Occasionally there are items, materials, or a combination thereof….that are just plain difficult to manipulate, modify, and/or fabricate. Shown in the photos below are wear plates for a particular type of stone crusher. Each panel is a combination of 3/16” thick Carbon steel, with approximately 4” thick of vulcanized rubber bonded to the steel. Depending on the vessel these are used in, they may need mounting holes added along the length of the panel. That was the case for this particular project.
Our client was searching for a cost effective way to add these holes. The vulcanized rubber posed the greatest obstacle. Their current process included many different size drill bits and hole saws to end up to the desired diameter. This resulted in a long and drawn out process just to drill a single hole to the correct size. With only a pilot hole that was pre-drilled by the customer, we were able to use our Waterjet machining centers to quickly and accurately open the pilot hole to the desired size. Thus, no damage to the vulcanized rubber or de-lamination of the steel/rubber bond. Contact Patrick at Miller Mechanical today to see how he can help you save time with your difficult materials. He can be reached at Patrick@millermech.com.
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