Industries / Mining and quarry
Large Part Machining for Mining and Quarry Equipment
Abrasive service, impact loads, and downtime measured in lost production.
Mining parts are built to be hit. Crusher frames, mill housings and screen bodies carry impact and abrasion for years, and the machining requirement follows from that rather than from precision for its own sake. Bores have to stay round under load. Mating faces have to stay flat after the structure has flexed.
The other thing that shapes this sector is that the equipment is usually already installed and already running. A large share of the work is repair rather than manufacture, and the clock that matters is the downtime clock, not the machining clock. That pushes a lot of jobs towards on-site machining, where equipment is brought to the part instead of the other way round.
Parts that come through this route
Not an exhaustive list. It is here so you can tell whether your part behaves like these, which is what decides the machine and the sequence.
- Crusher frames and shellsHeavy weldments and castings, usually too big for any table, so floor plate or in-situ work.
- Mill trunnion and bearing housingsLarge bores with alignment requirements over the length of the mill.
- Gear cases and drive housingsBores on several faces that must line up, the classic boring mill job.
- Conveyor drive and pulley framesWelded structures where machined pads and bores set the drive alignment.
- Worn pin bores in excavator structuresWelded up and line bored back to size, almost always in the field.
- Screen bodies and side platesLong welded panels with machined mounting faces and bolt patterns.
Where this work usually goes
Machine classes that suit the sector. Full typical envelopes and part weights are on the machine class reference.
Floor type boring mill
The very large frames and shells that no rotary table will carry.
Vertical turning lathe
Mill heads, rings, liners and anything where the diameter is greater than the length.
Portable line boring
Field repairs to worn bores, where the bar is aligned to the structure rather than to a machine.
Materials
Heavy S355 plate weldments, cast and ductile iron housings, 42CrMo4 for shafts and pins, and wear resistant overlays where abrasion rather than load is the failure mode.
Paperwork this sector expects
- Welding procedure qualificationRepairs are usually weld up and re-machine, so the welding is structural and has to be qualified.
- Hardness on wear surfacesWhere an overlay or a hardened surface is specified, state the value and where it is measured.
- Non-destructive testingOn critical welds after a build up, before the machining that hides them.
What to put in the RFQ
On top of the envelope, finished weight, material and tolerance that every heavy part needs, this sector wants these as well.
- Whether this is a new part or a repair to an existing one
- For a repair, how much material has to be built up and by what process
- The downtime window, because it often decides between removal and on-site work
- Access, if the work is in the field: from which side, at what height, with what power
- Any wear overlay or hardened surface, with the value and its location
- Whether the structure can be dismantled at all, physically and commercially
Have a part like these?
Send the envelope, the finished weight and the sector. We match it with shops that already work to this paperwork. Reply within 24 business hours.