A small zinc cellhouse in Northeastern Ontario and Deloro Stellite worked together to save 30 jobs. 

The customer had developed an automated method for removing pure zinc sheets from aluminum cathodes. This process included the use of a hardfaced Stellite® 6 alloy tip on a stainless base, forming a one-piece scraping knife. However, if the tips of these knives were not perfectly formed, they would dig into the aluminum sheets during the scraping process, rendering the sheets useless. This was a very expensive problem and had the potential, if not resolved, of closing the facility. 

At this point, Deloro Stellite was asked to analyze the situation and provide a more effective solution. Working with the customer, the Deloro Stellite sales, technical, and production teams initially proposed a solid Stellite® 6 alloy machined blade affixed to the stainless steel base with a series of pins. After further testing and collaboration with the customer, the team continued to refine the design, and ultimately developed a solid Stellite® 6 knife. This solid one-piece knife was adapted, and is currently being used on all three of the customer’s stripping machines.

This customer has repeatedly told us that this was a make or break situation for them. Had we not been able to work together to solve this problem, the plant would have closed due to the high costs involved in replacing aluminum plates and hardfaced knives.  In the end, Deloro Stellite is about people.