Vibratory bowls can be made in a variety of material like cast aluminium, mild steel, stainless steel, polyamide, etc. Each of these materials has certain advantages as well as disadvantages. Bowls made of mild steel are not long lasting due to rusting and not so wear resistance. Over time, their performance deteriorates drastically. Aesthetic wise too, it does not look good. Hence, it is not recommended to select mild steel bowls.
Polyamide bowls have certain advantages like machining ease and repeatability but the disadvantages are the size [small] and type [conical]. Step design bowls, which provide a lot of tooling flexibility, convenience and high loading volumes are not always possible in case of polyamide bowls. These disadvantages are not there in stainless steel and cast aluminum bowls. The advantages of these types of bowls are tooling flexibility, convenience and high loading volume.
However, the biggest advantage of stainless steel bowls is the tooling flexibility they provide. But these are costly as compared to cast aluminum bowls. The advantages of using cast aluminum bowls are the ease and speed of tooling and lower cost. However, proper coating is required for all cast aluminum bowls. Elscinthane spray able polyurethane coating is the best choice for cast aluminum and stainless steel bowls. Though these are usually the prerogative of the bowl feeder manufacturer, the customer, being the user of the bowl, should try to get the reasons behind the same.
The type of material and shape for a bowl feeder, one should check whether the bowl feeder manufacturer has the required coating expertise and technology, otherwise, the life of the bowl reduces and feeding too becomes problematic and erratic.
