Brenda Shilling is the managing operator of BKTS Inc. and has decades of experience with the company. She is working to expand the product line and reach a more diverse customer base.
Custom Baskets for Spin Drying Metal Parts
A standard drying basket won't always fit an older dryer or hold your smallest parts. The wrong basket can leave liquid in the load, let parts slip through the openings, or wear out early. Finding a basket built for your exact setup can be frustrating.
At BKTS, we build custom baskets for drying metal parts. You get a basket matched to your process, with fewer on-the-floor workarounds. Read on to learn more about sizing, perforation, and dryer fit for custom baskets.
Get a Quote for Custom Baskets for Drying Metal Parts »
When to Specify a Custom Spin Drying Basket
Standard drying baskets come in listed sizes and configurations for common centrifugal dryers and part types. You may need a custom basket when those options do not match your equipment or process:
- Nonstandard dryers: You run a legacy, discontinued, or modified centrifugal dryer, and no available basket size fits it.
- Small parts: Some of your parts are small enough to pass through the openings in the baskets offered for your dryer.
- Heavy batch loads: You plan to run heavier batches or faster spin cycles than your current setup.
- Process chemistry: Plating solutions, acids, or cleaning agents carried into the dryer on your parts are not compatible with standard basket materials.
Custom Drying Baskets From BKTS
BKTS is a woman-owned basket manufacturer in Meadville, Pennsylvania. We have manufactured industrial baskets since 1998. Metal finishers, electroplaters, and other manufacturers use our spin dryer baskets to dry parts after plating, rinsing, or coating. Our full product line is manufactured in the United States.
We also fabricate custom drying baskets to your specifications:
- Design collaboration: Our team reviews your process conditions and equipment limitations with you at the start of each custom design.
- Material selection: We offer polypropylene and poly/stainless steel construction and select the material based on the chemicals in your process.
- O-bottom option: You can order our patented O-bottom design on 12 x 12 and 18 x 18 baskets for added strength and balance during centrifugal drying.
- Custom shapes: We build cylindrical baskets and can fabricate other shapes on request.
- Legacy and modified dryers: We can work from an existing drawing or your current basket to match your dryer.
Balance Drainage and Retention of Small Parts
Centrifugal force pushes liquid off your parts and out through the basket perforations. The size and pattern of those openings affect that flow. Liquid can pool inside a basket with a restrictive perforation pattern.
Choose an opening size small enough to retain your smallest part. Custom orders can include a tailored perforation size, density, and layout. We list three perforation options and their open areas on our quote form:
Size and Reinforce the Basket for Your Load
Plan the basket structure around your batch weight and the number of repeated cycles. We build the 10 x 10 for medium-capacity applications and the 12 x 12 for larger loads and higher-volume processing. Our largest listed size is the 18 x 18, and we offer 3/16-inch material on both the 12 x 12 and 18 x 18.
We reinforce custom designs to handle weight, agitation, and high-speed drying. Our listed styles for the 12 x 12 and 18 x 18 include center girths from 1 1/2 to 6 inches wide.
We list each girth style on our quote form:
Confirm Basket Fit With Existing Dryers
Specify the basket's outside diameter and height, and leave the ear tabs out of the height measurement. Both dimensions have to fit inside your dryer with enough clearance for the basket to rotate. Match the bottom configuration to your dryer as well.
We ask for these details on our quote form, along with your dryer manufacturer. The form also includes an additional information field for other fit details. We use that information to develop a basket for your existing equipment.
How to Specify a Custom Drying Basket
Your dryer manufacturer and model number are the first details to gather. Measure the outside diameter and height of your current basket without the ear tabs. We can also build from a drawing of your existing basket or reverse engineer the unit itself.
Check the size of your smallest part and pick a perforation small enough to retain it. Weigh a full batch and use that number to choose your girth style or reinforcement. We select the basket material to resist the plating solutions, acids, or cleaning agents on your parts, so list every chemical in your process.
Custom Drying Basket Parts and Applications
Our baskets are used in metal finishing, plating, aerospace part fabrication, filtration systems, and other manufacturing applications. Aerospace customers need precise, repeatable finishing processes to meet strict industry standards. Production plants use our baskets for cleaning, coating, drying, and material handling.
Large-scale machining plants also use our baskets in oil slingers and chip wringers. Spinning the chips removes cutting oil and coolant, and you can reuse the recovered fluid to lower coolant costs. Order a basket that fits your wringer and stays balanced under load to avoid damage to the machine.
Typical loads include fasteners, washers, springs, clips, pins, stampings, small CNC-machined parts, and plated hardware. Parts can range from small precision components to larger pieces. We fabricate custom baskets for complex part shapes to give each load proper drainage.
Partner With BKTS for Metal Part Custom Drying Baskets
Custom baskets for drying metal parts have to fit your dryer, retain your smallest parts, and handle your batch weight. Pin down those details before ordering to avoid a second order and extra fabrication time.
BKTS has built polypropylene and poly/stainless baskets for metal finishers and other manufacturers since 1998. Our team works with you on dimensions, perforation, and reinforcement to fit your dryer and your process.
Click below for a quote and to learn more about our custom drying baskets.
