Aluminum Extrusions

Star Extruded Shapes, Inc. is a full service aluminum extrusions provider. Not only do we extrude, we also provide aluminum fabrication, powder coating, assembly, and other finishing services. At Star, we pride ourselves in our ability to provide turnkey solutions for all of your aluminum extrusion needs.

Aluminum Extrusion Benefits

Aluminum is 1/3rd the density of steel, which makes aluminum an excellent choice for many motion- related applications. The benefit of an extruded aluminum section is that it puts material only where it’s needed, potentially reducing weight and costs.

Aluminum has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than many other materials. For example, 6061-T6 grade aluminum is nearly four times the strength of 304 stainless-steel; that makes extruded aluminum a good choice in load-bearing applications, where weight minimization is critical.

When Iron oxidizes it will rust and flake away, but when aluminum oxidizes it forms a protective film over the surface. That can save on the expense of a coating processes and eliminate maintenance when there is no need for a highly cosmetic finish.

Most grades of aluminum machine easily. You can cut aluminum extrusion to length with a hacksaw and drill holes with your cordless drill. Using aluminum extrusions over other materials can save wear and tear on your machines and tooling.

Extruded aluminum can be painted, plated, polished, textured and anodized. This gives you a multitude of options to choose from than there is possible with other materials.

There is a market value for scrap aluminum. That means when your product reaches the end of its lifecycle there are no issues with disposing of unwanted material.

When designers think about using extruded aluminum, they’ll often restrict themselves to the shapes available in catalogs of standard products. That can be a missed opportunity for design optimization, because custom extrusion tooling is surprisingly inexpensive.

Numerous long aluminum extrusion pieces moving through the production line.
Stacked aluminum pieces showing end view of the shapes.
Numerous long aluminum extrusion pieces moving through the production line.
Press four wide production line image.
Billet being moved into the hot press for extrusion.
Aluminum extrusion piece coming out of hot press after being shaped.

Aluminum Extrusion Capabilities

We offer a wide range of aluminum extrusion services while preserving ISO 9001:2015 certifications across all of our manufacturing facilities. Our 350,000-square-foot extrusion plant features four aluminum extrusion presses (6”, 2 – 7” & 9″ inch diameter), allowing us to service many industries and their unique needs. The versatility of presses available provides Star the unmatched ability to manufacture profiles of all different sizes.

Aluminum Extrusions Process and Design

The aluminum extrusion process involves heating the raw material (billet) and the tooling (die) simultaneously. The die is loaded into the press where the billet is then pushed through the die to form the shape. Once extruded, the material is cooled, stretched and then cut to size at the extrusion press. The material then gets transferred and staged for the tempering process – a process that uses a heat treat oven to achieve the desired hardness required. From there, the parts will either get packed for shipment or sent to our fabrication or powder coat assemblies for final fabrication or finish required.

Our experienced staff of engineers are ready to assist you with your design needs. Using the most advanced software applications, including computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs, we can help you design the extrusion that will work best for your application.

Aluminum billet going into a hot press.
Aluminum Extrusion Services
  • ISO 9001:2015 certified
  • 6000-series aluminum alloys
  • Standard and custom profiles
  • Multiple direct extrusion presses
  • Nitrogen-ported dies
  • Closed loop extrusion speed controls
  • Weight-per-foot range of 0.033 to 10 lbs.
  • Circle size up to 9 inches
  • Automatic run-out table
  • Extrusion recipe system setting
  • Belt handling systems
  • Water wall quench and over/under cooling

Project Planning starts with the RFQ stage

Star conducts a feasibility review for all profile & fabrication specifications supplied by our customers. This process determines best design options, run rates, capacity analysis and identifies any areas requiring further discussion. Upon receipt of tooling orders, we follow a thorough print approval and our Product Launch Coordinator oversees new jobs from start through sample approval

To aid our customers who are working to prove out a design or process, Star has the in-house capability for supplying prototypes, short run test samples and less-than-minimum initial run sizes.

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