Tin Plating (Tinning) Food Processing Equipment to Reduce Friction with a Sn Coating

Spraying Tin Anti-galling Coatings to Reduce Friction in a Screw Tread

A lead-screw, also known as a lead screw, power screw or translation screw, is a screw used as a linkage in a machine, to translate turning motion into linear motion.

Typical applications are linear actuators, machine slides (such as in machine tools), vises, presses, and jacks.

Tin Spray Plating Provides Excellent Solderability and Corrosion Resistance for Food Processing Equipment Applications

A tin coating provides superior lubrication, solderability and excellent corrosion resistance. Tin makes a superb anti-galling and anti-seizing wear surface. It also offers tarnish resistance.

Kermetico HVAF Thermal Spray Tin Plating Equipment

We use Kermetico High Velocity Air Fuel tinning for spraying Sn coatings onto mechanical parts of medical and food processing equipment to prevent galling on trapezoidal screw threads.

HVAF Tin plating results in a uniform, high-bond, unoxidized layer of a Tin coating with perfect anti-frictional features.

We need less than an hour to deposit a tin coating on the part shown below (1,000 mm (40”) OD).

Thermal Spray Tin Plating of an Acme Thread

Tinning is also used to protect parts from corrosion and to clad conductive layers onto polymer parts.

We apply tin coatings using our specialized HVAF SL gun.

Kermetico HVAF SL – Specialized Equipment for High Velocity Thermal Spray Tinning

It is a unique system, specially developed for depositing non-oxidized, dense aluminum, tin, copper and alloyed low melting point metal coatings.

Key features:

• Axial powder injection
• Protection against feedstock oxidation
• No material evaporation in the coating process
• No nozzle clogging
• Uniform, dense, high-bond aluminum, tin, copper and copper alloys coatings
• High spray rate:
  • 6 kg/hour (13 lbs./hour) for Al coating
  • 10 kg/hour (22 lbs./hour) for Cu, bronze, brass, Zn and Sn coatings
• Blast & spray operation capable
• Air cooling (no need for water chiller, mobile friendly)
• We can supply hand-held and ID rotating versions of this gun

Blast and spray with Kermetico High Velocity Equipment

We recommend spraying tin coatings using blast and spray operations.

You can eliminate blasting and masking for blasting in a blast booth or cabinet

Just prepare a part for coating, blast it with the Kermetico HVAF gun (it is extremely fast and uniform) and spray with the same gun after switching the powder feed hose and perhaps changing the nozzle.

The HVAF blasting is much faster and more accurate than conventional air blasting.

Our customers and we have been successfully doing this with thousands of parts.

The HVAF Spray Tinning Process Description

The HVAF SL Gun sprays tin powder, heated and accele­rated by the air-fuel gas combustion products.

The mixture of compressed air and the chosen fuel gas flows into the combustion chamber through the orifices of a catalytic cera­mic insert.

The initial ignition of the mixture results in the heating of the insert above the mixtures’ auto-ignition tempera­ture and then the hot insert continuously ignites the mixture.

When entering the gun, the compressed air cools the chamber and the nozzle assembly.

Then part of the preheated air is mixed with the chosen fuel gas and combusted.

The spray powder is injected axially into a wide combustion chamber.

The powder exiting the chamber is propelled into the nozzle of chosen length and configuration, where it is accelerated to a velocity that may be over 1,000 m/s.

When impacting a sub­strate, the spray powder particles form a coating.

Kermetico HVAF Sprayed Tin Coating, 100x

Kermetico HVAF Equipment

Kermetico designs and manufactures three families of HVAF thermal spray equipment.

• Convertible HVOF and HVAF equipment:
  • C7 – an HVAF/HVOF gun for large parts
  • C6 – a general purpose HVAF-HVOF gun
  • CID – an HVAF&HVOF gun to spray internal diameters 80 mm (3.15″) and larger
• Multi-purpose HVAF AK systems, with a range of spray guns:
  • AK7 – a high-power gun for the thermal spray of large parts
  • AK6 – a universal gun to spray a balanced mix of parts in a job shop
  • AK5 – a compact gun to spray smaller parts, thin walls and complex surfaces
  • AK-ID – an 80 mm (3.15”) and larger internal diameter spray gun
  • AK-IDR – a rotating ID gun to spray 4” (100 mm) and larger bores
  • AK-HH – a handheld gun for on-site coating
• Specialized HVAF S equipment:
  • SL – a specialized gun for spraying low melting point metals
  • SP – a dedicated gun for the most efficient precious metals’ deposition
  • STi – a specialized gun for the deposition of titanium and Ti-alloy coatings

• Additional equipment:
  • An HVAF grit feeder for the grit blast preparation of parts to reduce coating costs
  • A Gas Permeability Tester for an instant check of a coating through porosity

Kermetico, Inc. – HVAF Material Science Excellence, Equipment Manufacturing and Thermal Spray Coating Services Since 2006

We create equipment that helps material scientists, engineers and business managers achieve their goals.

We have installed more than 60 Kermetico HVAF systems in the USA, Europe, Japan and China.

Some of these systems are at work in Universities and National Labs, but most of them are used in production thermal spray shops.

We proudly design and produce our HVAF thermal spray equipment in California and install it all over the world.

You can visit our R&D center in Benicia to meet our designers and see our HVAF equipment in action.

We also provide HVAF and HVOF thermal spray coating services to customers in North America – ourselves and through our network of partners.