Guill Tool & Engineering is a recognized leader in the Design and Manufacture of Plastic Extrusion Tooling worldwide. Since 1962, Guill Tool & Engineering has supplied Extrusion Tooling for many Industries beginning with Wire & Cable and expanding to Medical, Automotive, Hose & Pipe, Compounding, Packaging and Wood Composite. Guill specialized in multiple layer extrusions having developed patented tool component features for controlling layer tolerances and concentricity leading to material cost savings. All Guill products are manufactured in the USA in an ISO 9001 registered facility.

A leading manufacturer of commercial and residential wire came to Guill Tool with a wire jacketing application that required the flexible properties of PVC but also the toughness of Nylon. This product is normally produced in a two step process with the inner layer applied at one station and the outer layer applied at a second station. The desire was to eliminate the second operation and apply both the inner and outer layer in one operation. The solution was a coextruded jacket with an AB layer configuration consisting of an inner layer of PVC and a relatively thin outer layer of Nylon applied in one operation. The product specification called for very tight tolerances on layer thickness and concentricity. The customer needed the flexibility to apply the jacket with pressure tooling or as a sleeving operation depending on the application. In addition to this the customer wanted the ability to have an adjustable center or fixed center crosshead. The challenge for Guill Tool was to produce a single crosshead that could process the two polymers which had significantly different melt temperatures and still provide the flexibility, adjustability and precision tooling to meet these extremely tight specifications.

The engineering department at Guill was able to come up with a new crosshead design that provides:

  • Concentricity tolerance between 91 and 95%
  • Pressure jacketing or sleeving capability
  • Thermal isolation between polymer layers within the die
  • Adjustable or fixed center operation.
The die assembly has since been installed and started up in one of the customers North American manufacturing facilities. The concentricity and layer thickness are excellent. The AB product has been a huge success. The sleeving and pressure jacketing both provided successful results. As a result of Guill Tools engineered solutions, this customer was able to maintain a competitive advantage their target market. Together we formed a strong relationship throughout this project which has led to additional opportunities for both parties. These relationships are important to Guill Tool and we strive to provide value for our customers beyond just an extrusion head.

Guill Tool & Engineering Co., Inc. is committed to meeting and exceeding the needs of our customers. The requirements of ANSI/ASQC Q9001- 2004 International Standards (ISO9001) are communicated and maintained at all levels of the company through training and internal audits. Every employee exhibits a high degree of quality ownership in the products and customer service provided.