Drive shaft yoke

A client has a drive shaft yoke, it runs a universal cross on one end, a seal, bearing journal and then a spline at the other end. The requirements for the job was “DO NOT machine any more material off the damaged area, as it is highly stressed and needs all the meat it can get”, we linish the area, removing as little material as possible, plated the area up using copper, as the journal had worn in one axis only the journal was a mixture of on size tapering down to 1.5mm undersize. As a result the journal was post machined to achieve a concentric surface on the item, the area was then plated using cobalt to give a surface hardness of approx 50Rc, the client had been using Speedi sleeves but they cut out in a year, which then destroyed the seal and proceeds to dump the transmission oil onto the ground. 

Cost approx $600, replacement units are not available.

Earthmoving axle

A client has a motor scraper axle, the bearing surface was 0.3mm undersize due to bearing seizing and running on the shaft, a skim of the surface was taken on the lathe to remove burred material and to true up the surface, the plating was carried out on the lathe and took approx 4 hours, the journal was plated up to size using copper, post machined to 3-4 microns under sized and then plated with Nickel over the top to provide a tough surface for bearing fitting.
Total time on site was approx 4 hours.

A saving of $3900 possible on cost of repair vs replacement.

Hydraulic spear

A client had just finished making a new spear for a digger after the machine operator managed to bend the old one under a bridge. He had spent a day stripping the machine down, sourcing new hard chrome bar, machining the end of the bar to receive the piston assembly, welded the eye onto the spear, but while removing it from the lathe, managed to dent the hard chrome bar with the tool post which he had advertantly indexed. His costs so far was, one days labour, $800 for the chrome bar, welding of the head on and machining of the spear. He elected to use selective electroplating to repair the damage, as he was aware it was the only cost effective method of repair. The spear was duly repaired before he re-assembled the ram, 

Total saving on plating vs repair in excess of $600.

Print roller

A client has a print roller off a small Heidelberg press, the bearing journal had worn to the extent, the bearing was being retained by a piece of Sellotape, the journal could not be welded, due to a rubber sheath right next to the journal. Selective plating was chosen as a repair method, the journal was resized to give a light press fit.

Sheep’s foot

A client has a Sheep’s foot roller where the hydraulic drive is integral part of the sheep’s foot, there is a hydraulic collar assembly that kept on blowing seals, the item was removed and measured, it was determined that the three stepped faces where 0.27 to 0.30 undersize for seals available for the unit. A replacement collar was priced and was available from Italy , with a 6 week lead time.

The client opted to give the selective plating ago, as it was a lapped surface on the end face of collar, so any heat applied would distort and destroy the lapped surface. The areas were polished using a wet and dry paper, the three steps were then selectively plated to within 5 microns of finished dimension, and then a capping of nickel was used to finish the faces off to desired size.

Saving to client was in excess of $3000 not including 6 week downtime of machine