Big Ten Metals - The Supplier of Choice

FAQ's

In order to help you find the information you're looking for, we've included some frequently asked questions. If you have any questions, we would be more then happy to provide you with the information you're seeking.

Q: What is Blanchard grinding?
A: Blanchard grinding, also referred to as rotary-disc grinding, is utilized when the part is too large for double-disc grinding or when a substantial amount of material has to be removed one surface at a time.

Q: What is Centerless grinding?
A: Centerless grinding is a technique for machining parts having a circular cross section consisting of grinding the rod, which is fed without mounting it on centers. Grinding is accomplished by working the material between wheels, which rotate at different speeds, the faster wheel being the abrasive wheel.

Q: My operation is on the east coast, isn't the freight cost expensive?
A: Big Ten Metals has many customers on the east coast. Due to the amount of freight volume, substantial discounts are provided by freight partners. These discounts are passed on to the customer.

Terms

Machinability - The relative ease of machining a metal.

Free Machining - Pertains to the machining charactereristics of an alloy to which an ingredient has been introduced to give small broken chips, lower power consumption, better surface finish, and longer tool life, among such additions are sulpher or lead to steel, lead to brass, lead to bismuth, to aluminum,, and sulfer or selenium to stainless steel.

Stress relieving - Heating to a suitable temperature, holding long enough to reduce residual stresses and then cooling slowly enough to minimize the development of new residual streeses.

Tensile Strength - In tensile testing, the ratio of maximum load to original cross-sectional area. Also called ultimate strength.

Yield Strength - The stress at which a material exhibits a specified deviation from poportionality of stress and strain. An offset of 0.2% is used for many metals.

Blanchard grinding - Removes material while holding close tolerances and a 63 Ra finish. Is utilized when the part is too large for double-disc grinding or when a substantial amount of material has to be removed one surface at a time.

Grinding - We realize some materials require odd or non-standard sizes that require grinding.

Surface Grinding - Holding tolerances of less then .001" with a 32 Ra finish or better is typical for surface grinders.