General Questions
A coated grinder plate requires less frequent maintenance, runs significantly longer between sharpenings, and reduces total operational costs compared to a standard plate.
Standard grinder plates have been the industry standard for years. They cost less upfront but require daily sharpening to maintain a flat, sharp cutting surface — essential for consistent product quality and maximum throughput. This means investing in a properly maintained plate grinding machine and trained operators to run it.
Coated grinder plates eliminate the daily sharpening requirement entirely. Depending on the application, the same plate can run 4–26 weeks between maintenance cycles while maintaining sharp cutting edges that deliver clean cuts — reducing labor costs, minimizing downtime, and ensuring consistently high product quality and throughput. When a coated plate eventually becomes dull, it can be resharpened and recoated by the manufacturer, extending its useful life well beyond that of a standard plate.
Bottom line: Standard plates cost less upfront but carry ongoing labor and equipment costs. Coated plates require a higher initial investment but deliver lower total cost of ownership through reduced downtime, less labor, and a longer service life.
Standard uncoated plates are best suited for low-utilization applications, or operations with a high likelihood of foreign material that can damage the plate.
Coated plates are the better choice for high-utilization applications with well-maintained grinders and a low chance of foreign material contamination — particularly where product quality and consistency are critical or need improvement, or where reducing recurring maintenance costs is a priority.
The coating material must have an associated certification to be compliant with USDA and FDA regulations. As an example, the Phygen XVD coating used on Thomas Precision grinder plates is FDA and USDA certified, and compliant with EU/REACH regulations, making it suitable for both domestic and international food processing applications.
The rebuild process is designed to restore performance, maintain tight tolerances, and extend the life of your equipment. Here's what to expect:
- Inspection & Evaluation — Upon receipt, your auger set is thoroughly cleaned and inspected. An estimator evaluates all components to determine what can be reused, rebuilt, or requires replacement.
- Quote & Approval — A detailed repair quote is prepared and sent for your approval. The rebuild begins once a purchase order is received.
- Rebuild — Worn components are restored using appropriate methods, including resurfacing or rebuilding of auger flights. Screens are repaired or replaced as needed to meet original performance specifications.
- Final Inspection — Upon completion, the auger set undergoes a final inspection and assembly to ensure proper fit and function.
- Matched Set & Set ID — Due to the tight working tolerances of the separator, the auger and screen must be maintained together as a matched set. Each set is marked with a unique Set ID to ensure proper pairing during operation.
- Return Shipping — Your rebuilt auger set is carefully packaged and shipped back, ready for service.
When a new or rebuilt auger set is installed in an MDM deboner, it will produce the highest yield, greatest throughput, and best product quality. As components wear from the constant separation of hard from soft materials, yield and throughput will decrease, temperatures will rise, and product quality will decline.
The interval between rebuilds varies depending on the product being run and a range of other operational factors. Leading processors monitor these performance indicators closely and initiate a rebuild when numbers begin to drop. The sooner a worn set is replaced and rebuilt, the sooner optimum production is restored.
The cutting components of a meat grinder — the grinder plate, plate bushing, inserts, knife holder, and centering pin — work together as a precision system. When any one of these components is worn, misaligned, or improperly maintained, the grinder loses its ability to achieve a clean cut. The consequences of poor cutting performance affect product quality, food safety, equipment longevity, and overall throughput.
Food Safety — Metal Contamination Risk
A grinder that is no longer cutting cleanly begins to generate metal-on-metal wear at an accelerated rate. This dramatically increases the risk of metal particles entering the final product — a critical food safety hazard that can trigger recalls, regulatory action, and liability exposure.
Product Quality — Sinewing and Smearing
When cutting components are dull or poorly fitted, the grinder smears rather than cuts. This causes sinew and connective tissue to restrict plate holes, impeding flow and degrading the texture and appearance of the finished product.
Throughput and Efficiency
Restricted plate holes and poor cutting geometry force the grinder to work harder to move product. The result is reduced throughput, increased energy consumption, and greater mechanical stress on the entire drive system.
Temperature Control — Heat Addition to Product
A grinder that is working inefficiently generates significantly more frictional heat. Excess heat added to the product can compromise freshness, alter fat structure, and accelerate bacterial growth — all of which affect shelf life and product integrity.
Hopper Performance — Reducing Product Roll
Proper cutting component condition also affects how product feeds through the system. When the grinder is cutting efficiently, product moves through the auger and plate in a controlled manner. Worn or misaligned components contribute to "product roll" in the hopper — where product spins rather than feeds — reducing effective capacity and creating inconsistent output.
Component Longevity
Cutting components wear interdependently. A worn plate accelerates insert wear by not giving the insert a smooth surface to run against; a worn plate bushing or undersized centering pin affects knife alignment, accelerates insert wear as well, and could cause catastrophic failure. Regular inspection and timely replacement of worn parts protects the entire component set and lowers total cost of ownership.
Bone Collection (Where Applicable)
For grinding applications that incorporate bone collection, proper cutting performance is essential to directing bone fragments to the collection point effectively. Degraded cutting geometry compromises bone separation, which can plug up holes and back up product in the grinder, damaging other components or producing brown "burned" product.
Rebuilding a meat grinder auger is a precise process designed to restore performance, maintain tight tolerances, and extend equipment service life.
Inspection
Upon receipt, the auger is thoroughly cleaned and inspected. An estimator evaluates the condition of the auger to determine whether it can be rebuilt or requires replacement, and a detailed repair quote is prepared and submitted for approval.
Rebuild
Once a purchase order is received, the rebuild begins. Worn areas are restored using methods including resurfacing or rebuilding of auger flights, pin bore, seal, and spline areas — all to original specifications.
Final Inspection
Upon completion, the auger undergoes final inspection and assembly (if required) to ensure proper fit, function, and durability. Each auger is marked with a unique Set ID, making it easy to track service history and match components in future rebuilds.
Shipping
The rebuilt auger is then carefully packaged and shipped, ready for service.
Regular maintenance on a scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) keeps blades sharp, seals sealing, and heat transfer at its best — reducing energy costs and keeping downtime to a minimum.
Blade Condition and Heat Transfer
The scraper blades are the primary mechanism by which product is continuously removed from the inner cylinder wall. Worn blades allow frozen or burned on product buildup to form at the heat transfer surface, significantly reducing thermal efficiency. Replacing blades on a scheduled basis ensures sharp, consistent contact with the cylinder wall, maximizing heat transfer rates, and reducing the load on refrigeration or heating systems.
Oil Accumulation and Heat Transfer
Oil accumulation on the exterior of the product tube acts as an insulating layer that impedes heat transfer between the refrigerant jacket and the product cylinder. Removing trapped oil from the tube exterior as part of a scheduled PM program restores heat transfer coefficients and allows the refrigeration compressor to operate at reduced load — lowering energy consumption and extending compressor service life.
Gearbox Inspection and Downtime
Gearbox oil should be changed at regular intervals and inspected for the presence of water or metallic particles. Water infiltration indicates seal degradation, while metal contamination signals internal wear. Addressing either condition early prevents accelerated gear and bearing failure and reduces the risk of unplanned downtime.
Seals and O-Ring Replacement and Downtime
Mechanical seals and o-rings provide the barrier that keeps product contained within the product tube. Replacing seals and o-rings at scheduled PMs prevents product leakage. Proactive seal maintenance is significantly less costly than emergency repairs following a seal failure.
Downtime and Operating Cost
A scraped surface heat exchanger maintained within a PM program operates more reliably, consumes less energy, and requires fewer emergency breakdowns. Refrigeration compressors on well-maintained units run at lower demand, reducing wear and utility costs over the life of the equipment.
Thomas Precision Specific Questions
Thomas Precision designs and manufactures all of its products in-house at our own engineering and production facilities in Rice Lake, WI and Bastrop, LA. Every component we manufacture comes exclusively from one of those two locations.
For purchased components such as bearings, seals, belts, and electrical parts, the country of origin can vary — these types of industrial parts are sourced globally by nature. What we can say is that nearly all of our suppliers for those components are based in North America, giving us reliable relationships, consistent availability, and responsive support.
When you call, a real person will be available to speak with you any time of day or night, every day of the year. If your call isn't answered immediately, simply leave a message — our team may be on the line with another customer — and you will receive a prompt callback.
Our around-the-clock support can assist you with:
- Assembly guidance — step-by-step help to walk you through installation or reassembly
- Technical troubleshooting — real-time advice to help diagnose and resolve issues with your machine
- Parts availability — quick confirmation of whether a part is in stock and ready to ship
- Quotes — pricing information whenever you need it, not just during business hours
- Expedited shipping — arrangements to get critical parts delivered to you as fast as possible
- After-hours repairs, rebuilds & service technician scheduling — depending on available materials and labor, we can coordinate on-site support or work to get your equipment repaired and back up and running even outside of normal business hours
Whether you're facing unexpected downtime in the middle of the night or need answers on a holiday weekend, we're here to help keep your operation moving.
Thomas Precision parts are designed as drop-in replacements for components from other OEM manufacturers. In many cases, design improvements have been incorporated that enhance performance or extend service life beyond the original design. Where those improvements require alternate mating parts, Thomas Precision provides guidance to ensure a seamless transition.
Thomas Precision offers standard and improved replacement wear components for equipment from many OEM manufacturers. Beyond wear parts, years of experience performing full frame-up restorations on OEM equipment have produced deep familiarity with entire machine assemblies — including shafts, frame components, and other hard-to-find parts that may be obsolete or offered by very few suppliers. If a part exists on the machine, there is a good chance Thomas Precision can source or manufacture it.
Thomas Precision provides a comprehensive range of parts and services for most Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger models and OEMs. Rebuild services include shafts, tubes, gearmotors, and reskinning of outer shells. New replacement parts include shafts, tubes, heads, seal components, gearmotors, and the Thomas Precision ThermPro line of complete heat exchangers. Field services include tube and shell cleaning, inspections, troubleshooting, and operator training.
Many SSHE components have been reengineered for improved ease of assembly and extended service life, including seal heads and sealing components.