Farmer Phil
Aluminum
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2017
Hello members. This is my first post but I'll keep the introduction to a minimum due to time constraints. My name is Phil, I am a job-shop machinist and millwright with W. R. Martin in Louisville, Kentucky.
We have a particular project at one of our customers in which a horizontal machined surface on the base of a large industrial machine has placed upon it a machined plate which then has a bearing housing placed upon it and then they are held tightly together with bolts.
The customer does not keep these bolts tight. Protocol is to hy-torque the bolts after every 12 hours--this is never done and frankly I don't blame them because it is a pain to do--however failing to do so allows them to loosen and then debris is introduced between the machine base and the plates the bearing housings sit upon and it now looks like an ant farm. We are in one of those situations in which what is truly best for the customer would be to build-up the surface with weld and then bring in our portable mill and machine it but they do not want the downtime or the cost.
They were going to set the shaft and bearings on Friday, however we were able to get them to concede to letting the project go until this coming Wednesday. I inform you of this because it may be of importance to the situation.
We've decided that anything is better than what the customer has currently, and have arrived at the decision to use a self-leveling epoxy, which is what brings me here asking for your guidance.
My concern is the temperature. It is currently 28* and expected to be 20* by midnight, with a high of 36* tomorrow (Thursday).
We will be using Kaufman SurePoxy 117: http://www.kaufmanproducts.net/pdf_files/pd_pdf_eng/SurePoxy 117.pdf
We'll have the area we are working with tented and run heaters, however the machine weighs in around a million pounds, so I have doubts that our tent and a salamander is going to provide any appreciable change in temperature, and the plate and the what used to be machined surface will be warmed with torches to both clean and warm them.
Friday will provide us with an estimated high of 43*.
If we pour this epoxy tomorrow with these temperatures, will there be a considerable difference as if it were poured Friday?
It is a horizontal surface, the epoxy will be poured roughly at least an 1/8" - 1/4", and the pieces are all hy-torqued tightly together.
There is at least one known upside to this situation, whereas the pot-life sure is a lot longer in the cold.
Yes, I understand that I could call the manufacturer, however it is 1030p and frankly I trust the wisdom of these members.
Thanks a lot and have a fun rest of your day,
Phil T. Brun
We have a particular project at one of our customers in which a horizontal machined surface on the base of a large industrial machine has placed upon it a machined plate which then has a bearing housing placed upon it and then they are held tightly together with bolts.
The customer does not keep these bolts tight. Protocol is to hy-torque the bolts after every 12 hours--this is never done and frankly I don't blame them because it is a pain to do--however failing to do so allows them to loosen and then debris is introduced between the machine base and the plates the bearing housings sit upon and it now looks like an ant farm. We are in one of those situations in which what is truly best for the customer would be to build-up the surface with weld and then bring in our portable mill and machine it but they do not want the downtime or the cost.
They were going to set the shaft and bearings on Friday, however we were able to get them to concede to letting the project go until this coming Wednesday. I inform you of this because it may be of importance to the situation.
We've decided that anything is better than what the customer has currently, and have arrived at the decision to use a self-leveling epoxy, which is what brings me here asking for your guidance.
My concern is the temperature. It is currently 28* and expected to be 20* by midnight, with a high of 36* tomorrow (Thursday).
We will be using Kaufman SurePoxy 117: http://www.kaufmanproducts.net/pdf_files/pd_pdf_eng/SurePoxy 117.pdf
We'll have the area we are working with tented and run heaters, however the machine weighs in around a million pounds, so I have doubts that our tent and a salamander is going to provide any appreciable change in temperature, and the plate and the what used to be machined surface will be warmed with torches to both clean and warm them.
Friday will provide us with an estimated high of 43*.
If we pour this epoxy tomorrow with these temperatures, will there be a considerable difference as if it were poured Friday?
It is a horizontal surface, the epoxy will be poured roughly at least an 1/8" - 1/4", and the pieces are all hy-torqued tightly together.
There is at least one known upside to this situation, whereas the pot-life sure is a lot longer in the cold.
Yes, I understand that I could call the manufacturer, however it is 1030p and frankly I trust the wisdom of these members.
Thanks a lot and have a fun rest of your day,
Phil T. Brun