New supplier of single-screw extruders. (Keeping up with Extrusion).

After Akron Extruders sold its single-screw extruder business to Cincinnati Milacron in early 2000, director of manufacturing Thomas Allen and other employees who didn't want to relocate from Akron to Cincinnati continued feed-screw manufacturing under the name Akron Quality Feedscrews. The former engineering director of Akron Extruders, Kurt Houk, went into business on his own as Diamond America Corp. in Tallmadge, Ohio, where he designs and builds his own line of single-screw machines and dies for sheet and cast or blown film. Diamond America also rebuilds extruders and dies. The two firms initially cooperated in manufacturing but now are merging into one operation at Diamond America. Both the Akron Quality Feedscrew and Diamond brands will continue.

Diamond has built a half-dozen extruders so far and has five more under construction--primarily for profiles, but also for sheet and blown film. Diamond's specialty is custom profile extruders, not downstream equipment. Its extruder sizes range from 0.75 to 6 in. diam. with 24:1 or 30:1 L/D standard. Tel: [phone], [e-mail]