Extruder breaker plates

Breaker plates drilled to your print

We machine breaker plates for single and twin-screw extruders, to your drawing or from the worn plate you send us. Every hole is drilled here on our own machines, with high-pressure coolant through the drill.

Made to printFrom a sample plateUp to 20″ dia × 4″ thickHoles to 1mm15-5 PH & 17-4 PHNo minimum
01. Breaker plates

What we make

A breaker plate carries the screen pack, builds head pressure and turns the rotating flow coming off the screw into straight flow into the die. It works hot, under pressure, with the screens pressed against it. The face has to stay flat and the holes have to stay clean.

We make them as one-offs and in sets: flat plates, stepped plates, domed plates, plates with counterbored screen seats, and plates for screen changers. Hole patterns, open area, counterbores and locating features are machined to your drawing. If there is no drawing, send us the old plate and we will measure it.

Breaker plate drilled on the CNC mill, even hole pattern around the center bore
Breaker plate drilled on the CNC mill
02. The holes are the job

Drilled here, with coolant through the drill

Every CNC machine on our floor runs a high-pressure coolant pump, and we drill with through-coolant carbide drills. Coolant reaches the cutting edge at the bottom of the hole and pushes the chips straight back out, so the holes come out clean and on size instead of tapered and rough-walled.

That matters on a breaker plate, where every hole has to match the last one. We have drilled plates with up to 1,600 holes.

  • Holes down to 1mm (.039″), and depths up to 30 times the hole diameter.
  • Counterbored screen seats, stepped and domed faces, and locating features cut in the same setups.
  • Edges broken and faces finished, so the screens seat flat and the polymer is not sheared on a sharp hole edge.
Close view of breaker plate holes drilled on the CNC mill, chips on the table
Holes drilled with coolant through the drill
Breaker plate hole pattern checked on the inspection table
Hole pattern checked after drilling
03. Materials

What we make them from

  • 15-5 PH and 17-4 PH stainless, the usual choice for breaker plates. The heavy high-pressure plates are 15-5 PH in the H950 condition.
  • 300 and 400 series stainless.
  • Tool steels and alloy steels, including 4140 HT.
  • Inconel and titanium for corrosive or high-temperature service.

Heat treating and plating go to vendors we have used for years, and the plate comes back here to be finished to size.

04. Sizes and quantities

From a small plate up to 20″ diameter

The largest plates we have made are 20″ in diameter and 4″ thick, for very high pressure extruders, cut from 15-5 PH H950. Anything under that is standard work here.

There is no minimum order. One plate to get a line running is a normal job, and so is a set of spares for the shelf.

Breaker plate on the mill table after drilling, hole pattern and center bore
A finished plate on the mill table
05. Process

How a breaker plate order runs

01

Send the drawing or the plate

A PDF, DWG, DXF, IGES or STEP file, or the worn plate itself.

02

We review it and quote

RFQs are reviewed in one to two business days. Simple plates are quoted in one to two days.

03

We machine it

Turned, faced, drilled and counterbored to your print.

04

We inspect it

Critical dimensions are checked before the plate ships. Material certs and inspection reports on request.

05

We ship

Freight or courier, or pick it up in Hillsborough.

06. Common questions

Extruder breaker plates: common questions

Can you make a breaker plate without a drawing?

Yes. Send us the old plate. We measure every feature and make a new one.

Do you drill the holes or cut them by EDM?

We drill them, with through-coolant carbide drills and high-pressure coolant. When a feature really needs EDM, we work with an EDM shop and do all the machining ourselves.

What is the minimum order?

One. Single plates and small sets are normal work for us.

How small a hole can you drill?

Down to 1mm (.039″), at depths up to 30 times the hole diameter.

Can you change the hole pattern or the open area?

Yes. Tell us what you want and we machine it to your numbers.

Can you make plates for a screen changer?

Yes, to your drawing or from the plate that came out of it.

What paperwork comes with the plate?

Whatever you specify: material certs, first article inspection, inspection reports, on our form or yours.

Need a breaker plate?

Send us the drawing, or send us the old plate. We’ll come back with a price and a lead time.