Custom Carbon and Graphite Machining Blog

23 Apr

Graphite vs. Carbon--Distinct Materials

Here’s a quiz for you: which element occurs in the human body the most, next to oxygen, and is present in all known life forms? If you remember much about high school biology, you probably guessed carbon. And you’re right. Here’s another quiz: what industrial material conducts electricity well, tolerates temperatures up to 2800℃, and is shaped into thousands of useful tools and components on a shop floor in Lorain, Ohio? If you guessed carbon again, you’re close. Carbon and this material are sometimes referred to interchangeably. Try again. That’s right, graphite. But are graphite and carbon the same thing?...

14 Jan

Industries that Use Graphite

For many people, graphite is something associated with pencil lead. People may remember it has something to do with diamonds, high temperature, and, if they think back to high school chemistry, crystalline molecular structure. Outside of industry, graphite is a material that just doesn’t get a lot of play in the media like steel or aluminum do. Followers of this blog, though, know that carbon products are crucial in many industries. Graphite is a versatile and extraordinary material, and at Semco, we make it our business to be experts in everything about graphite and its many uses. The following is...

11 Feb

Using Graphite to Build a High Powered Rocket in High School Science Classes

Semco are the graphite experts, no matter how obscure or rare the application. One of those obscure graphite applications, but also one of our favorite projects to assist with, is high school rocketry. Very simple rockets can be constructed with household props, but when a science class wants to get a bit more advanced, graphite components become necessary. And it just feels really good to say that what we do is rocket science. Graphite Applications Rockets are a common project for science classes, and students and teachers have many options to choose from when it comes to the type of...

24 Dec

Graphite and the Trade War

Graphite Manufacturing Graphite manufacturing requires skilled machinists, reliable equipment, and, of course, graphite. Graphite, like any other commodity, fluctuates in price and availability. At Semco, we work to stay ahead of the curve and offer our clients stable pricing and product availability by stocking graphite materials. We keep a lot of graphite on hand at our facility in Lorain, Ohio. Our preparations for possible turbulence in the graphite market have paid off for us and our clients. Despite our efforts, however, the past two years have thrown some curveballs at our price-stabilization efforts. Synthetic Graphite The uncertainty created in commodities...