Letter 12092

Superfinishing case hardened gears- "Abral Process" 

Hello-

I own/operate a small machine/fabrication shop and I'm interested in the "Abral Process". The "Abral Process" is a three stage process. Case Hardened gears are immersed in a bed of small zinc chips, water, and aluminum oxide powder. The container is vibrated for several hours and the grade of oxide powder is increased in finess in several stages. Is anyone familiar with this process? I do know the process is being applied in the aerospace industry and Formula 1. I've researched the subject but come up empty handed. Desire the grit and zinc dimension. Also who could supply this material? I have the vibrators.

Thank you for your help.

Happy Holidays,

Kenneth W.Pearson
- Amelia Island, Florida, USA

Maybe Ted Mooney will let a web address through, since the subject matter is a bit removed from the mainstream of finishing.com. Try www.abralux.it/finit.htm

Bill Reynolds    consultant metallurgist Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

You might want to check Italy. I think this is a proprietary system.

AF Kenton Nova Finishing Systems Inc. Huntingdon Valley, PA

Bill, we printed the URL; thank you for taking the time to locate it.

But there are reasons we don't like to. We don't like for our supporting advertisers to pay the cost of maintaining contact info for their competitors. Plus, URLs and phone numbers change at lightning speed today and trying to keep more than 50,000 entries up to date is far less practical than keeping our Directories up to date and linking to them. Third, we can't print anything commercial in my column in Metal Finishing magazine so a single URL or brand name can make an otherwise interesting technical topic unpublishable. We're here to promote information exchange, not get in the way of it, but it's not as easy as it looks :-)

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Yes, it's sometimes difficult to know how to handle a query. A major part of our small business is metallurgical consulting, mainly to the ferrous castings industry. Outside the consulting jobs that are normal commercial contracts, is the occasional query that is never going to be chargeable. I have to decide whether to do it as a pro bono for the overall benefit of the art/science or stop someone from damaging themself; or leave it alone because it is either too big for pro bono; or leave it alone because it was obviously submitted by someone who won't understand the answer anyhow. You're in a similar dilemma needing to balance provision of pro bono services against the commercial interests of your sponsors. As has been said, "Life wasn't meant to be easy".

But Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you, and may finishing.com continue to flourish.

Bill Reynolds    consultant metallurgist Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Just thought I'd add something here. When a customer asks for a specific process, it might be better to ask your end customer what he wants to achieve. There are a number of ways to cross a river. This process and a number of products are usually similar and achieve comparable results. It's a great way to hook people into brand names and processes. Also they usually cost more and achieve the same results as those that are more familiar. I'd go back to your customer.

AF Kenton Nova Finishing Systems Inc. Huntingdon Valley, PA

Post a question on a different subject.

 

Answer or follow-up on this subject (in non-commercial fashion).