Shipbuilding

Shipyard work is volume work. Long runs of plate, long runs of pipe, predictable wall thickness, repetitive bevel geometry — and the schedule moves only as fast as the slowest prep step. The right machine choice on a shipyard project is rarely about exotic geometry. It is about throughput per shift, what runs on compressed air, and what fits in the available access.

What the work actually looks like

Modern block construction means the hull arrives at the assembly bay as panels and sub-blocks that have to be welded together on schedule or the next block waits. The bottleneck is rarely the welder; it is how fast the edges get prepared.

The constraints are also predictable: long plate butts with consistent geometry, mixed-material decks (carbon and high-strength steel), tight clearances in tank interiors, and IACS class society inspection at every major joint.

Hull-plate edge preparation

Hull and shell plate butts mean long seams, predictable wall, repetitive geometry — and welding from both sides where access allows. That makes X and K (double-sided) bevels cheaper than single-V above ~20 mm wall thickness, not just on weld metal volume but on distortion: a 6-metre single-V seam at 30 mm wall pulls 3 to 7 mm of bow, while an X-bevel holds under 1 mm. Straightening cost disappears.

For multi-metre seams the GL traveling edge miller walks the cutter along clamped plate. For thick shell plate (above 25 mm) the DMM hydraulic heavy edge miller adds rigidity, and the DMM-900 vertical edge miller covers the heaviest sections. The full selection logic is in double-sided plate beveling.

Manifold and engine-room piping

Onboard piping splits into two predictable categories: smaller process piping (Ø 50 to 200 mm) handled with ID-mount bevelers on benched spools, and larger manifold tees and headers (Ø 200 to 600 mm) where ID access is restricted by fittings or installation, handled with split-frame OD-mount machines. The pipe beveling machines category covers both families.

In tank interiors, double-bottom spaces and any volatile cargo zone, electric tools are restricted — pneumatic drive is the default. The yard’s compressed-air infrastructure already reaches these spaces, which is half the reason pneumatic dominates shipyard piping work.

Deck spool fabrication and onboard repair

Yard fabrication shops produce spool inventory for the next block. Same predictable throughput problem, with the bottleneck being how fast the bevels come off the prep machine. ID-mount bevelers cover shorter spools where both ends need beveling and the bore is open. For dock-side or onboard repair, portable bevelers sized for the typical 50 to 250 mm range cover the bulk of the work.

For related onboard tool needs — drilling, fastening, grinding for cleanup, chipping — the pneumatic industrial tools range covers the shipyard standard kit.

Dross removal from plasma-cut block plate

Most yards now run plasma or laser cutting for plate blanks. The blanks arrive at the assembly bay with dross on the bottom edge and an oxide scale on both faces, neither of which can feed into welding or forming without removal. Hand grinding is slow and produces dust; a continuous-feed deslagging line is the right tool at production volume.

The wide-belt slag removal system handles dross up to ~40 mm plate thickness with oxide removal and edge break in the same cycle. For lighter dross the QC roller-brush deburrer covers the same workflow at lower thickness.

IACS class and certification

Class society rules (LR, DNV, ABS, CCS) reference the same bevel geometries as ASME B16.25 and EN ISO 9692-1 — single tooling pack covers the major specs. Machines ship with calibration certificates on angle and feed; class surveyors typically inspect the calibration record at first article and on subsequent re-certifications. Build records traceable to the WPS are kept in the spare-parts file along with the original commissioning sheet.

What ships on a typical shipyard project

A working package for a mid-size shipyard or block-construction project typically pairs:

• A GL traveling edge miller or DMM heavy edge miller for hull-plate work.
• ID-mount and split-frame pipe bevelers for spool fabrication.
• Pneumatic-drive variants for tank and double-bottom work.
• Wide-belt slag removal system if plasma-cut blanks are produced in-house.
• A pneumatic tools kit for general onboard work.

For sizing against your block construction throughput and class requirements, send the project spec to the quote form or talk to an engineer.