Custom Carbon & Graphite Machining

06 Jan

Graphite Molds the Holidays

So you didn’t find any graphite molds under your tree this year? And no carbon lubricant in your stocking? Well, no surprises there (though many artists and craftsmen would be delighted with some carbon lubricant or a graphite mold!). Even if you didn’t receive that graphite mold for Christmas, graphite molds the holidays in ways you might not realize. We’ll demonstrate in this blog how Semco and graphite help bring holiday cheer. Graphite Helped Bring You that Tree Let’s start with carbide powder. No, this isn’t something colorful you sprinkle on your Christmas cookies. Carbide powder is the main component...

27 Dec

Designer Extruded and Isostatic Graphite

Graphite is Lubricating, and… Graphite naturally has a unique set of physical properties that allows it to be used in environments where other materials would degrade or perform poorly. For instance, graphite can be used in conditions where traditional lubricants and other self-lubricating materials will fail. It can withstand high temperatures, corrosive media, and dry atmospheres, all while maintaining a low coefficient of friction and remaining dimensionally and thermally stable. But graphite as a lubricating material is typically not the first use of this wonder material that comes to mind. Most people, if thinking of graphite in an industrial setting,...

16 Dec

Machining Graphite Requires Knowledge and Care

Machining graphite can prove tricky, particularly when components with intricate geometries require outstanding accuracy. Here are four points to keep in mind when machining any graphite grades: 1. Choose the Correct Graphite Grade Graphite grades are difficult to distinguish visually, especially to the untrained eye. That being said, all graphite grades feature unique physical characteristics and properties that our graphite experts at Semco can easily recognize. Graphite grades are grouped by average particle size. The general rule is that 0.030’’ particle size materials are extruded materials, while materials in the 0.002’’ down to microns particle size are isomolded graphite grades....

07 Dec

Graphite and High Heat Applications

While we may be entering the coldest season of the year, it is always hot in places where many graphite applications live and work. Whether you are in need of sintering material, graphite heating elements, or other high temperature graphite applications, Semco Carbon has the technical knowledge and the machining capabilities to help solve your graphite machining project. High heat applications are sort of our calling card at Semco (no surprises there; graphite is a notoriously heat-tolerant material). Below are some of the product lines we can custom machine for you: Sintering Material Sintering trays are durable base components used...

28 Nov

Graphite Materials and Thermal Processing

Fall evenings and apple cider, baseball and hot dogs, graphite materials and thermal processing -- these things just go together. Thermal processing and vacuum heat treating shops commonly use fixtures made of graphite materials on which to set parts to be treated. These graphite fixtures have excellent thermal stability, allowing them to be used again and again through multiple heat treat cycles (think of the durability of a graphite heating element). In addition to that stability, graphite materials offer significant cost advantages when compared to other materials used to make fixtures to be used in thermal processing, like high nickel/chromium...