Custom Carbon & Graphite Machining

28 Nov

Graphite Materials and Thermal Processing

Fall evenings and apple cider, baseball and hot dogs, graphite materials and thermal processing -- these things just go together. Thermal processing and vacuum heat treating shops commonly use fixtures made of graphite materials on which to set parts to be treated. These graphite fixtures have excellent thermal stability, allowing them to be used again and again through multiple heat treat cycles (think of the durability of a graphite heating element). In addition to that stability, graphite materials offer significant cost advantages when compared to other materials used to make fixtures to be used in thermal processing, like high nickel/chromium...

16 Nov

Thinking of Machining Graphite In House?

So you have a machine shop and you need a synthetic graphite component? If you’re thinking of machining graphite yourself, our advice would be to give Semco a shot at doing it for you. Machining graphite doesn’t necessarily require a graphite mill, or decades of experience working with synthetic graphite, but these things don’t hurt. We have built Semco on highly specialized knowledge about machining graphite, and we will share some of that knowledge with you here. If you still want to do the graphite machining yourself, you’ll be better equipped to do so. You may also become aware of...

04 Nov

Graphite Fabrication and Metal Casting Molds

Graphite Fabrication and Metal Casting Molds Graphite serves useful functions in various industries and in the production of other materials. We’ve written extensively here about carbon lubricant for industrial machining, and graphite molds used to make things as various as gold ingots and zinc-aluminum alloy components. Metal casting molds, of course, are quite often made of graphite. Some of the graphite fabrication that we do at Semco is machining metal casting molds or graphite molds to shape other materials. Graphite has the lucky and quite unique quality of not sticking easily to many other materials. That quality, along with its...

28 Oct

Carbon Graphite - Anode Material for Batteries

Carbon Graphite in Batteries In this blog, we’d like to explain the advantages of carbon graphite as a negative electrode material in batteries. But first, a quick review for those new to this blog: What is graphite? What is Graphite? Some elements can exist in different forms. These forms are called allotropes. Sulfur, for instance, has many allotropes, more than any other element. Graphite is an allotrope of carbon, and, in fact, is the most stable form of carbon. “Wait!” we hear you saying. “Aren’t diamonds a form of carbon, and how could you get more stable than a diamond?”...

17 Oct

Why Choose Graphite for Your Vacuum Furnace?

Perhaps we’re a little biased towards graphite here at Semco. We recommend this wonder material for many applications (many of us even prefer to write with pencils). One field where we especially encourage our customers to use graphite is in their vacuum furnaces, induction furnaces, and other heat treat applications. There are multiple benefits to using graphite in vacuum furnaces and induction furnaces. Where should we even start? There’s the increased furnace capacity when graphite is used, there’s the quicker turnaround times for heat-treating processes. You know what, we should make a list. Benefits of using graphite in your vacuum...