Experts in Metal addition and joining using Laser Welding, Laser Tig Welding, Brazing, Soldering
Smitstown provide an extensive welding service for our customers. We have 40 years experience in using welding technologies such as laser tig welding in the tool and die industry. We can provide a range of options in metal adding / joining, such as laser welding, laser tig welding, brazing and soldering, and can offer technical advice on which method may be most appropriate and cost efficient for our customers needs.
We use the latest in welding technology to keep shrink and distortion to an absolute minimum. Your weld repaired part will have a permanent metallurgical bond, unlike other repair options such as plating which could be prone to flaking or peeling in the future. We can micro-weld very thin parts with little or no warping and can lay a weld bead as small as 0.05mmØ.
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Tool and Die Welding
We provide an extensive Tool and Die welding service for our customers. Tool and Die welding may typically involve repair work on a tool which may have some damage or wear on features such as
- shut off faces,
- gate areas,
- cavities or cavity inserts.
We regularly undertake repair work for our mould tooling customers and can provide a complete repair service – laser welding to repair and build up the damaged surface and then re machining that surface back within tolerance (Spark EDM, Grinding, Milling, etc, check out our capabilities from the main menu).
Laser Welding
Laser welding is usually the preferred method of welding when manufacturing medical devices. This is due to the fact that materials can be laser welded with or without the use of filler material. The advantage of the absence of the third material is that only the parent materials need be approved for use in the product.
Our Rofin Starweld Select is a programmable laser welder. Once set up, the system can find and follow the same track on multiple parts loaded into the machine. This saves a lot of time as the operator is free to work on other operations or quality related checks. The Starweld also has the benefit of a rotary head, which can be used for laser weld diameters as small as 0.5mm.
Our Starweld laser weld (mico weld) system has the following capabilities;
- Programmable system = automation = low labour overheads for our customer,
- travel of 180X220x200mm (x-y-z),
- take a loading of 50kg,
- uses microweld and can weld spot diameters smaller than .1mm,
- can lay a bead as small as .05mmØ,
- uses SweetSpot Resonator to ensure high weld quality even on highly reflective materials, such as polished mould cavities or on aluminiums,
- can repair heat sensitive surfaces or very thin walls with little or no warping,
- uses SynchroWeld – consistent pulse overlap on seam welds independent of path contour and welding speed.
We can weld a wide range of materials such as
- Tool steels – , D2, stavax H13, 2083 and more;
- Stainless steels – 316L, 440, 17-4ph conA, 420 and more;
- Aluminiums – 6082T6, 7075 and more;
- Titaniums;
- Copper, Brass, Phosphor Bronze;
- Moldmax;
- Aviation Grade materials – Inconel, Hastleoy and more.
Laser Tig Welding, Brazing, Soldering
Laser Tig welding is sometimes required when joining heavier materials or if a stronger weld is called for. Laser Tig welding, like laser welding, melts the surface of the work-piece thereby giving a metallurgical bond. Brazing and soldering on the other hand are used where we do not wish to melt the workpiece, a third filler material with a lower melting point is used in this case to fill the gap between the parts giving a strong bond once cooled.
Our micro welding operators have over twenty years experience in the industry and they can give excellent technical advice on which technology is best used for your project.