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Steel, as a substrate for zinc nickel plating, is extremely common, primarily because of the protective layer that the zinc nickel coating provides for the Steel substrate.

Why Steel Suits Zinc Nickel Well

Zinc Nickel forms a sacrificial layer over Steel parts. The coating will corrode prior to the base metal, providing Galvanic protection to the Steel part. Zinc Nickel coating on Steel provides very effective protection to the Steel part, as the Electrochemical potential of the Steel is close to that of the Zinc Nickel coating.

Preparing Steel Before Plating

Degreasing and de-scaling of the steel part is a prerequisite to initiate the plating process. The surfaces must be free from mill scale, rust, stain and other contaminations that can hinder adhesion. High strength steel parts typically greater than 1,000 MPa require an acid clean prior to plating. This process in turn can induce hydrogen into the part and require a subsequent bake-out.

Hydrogen Embrittlement and Bake-Out

There is also the risk of hydrogen embrittlement in high strength steels. High strength steels that have been acid cleaned and then electroplated must be bake-out at temperatures of around 190°C to 220°C for a minimum period of 4 hours. This process removes the hydrogen from the steel and is covered in HSE guidance on the processes involved in electroplating.

Salt Spray Performance on Steel

The zinc nickel coating on steel typically lasts between 720 hours (or more) of white corrosion and over 1,000 hours of red rust on the steel before it starts to affect the steel underneath. This explains why this coating is often specified for automotive and off-highway fasteners, brackets and structural fixings.

Specifying Alloy Ratio and Thickness

A coating with a 12% to 16% nickel alloy content provides the best corrosion protection. In terms of thickness, 8 to 12 microns is typical for general steel items. However, fasteners require a thin coating to allow for thread tolerances and therefore 5 to 8 microns is typical. More on Zinc Nickel Coating can be found at //www.poeton.co.uk/surface-treatments/plating/zinc-nickel-plating/.

It’s worth taking the time to get the specification right for your part before it is passed on to the plater, otherwise you risk a lot of time and potential cost to put it right.

Many businesses complete fire risk assessments and then forget about them. However, these need to be kept current while the responsible person is in control of the premises.

The Legal Minimum Interval

The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 continues to place a duty on all responsible persons to ensure the Fire Risk Assessment for their premises continues to be suitable and sufficient. Annual Fire Risk Reviews are a sensible guideline for most types of premises.

Structural or Refurbishment Changes

This means that if you have recently carried out a fire risk assessment, changes such as knocking through a wall, creating a mezzanine or amending fire routes require an immediate fire risk review. On the other hand, repainting or changing carpet is not required.

Changes in Occupancy

Any changes to the number of people a building needs to evacuate in the case of an emergency (i.e. due to a night shift or additional staff members) will need to be assessed in relation to the fire risk assessment for that building.

New Hazardous Materials or Processes

New Hazardous Materials or Processes – The Risk to be Controlled

After a Fire or Near-Miss

Review it promptly and update your findings for a Fire Risk Assessment that has detected significant hazardous risks, which could have led to a serious fire if they had developed further.

Fire Risk Assessment Milton Keynes is covered in more detail at //isefireproducts.co.uk/fire-risk-assessments/milton-keynes.

By regularly reviewing your fire risk assessment, it will be less work reviewing the assessment from scratch after something has changed.

A tapping machine is by nature a heavy duty piece of equipment and, as with any equipment, there are many associated items that will increase its effectiveness and improve its running.

Tap Holders for Different Shank Sizes

In most cases it is useful to have a set of Tap Holders, since not every job requires the same type of tap. However, due to the varying standardised tap shank dimensions for different tap sizes and manufacturers, it is crucial to choose a holder which is suitable for the respective tap and which does not allow any wobble. This in turn is crucial for the quality of the threads. A badly fitted holder is, in most cases, the cause for off-centre threads.

Torque-Limiting Clutches

The function of a torque limiting clutch is to automatically disengage the tap when sufficient resistance is encountered to prevent the tap from snapping in the workpiece. A clutch of this nature is primarily used for tapping in blind holes or hard materials, i.e. stainless steel. The cost of a broken tap in a workpiece far exceeds the cost of a clutch.

Extension Arms for Awkward Workpieces

Extended arms or even telescopic arms or specially designed arm for tapping holes in flanges or in the inner part of box sections or even at an angle to tapping holes are available on the market. Those tapping machines from Roscamat are designed in several arm lengths and also as special arms.

Quick-Change Tapping Heads

The quick-change head allows for changing of the tapping heads within seconds as opposed to disassembling and reassembling of the tapping head for each tap. On large quantities of repetitive work this feature adds up very quickly and keeps cycle times down while minimising chances of misalignment when switching between taps.

Cutting Oil and Applicators

The cutting oil for the thread is one of the most important factors for the quality of the threads. The cutting oil is applied by small brush-fed applicators or by drip applicators. A useful reference for Roscamat Tapping Machines is //www.cotswold-machinery-sales.co.uk/roscamat-tapping-machines.

With the right Roscamat Tapping Machine Accessories your capable machine will become a reliable production tool.