What is the “SurfMet” Process?
It is not a “coating”. The process is an advanced, proven, metallurgical surface treatment (MVD – Mechanical Vapour Deposition) whereby a metal, such as Tungsten Carbide, is added with a true penetration of the base metal’s molecular structure. Thickness precision can be applied with little or no heat to specific problem areas of tooling without adverse effect to the tool. This treatment provides longer tool life and promotes greater productivity.
What Type of Finishes and Hardnesses Can Be Obtained?
264 different finishes and textures can be achieved. For workholding tools, 125 to 750 microinch finishes can be obtained in thicknesses of .0001″ to .006″ (using tungsten carbide). Anti-friction or smooth surfaces can be processed to approximately an 18 microinch finish in thicknesses of .0001″ to .001″. Various hardnesses can be achieved depending on the alloying material ie) Tungsten Carbide 76 Rc and Nickel Chrome 64 Rc. Tolerances are held within tenths provided the part or tooling is concentric at the start.
How Can the Process Assist You?
Generally, applications in industry are bound only by the limits of one’s imagination. With the addition of metals such as tungsten carbide, titanium carbide, nickel chrome, molybdenum, nickel borides and diborides, and numerous combinations of these and others, our Surface Alloying technique can provide industry with faster, better, and more economical solutions to cope with surface problems. Mild steel to stainless steel to tool steel (annealed or hardened) can be treated. Where solid carbide tooling or inserts could not be considered in the past due to cost, our process can now economically provide longer wearing surfaces. Often treatment can be performed on-site with no machine tear-down or dismantling. Our process has been known to outperform and replace treatments of diamond, tungsten carbide, plasma spray, chrome plating, welding, Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), fuse coating, carbide impregnation, cladding, or metallizing.
Can the Tooling Only Be Treated Once?
Tooling, without any preparation, can be treated continuously. Many manufacturers now surface alloy new parts. They have found that they can calculate the amount of wear that will render the part inoperative, and will retreat with our “SurfMet” Process prior to the point where the wear will affect machine operations.
What Type of Surface Preparation is Necessary?
The only surface preparation necessary is to remove dirt and grease. Scale of iron oxide should also be removed to alleviate the problem of surface contamination. There is no need for pre or post heating or machining. The process is applied with little or no heat eliminating the possibility of distortion, brittleness, or sub-surface annealing to hardened tooling.
What Type of Cost Reduction Can You Expect?
This depends on the industry and the tooling. The “SurfMet” Process has been known in some applications to increase tool life up to 12 times and did provide a $100,000/year savings on a production line in one instance. With the recent machining breakthroughs utilizing exotic materials and very high horsepowers and, with tool replacement costs rising at a never-ending rate, our Surface Alloying technique has become critically important.