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Hard coating needed

I have a 4' Dai wheel, 9" wide and I want to get the exterior plated with a hard coat finish to decrease wear and add traction for a hard rubber 1 1/2" Dai roller. The wheel was already coated with a dark grayish hard finish (maybe type III anodize finish) but over the years it became slick, shinny and worn. I lost a lot of traction between the wheel and the roller. Is there a good finish that is rough, durable and can handle the pressure and force (we apply a brake force to the wheel to simulate a load for the roller to move) the rollers put on it without wearing out or becoming slick (for a good amount of time)?

Jake DiPietro
- Englewood, New Jersey
2001

Hello Jake!

I'm assuming that by "Dai" you mean "diameter". So have you considered thermal spray coatings? I doubt they'd stick onto hard anodize, but you can machine that off and apply the thermal spray. It can certainly be hard, wear resistant, and rough. Contact a thermal spray vendor (there are likely some advertising at this site) and talk to them. You're also not that far from two hotbeds of thermal spray academia, at Stonybrook and at Drexel.

Good luck!

Lee Gearhart
metallurgist - E. Aurora, New York
2001