refinish saddles/rods
This post is related to a post in the wanted section. Sorry for the multiple posts.
I’m seeking recommendations for refinishing a set of single and double-saddles (and rods) for a C&P 10x15 New Series.
Please see this post for pics:
www.briarpress.org/17584
The reason I am looking to repair/replace is that this set is very corroded throughout the entire length of the saddles and rods. The area of the saddle that is in contact with the roller end is no longer a finished surface as it is rough and uneven (and the thick and thin parts of both rods). The rollers and cores are new so I’d like the saddles to have a good finish on them.
The corrosion is difficult to see in these pics but the worn areas are very deep and porousy and the shiny finish on these saddles/rods has been “eaten” away. I spoke with a metal finishing company today and they said that refinishing would not improve things, the texture would remain and it would just have a nicer finish on it. Is there a way to “build-up” the corroded areas to an even surface then refinish close to the original height/shape? Remachining the entire assembly is quite costly so that’s not an option.
Can anyone touch upon their experiences with machinists or welders refinishing the entire rod/saddle assembly or just the saddles (including ballpark costs?). The saddles/rods on the other side of the press have a nice finish throughout so I’m trying to replicate that as best as possible on this side of the press.
I’m open to replacing the saddles/rods altogether if anyone knows of any that are available.
Thanks for any assistance that you can offer.
Joshua
From days in the machine shop many years ago, there was a method used with a Eutectic flame spraygun for building up worn surfaces. This method was mainly used for covering steel with hard wearing powder. But I know there were all sorts of alloys and metals available for it. If you phone around and find an industrial repairshop that has one, I would file the inside of the saddles to clean metal with a rough file. Then you might have to by a small container of bronze or something similar (since they likely have no other use for it). With the pieces prepared, it will only take them a few moments to build up the inside surface. After cooling take ‘em home and carefully file the inside to a new shiny surface using a round lathe file. You must like filing to attempt this…otherwise let the same machine shop finish the inside with a horizontal boremill to get a machine finish on it. Benefit of this method is that the roller shafts will now last forever.
As I’m writing this I have another idea that will require some more research on your part. For old style electric motors there are replacement sleeve bearings made.Basically a bronze sleeve the inside diameter to fit the shaft and about 1/16 to 1/8 thick and typically about an inch long. If you took one that roughly fit your roller shafts and cut it in half length wise, and then cut it again to match the width of your saddles, you have a new inner surface. Now take a bastard file (or a Dremel tool if you have to) and rough out the inside of the old saddles to fit the halfshell - and then epoxy it in position. That should not appreciably weaken the steel parts, and again give you a real bearing surface.