Why does the Sicoma planetary mixer have 3-armed stars while other top mixers in its class have only two?

Sicoma’s designers have studied the action of both 2-armed and 3-armed stars and concluded that 3 are better. Not only because there are more arms and blades, but because the blades can be positioned to be much more effective. To start with, the arms can sweep the mixing volume more effectively because the more paths there are, the more times each area can be covered in every minute; this is important because the ARMS do the mixing, the blades giving the fast discharge action. This gives better mixing. Less obvious, however, is the angle of the blade. The combined rotation of star and individual blade across the mixer floor shows that the blades should be angled not at right angles to the star shaft but at a slight inward angle. This gives better sweeping action and eliminates lengthways slicing through the mix, which is ineffective and causes excessive wear. Since the outer edge travels further than the inward edge, it receives more wear. While others add replaceable segments to compensate, these must be bought, stored and installed, while Sicoma has simply thickened this outer edge to compensate correctly and give longest life. Sicoma’s blade arrangement is a better design, gives better mixing and lasts longer with less maintenance.