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Summer 2003
Laser welding leaps ahead again.
Carr’s have been laser welding
tooling and metal parts now for nearly 5 years, and are welding up
to 10 tools a day. The laser machines themselves have not progressed
with any great new technology, but the materials available have.
Carr’s now have access to hundreds of wires from the USA and
Germany. Wires to match every application and base metal.
The material the toolmaker chooses for
the tool, has to be a compromise for durability, hardness,
machinability, polishability etc. However, when looking at local
areas of the tool, different properties can be added to enhance the
tool’s life. To reduce gassing damage, for example, areas can be
welded with specific welding materials for the specific job. Hence
higher chrome content steels can be used in gas eroded areas. Harder
steels up to 60 RC, can be used in high wear areas. H13 steels can
be put on P20 tools.
Also materials for matching steels
are better. The photo shows how steels that have to be chromeplated,
can be welded and re-plated
Plasma Transfer Arc Hard
Surfacing.
Carr’s Welding Techniks at Uplands
Farm, have now been approved for PTA hard surfacing for Baker Hughes
Inteq world wide, a leading oil field services company. After a year
of trials and tests, the PTA ( plasma transfer arc) machine has been
commissioned and approved.
The hard surfacing material is a mix
of spheroidal tungsten carbide with a nickel matrix binder. The
round shape of the tungsten carbide crystals makes the surface even
more resistant to wear, as the shape deflects impact and reduces the
chance of the crystal being dislodged. The hard banding on the subs.
for Inteq, have to be ground off first to allow room for the new
ones to be put on and then Carr’s add the spiral bands at various
angles depending on the spec.
The photo shows a sub, with its old
bands having been ground off. New bands of PTA tungsten carbide are
about to be applied.
These wear bands can be added to
other shapes and sizes.
For more details, please contact Phil
Carr on 01536 412828.
Application Stories.
Die Casters. Do you have problems
with cracks and crazed die surfaces?
The laser welding is good for keeping
tools going while you make a new one. Carr’s have kept some dies
going for years.
ISO9002/2001 update.
Carr’s successfully were re audited
for ISO9002 in April 2003, with no non-conformances. This is a
credit to the firm and its staff for following the regime, not just
for the starting period, but now in everything they do. There is
more accountability and traceability, not just back to jobs that
Carr’s have done, but towards the health and safety policy and
work practices across the whole company’s activities.
Site-working at Carr’s.
Carr’s offer an on-site service for
their cold pulse welding process. Large tooling usually too big to
transport, can often be welded at our customer’s factory and
sometimes in the press, if the space allows. The skills of Alistair
and Dean ( pictured above) are so good, that complete tool repairs,
including bedding and sometimes re-texturing can be carried out on
site.
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