Flange Facing Machines |Product: Air-driven & Portable

Flange Facing Machines

Product Description

Flange Facing Machines

Flange facing is the process of machining the contact surfaces of flanges to create smooth and flat mating surfaces. It removes corrosion, scoring, pitting and distortion from the flange face so the joint seals correctly once it is bolted back together. A flange facing machine is the portable tool that does that work with the flange still in place.

Taking your field equipment to the machine shop is not always feasible. This is why BLJ In-situ Solutions offers its range of on-site machining services. Our air driven portable flange facing machines handle flange sizes from 0 to 1.8 metres in diameter and carry out machine shop operations without removing the plant item, consistently achieving tolerances and finishes once thought to be achievable only in an engineering workshop.

We bring the workshop to you and work in-situ, saving time and money. Whatever the work environment or situation, BLJ In-situ Solutions can offer a machining solution to meet your required application.

Flange Facing Machines Available for Hire

Our flange facing equipment fleet covers flange sizes from 0 inches through to 72 inches. Each machine is supplied with the tooling and equipment required to set up and operate.

Machine	Facing range	Mounting	Data sheet
MM200e Flange Facer	0″ to 8″ (0 to 203mm)	Internal mount	MM200e specs (PDF)
MM300e Flange Facer	0″ to 12″ (0 to 305mm)	Internal mount	MM300e specs (PDF)
FF1200 Flange Facer	0″ to 12″ (0 to 305mm)	External (OD) mount	FF1200 specs (PDF)
203B-FF Flange Facer	1.5″ to 12″ (38 to 305mm)	Internal mount	203B-FF specs (PDF)
MM610i Flange Facer	2″ to 24″ (50 to 610mm)	Internal mount	MM610i specs (PDF)
AX321 Flange Facer	3″ to 21″ (76 to 533mm)	External (OD) mount	AX321 specs (PDF)
MM860i Flange Facer	6″ to 34″ (152 to 864mm)	Internal mount	MM860i specs (PDF)
MM1000i Flange Facer	6″ to 40″ (152 to 1016mm)	Internal mount	MM1000i specs (PDF)
MM1500i Flange Facer	12″ to 60″ (305 to 1524mm)	Internal mount	MM1500i specs (PDF)
AX1445 Flange Facer	14″ to 45″ (356 to 1143mm)	External (OD) mount	AX1445 specs (PDF)
SX2872 Flange Facer	28″ to 72″ (711 to 1829mm)	External (OD) mount	SX2872 specs (PDF)

Internal Mount and External Mount Machines

Flange facing machines mount one of two ways, and the right choice depends on what the flange is attached to and how much room there is around it.

Internal mount machines clamp inside the pipe bore and machine outwards. They suit standard pipe flanges where the bore is accessible and clear, and they keep the machine’s footprint tight in congested pipework.
External mount machines clamp to the outside diameter or bolt to the flange face itself. They suit large diameter flanges, valve bodies, heat exchanger and vessel faces, and any situation where the bore is obstructed or the component is not a through pipe.

Where a job is not clear cut, our technicians will confirm the mounting arrangement before mobilising so the correct machine arrives on site the first time.

What Our Flange Facing Machines Are Used For

Re-machining raised face (RF) and flat face (FF) flanges to restore a serviceable sealing surface
Cutting and re-cutting ring type joint (RTJ) grooves to specification
Removing corrosion, pitting, scoring and gasket damage from flange faces
Correcting flange distortion and out of flatness identified during a flange flatness survey
Machining heat exchanger, vessel, valve and pump faces in place
Restoring sealing surfaces during a shutdown so the plant achieves a leak-free startup

Flange facing is usually one part of a wider scope. It sits alongside flange joint management and controlled bolting and bolt tensioning, because a correctly machined face still needs accurate bolt load to seal. Our approach to the full scope is set out on our flange maintenance and flange joint integrity page.

Hire the Machine, or Hire the Machine and the Technician

You can hire a flange facing machine from our fleet and run it with your own people, or we can supply the machine with a BLJ technician who carries out the work. Many clients use the second option during a shutdown, when the window is tight and the joint has to seal first time.

What is included with a hire: the machine, the mounting hardware and the standard tooling required to set up and operate it, all maintained and tested before it leaves our workshop. Every item in the fleet is registered in our equipment management system so we can confirm availability and location at any time.

What you need to provide: the air supply to drive the machine, safe access to the flange, and confirmation that the system is isolated and the joint is clear for work. Our team will talk this through with you before delivery so nothing holds the job up on the day.

Machines are dispatched from our workshops in Brisbane and Gladstone, Queensland, and we mobilise to sites across Australia including Brisbane and Lytton, Gladstone, Chinchilla, Karratha, Perth, Darwin, Newcastle and the Hunter Valley and Sydney. The full range is on our on-site machining equipment hire page.

Flange Facing Machine FAQs

What does flange facing mean?

Flange facing means machining the sealing surface of a flange back to a flat, smooth and correctly finished condition. Over time a flange face is damaged by corrosion, gasket bonding, scoring and heat distortion, and once the surface is out of specification the joint will not seal reliably no matter how it is bolted. Flange facing restores that surface so the gasket seats properly.

What is a flange facing machine?

A flange facing machine is a portable machine tool that clamps to a flange, either inside the bore or on the outside diameter, and rotates a cutting tool across the flange face. It performs the same work as a lathe in an engineering workshop, but it is taken to the component rather than the component being taken to it. BLJ In-situ Solutions holds a hire fleet covering 0 to 72 inches.

What are the different types of flange faces?

The three most common in industrial pipework are raised face (RF), where the gasket seats on a raised portion of the flange; flat face (FF), where the full face is machined flat and the gasket covers the whole surface; and ring type joint (RTJ), where a metal ring sits in a machined groove and is used on higher pressure and higher temperature duty. Each has a different specified surface finish, and our machines cut all three.

What size flange can BLJ machine on site?

Our fleet covers 0 inches to 72 inches, which is 0 to approximately 1.8 metres in diameter. Smaller flanges are handled by our internal mount machines such as the MM200e and MM300e, while large diameter work such as vessel and exchanger faces is handled by external mount machines including the AX1445 and SX2872.

Can I hire a flange facing machine without a technician?

Yes. Flange facing machines are available for dry hire with the tooling required to set up and operate them. If your team is not set up to run the machine, or the joint is critical and the shutdown window is tight, we can supply a BLJ technician with the machine instead.

How long does on-site flange facing take?

It depends on the diameter, the finish specified and how much material has to come off, but the more useful comparison is against the alternative. Removing a flange or component and sending it to a workshop adds disassembly, transport, machining, return transport and reassembly. Machining it in place removes all of that, which is why in-situ flange facing is usually the faster and more cost-effective option.

Where does BLJ provide flange facing machines and services?

BLJ In-situ Solutions operates from workshops in Brisbane and Gladstone, Queensland, and mobilises nationally. We regularly work across Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory, including remote and regional sites, for clients in energy, LNG, oil and gas, utilities, petrochemical, mining, construction and infrastructure.

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