Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

Volume Four - An Era of Change, Uncertainty, Depression & War - The Penarth Dock Engineering Company Limited . . .

Hard surfacing with Stellite at Penarth Dock Engineering Co.Ltd.

Stellite surfacing by welding at the Penarth Dock Engineering Company.

Two c.1961 photos of the welding shop with a common job underway. The bearing surfaces of these coupling shafts are subject to extreme loads since they are the connecting shafts between the large drive motors and the rolls of a steel rolling mill. The internal surfaces at each end were machined first, then stellite was applied by welding. Stellite alloys are cobalt / chromium alloys designed specifically for wear resistance. The shafts would then be placed back on the horizontal borer and rough cuts taken using tungsten carbide tools of the day which were worn out in no time. Then the final dimension and finish was achieved using a grinding head on the borer. A tedious and difficult job indeed. [114]