Every once in a while, I have to engage in something that smacks of shameless sales dialog. This is one of those times. So, grit your teeth, send small children out of the room and just get through it.
If you are involved with heavy plate fabrication, and more specifically, if you occasionally handle hardened wear plate, you may want to give some thought to a product we carry that seems to be useful to fabrication and equipment repair facilities; Light Gage (1/8″) real 400bhn Q&T alloy wear plate. Forms well, readily weldable (not too rich of a chemistry to cause problems), and it provides weight reduction where installation and handling might be a problem; not to mention you can make wear resistant containers, hoppers, tanks, and that are lighter and therefore increase payload.
Perfect for emergency temporary patching of blow-outs on job-sites until heavier fabricated pieces can be delivered. An installer can get the pieces into hard to reach places where a repairman could handle the plate by hand. This is a nice alternative to 3/8″ and 1/2″ thick A36 liners. That’s a big reduction in weight! You may even find you benefit on the competitiveness of your bids. Depends on what the other guys are quoting.
We stock it in full sheets, 1/8″ x 60″ x 120″ long. We also cut pieces to order; simple rectangles and strips, but also configurations per sketch. Our sheet is cut on a Hi-Def Plasma, and our machine operator has been working with plate for 30 years. The cuts we get look almost like laser-quality with very little heat effected zone along the cut; even with alloy products.
NO SUCH THING AS WEAR RESISTANT STRUCTURALS? (Other than low-hardness A588). Think about tac-welding some clean-plasma-cut flat strips into the wear surfaces of channel and angle or beam.
CAUTIONARY NOTE; Working with hardened steel, anyone’s hardened steel, involves risks. Be sure to use appropriate safety gear (hot-mill gloves, hard had, safety glasses, etc.), Utilize persons experienced in handling hardened steels, to include certified welders, etc. Try to form against the grain, incorporate the largest bend radius the application will handle. And, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE. If there is something that you are not absolutely sure of; ask your vendor!
-Howard Thomas, February 5th, 2020
