century. After World War I radial engines were developed and were instrumental during WWII. In a rotary engine the crank is fixed and cylinders rotate around the axis. In a radial engine the crankshaft rotates and the cylinders are fixed. An example of a radial engine was designed by Pratt & Whitney and was used in the American Fighter Plane, the Grumman F6F Hellcat, which dominated the skies over the Pacific and Europe during the second half of WWII. This was the most common aircraft engine in WWII. Over 125,000 of these engines were manufactured. The advent of jet engines pushed radial engines out of commission. While radial engines maybe a thing of the past, engine enthusiasts and hobbyists continue to build them to scale. One of these enthusiasts contacted Rotor Clip looking for parts for his Lee Hodgson's 18 cylinder radial engine. Below is his explanation on how he used Rotor Clip’s rings and pictures he graciously took for us. On a radial engine you have cylinders around 360 degrees - always an odd number eg. 3, 5, 7, or 9. You have one solid conrod (connecting rod) called the master conrod, just as a single cylinder would have. The slave conrods then connect to the master conrod. I used the SH-Rings on the shafts that connect the slave conrods to the master conrod. TECHNICAL ARTICLE ROTOR CLIP COMPANY INC.

SEMS AND SPECIALS INC 6483 Falcon Road, Rockford, IL 61109 TEL 815-874-0000 FAX 815-874-0100 EMAIL sales@semsandspecials.com WEB www.semsandspecials.com NEW MACHINES FOR ADDED VALUE & CUSTOMIZED PARTS Since 1990, Sems and Specials Inc. a Domestic Fastener Manufacturer, continues to increase their capabilities to service the Distribution Market. Sems and Specials recently installed two new medium diameter multi-station parts formers. The addition of this new equipment will allow Sems and Specials Inc. to manufacture complex cold formed shapes which allows added value to the component. This equipment will be also be used to develop items that are currently produced on CNC equipment which allows for greater cost savings. Our new 5 die progressive parts former will provide a product diameter range of .312 (M8) to .500 (M12) and THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 89 a maximum length of 6”. We also added an (3) die progressive parts former having a product diameter range of .184 (M5) to .375 (M10) and a maximum length of 3”. To further enhance our quality environment to meet or exceed current PPM requirements, we have installed the most updated Inspection, Sorting and Packaging machine available to our industry. Our new dimac inspection machine has one eddy current station and two vision stations to measure the entire fastener at rates of 400 units per minute. Once the parts are inspected they are placed in the final shipping container, eliminating possible future contamination. BUSINESS FOCUS ARTICLE SEMS AND SPECIALS