Those Pucking Claims: the skinny

When you see claims about the many benefits of pucking, be sure to find out "as compared to what?" The answer: usually compared "to doing nothing." When you compare pucking's claims to automatic chip processing or batch wringing, they typically fall short or aren't even legit.

Following are many of the most popular pucking claims, and "the skinny."

Claim: "Increases the value of scrap"

Compared to doing nothing - yes, pucking will increase scrap value. (Dryer scrap = higher value.) By removing most fluids, pucking also reduces the liability from potential fluid mishandling.

Compared to chip management or chip processing: pucking doesn't even come close to the same level of dryness, and therefore, doesn't increase scrap value as much. The President of Milan Screw Products, Chuck Tella, said, "We found a couple of problems with briquetting. We hoped that the physical pressure of forcing the turnings together would approach the dryness that we got from centrifugation. That was simply not true."⁽¹⁾

Claim: "Recovers cutting fluids" and "Incredible savings on your coolant costs!"

Compared to doing nothing - yes, pucking helps.

Compared to chip management - no. Chip management recovers more fluids because of superior processing methods which start at the beginning, when chips are made. A pucker doesn't do anything with fluids until the wet chips are fed into it. (There are all sorts of opportunities to collect fluids prior to that, and safety and environmental concerns if you don't use those opportunities.)

Claim: "Reduces box rental charges" (renting a trailer for holding scrap until it is full enough to be hauled away)

Compared to saturated chips: Probably. Pucking compresses scrap, so you'll need a new trailer less frequently. But - if your hauler charges you for having the container on your property for an extended length of time, pucking (because it takes longer to fill the container to weight capacity) may increase box rental charges.

Compared to dry chips: salesmen will try to claim this advantage, but it doesn't apply. How long you rent a box (trailer) is a function of how long it takes to make weight -- not to fill it up. In the case of most metals, you can't completely fill a trailer - with either dry chips or pucks. It'd be too heavy. (See "reduces transportation charges" claim.)

Claim: "Cheaper than chip processing systems"

Yes. And while buying a transmission is cheaper than purchasing an entire car, it alone won't get you where you need to go.

A pucker is a standalone machine handling only one portion of chip management - removing fluids. The manufacturer can sell you off-the-shelf or another manufacturers' components for sorting, sizing, loading, and unloading the scrap into containers, but I'm nervous about any equipment not engineered to interface with that specific pucker and for that particular type of scrap.

Why take my word for it? "Puckers also require additional support equipment which is a great deal more costly and problematic...and additional material handling for loading processed scrap into shipping containers," said Gregg Carpenter, Sr., President of Carpenter Metal Solutions, Inc.

Your salesman may tell you otherwise, but you'll need a shredder. If you have "stringy chips or 'bird nests,' the chips need to be shredded...before they're fed into a centrifuge or briquetter..."⁽²⁾

Look at the total system cost, plus the liability issues, the loss in recovery, the hidden cost of transportation in containers and labor handling. It isn't cheaper in the end.

Claim: "Minimizes liability exposure in hauling and storing coolant-laden chips"

Compared to doing nothing - yes, pucking helps. Hauling and storing coolant-laden chips introduces lots of liability because they are a hazardous waste.⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾

Compared to dry chips: pucking falls short. Dry chips practically eliminate the liabilities.

Claim: "Reduces transportation charges"

Compared to hauling saturated chips: pucking saves money period. You're not paying to have as much liquid hauled.

Compared to hauling dry chips, pucking generally does not reduce transportation charges. This claim rests on the fact that a ton of briquettes take up less volume than a ton of dry chips. This is true, but hauling (drayage) costs are based on weight per vehicle axle, not volume.

That payload of scrap--whether it's dry chips or pucks--will still require a trailer because most scrap purchasers are only equipped to handle standard-sized trailers. And, the cost will be the same because it's based on weight, so reducing the volume of your scrap by pucking very rarely reduces your transportation charges.

Another transportation consideration is the cost of shipping containers. Pucks can't be piled in a trailer like dry chips; they must be containered to keep them from shifting, and for loading / unloading. The cost of shipping containers is often overlooked as part of the overall price of pucking.

Claim: "Reduces labor in handling"

Compared to saturated chips: pucking might reduce labor. But, unless you're adding conveyors, parts separators, dumpers, etc. to your pucker, you may still have plenty of labor involved in moving, sorting, charging the scrap and removing the pucks.

Compared to automatic processing for dry chips, pucking really doesn't hold a candle. Automatic processing means everything is taken care of, as one manufacturer says, "from tool to trailer."⁽⁵⁾ Plus, pucking means you're manufacturing one more component - the puck, which adds specifications and handling considerations to the process; it can't possibly save time or labor. See also More Pucking Problems.

We ended up taking the advice of a metals buyer: "Buy chip processing equipment. It's a one step system. Pucks may require triple handling. Load box, move to warehouse, unload truck. Boxes consume floor space."⁽⁶⁾

Claim: "Saves space within the plant due to equipment size"

This is an interesting claim. The salesperson who told me this said it is compared to a "chip processing system." This isn't a comparison of apples to apples, as pucker doesn't move scrap, shred it, separate the solids, etc., like a chip processing system does.

And then, there's all that floor space you lose because of storage - see previous claim.

Claim: "Saves space within the plant due to volume reduction"

Only an advantage if you keep your money in a sock under your mattress. Our facility's management insisted we process scrap so we can ship it off and get paid. A pound of pucks takes up less room than a pound of dry chips, but efficient processing means they won't be sitting around taking up room anyway! Considering that pucks leach coolant, you really don't want to be storing them at your facility.

And, processing isn't continuous, so you'll need floor space to store scrap waiting to be compressed and the pucks after they've been processed.

Claim: "Provides a cleaner, safer, work environment"

Compared to doing nothing - yes. If you do nothing with your saturated chips they will leak coolant, and the chips will dribble out of containers. Pucking captures most of the fluids and most of the chips, a step in the right direction. But pucks are still messy - they leach, and they aren't solids, so fragments continue to fall off as they are moved. "The surface of puck is covered with oil. Boxes have oil. They don't handle like solids - they break apart."⁽⁷⁾ See also More Pucking Problems.

Compared to automatic chip management, pucking falls short. There are still saturated chips dribbling to the floor in transport, pucks leaching coolant, etc.

Hint: Take the mess to virtually nothing -- automatically manage the chips. In the November, 1999 Automatic Machining article, "The Right Thing to Do - Automatic Chip Processing," a machine shop owner shares that he marks success via "environmental responsibility, and satisfied employees- in addition to customers. Thus, he sought ways to assure his company looked out for the environment and its employees. An automatic chip processing system..."

That same year, Machine Shop Guide's August issue ran a story called "Chip Processing: Motivating Productivity, Protecting the Environment." It discusses how "state-of-the-art chip processing equipment was also specified - to keep the facility clean and oil-free." And, that "chip processing system helps fulfill an important objective - a clean and safe facility."

Claim: "Easy to measure scrap output"

Pucking manufacturers say it is easy to figure out what you sent the recycler: their equipment will count the pucks, and then multiply that by the average weight per puck.

Even easier: weigh the truck.

Either way, it'll only be an approximation of the output. Chips come in lots of shapes and sizes, even off the same machine. Because they vary, when a pucker's die chamber is charged (filled), it will be filled with different amounts of material - some more solid, some more curly. The result is pucks of different sizes and weights.

With pucks, there'll be an even greater variation between "shipped" and "paid for" weight, as you'll be shipping fluids.

Of course, there's always that other, more fundamental issue. As one metals buyer said, "if you don't trust me enough to do business with me, let's not."

⁽¹⁾ "Recovery Processes," Cutting Tool Engineering, July 2003, page 41
⁽²⁾ "Recovery Processes," Cutting Tool Engineering, July 2003, page 39
⁽³⁾ EPA Office of Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste; Regulatory Status of Used Cutting Oils and Used Oil Coated Steel Turnings Generated During Machining Operations, 11/17/1993
⁽⁴⁾ "Where the Chips Fall," American Machinist, 1991
⁽⁵⁾ http://www.inter-source.com, 2/2005
⁽⁶⁾ Kevin O'Donnell, Metals Buyer, Commercial Alloys
⁽⁷⁾ Ken Karpinski, Chairman of the Board, Bay Metal Inc.