The family of cobalt based alloys was mostly invented by the Haynes Corp. The alloys have been tweaked through the years to suit specific purposes. The alloys are unusual in that they do not gall, they have a very low coefficient of friction, and do not lose strength until above 1100F. They are generally corrosive resistant down to a 3 PH. The nickel content has been increased in certain members of the family to increase corrosion resistance. The trademark name of “Stellite” has been sold various times and at this writing belongs to Kennametal as a registered name. The family of alloys also has ASTM or AMS specifications that cover each one. Geronimo Alloys produces the alloys under the ASTM or AMS specification and does not purchase the alloys from Kennametal or use their registered trademark name of “Stellite”.

The cobalt based alloys have a wide use in a multitude of industries to control abrasion that is exacerbated by corrosion and/or temperature. The price of these alloys is not cheap. The price for the alloy itself is almost solely determined by the market price of Cobalt. We have seen this price range from $4.00 per pound to $80.00 per pound. The other contributing cost factor is the increased forming cost. The alloys are generally very difficult to machine rapidly. Even though the cost of the part may be several 100% higher than common steel, the extended wear life may actually make the operational cost substantially less than the steel part. The alloy is often used as an overlay or cladding material. Geronimo applies them with our robotic PTA process or with TIG, MIG, or laser, whichever is the more economical or practical. Although cladding or overlay is much more economical than casting, castings have a 35% better wear life than a cladding. The tendency of the cobalt alloys to break or crack prevents the use of solid parts in many cases.

The ASTM or AMS specification for the abrasive resistant cobalt alloys does not carry a hardness requirement. There is no heat treatment requirement except for stress relieving. The reason for this is that this alloy is not changed by heat treatment. None of the properties can be changed once the alloy has solidified. These alloys, cobalt 1, cobalt 3, cobalt 4, cobalt 12, and cobalt 6, etc. get their wear resistance at the instant the alloy goes from liquid to solid in the casting process. Hardness is determined by the quantity and size of the carbides formed in the transition phase from liquid to solid. The elements of the alloy combine to produce carbides. These elements are iron, silicon, tungsten, and chromium. They combine with the carbon to form carbides. The problem is that these carbides are form in an extremely short period of time. The time is determined by the thickness of the cross section of the piece. A thicker cross section will always be softer than a thinner cross section. What happens in the transition is that the number of carbides is reduced, but the individual size of the carbides grows. The inter-granular space between carbides become larger and the hardness decreases. The carbides may become so large that the carbides are pulled out of the matrix in the finishing process. The carbides should be in the single digit thousands of an inch. We have experience carbides that measure more than .050 of an inch. Geronimo molds and pours all cobalt alloys in a manner that colds the casting as quickly as possible. The cobalt is simply the matrix that holds the carbides together. Cobalt as a matrix provides some very advantageous qualities to the alloys. The coefficient of friction is very low and the alloy does not gall. Geronimo has built bearings where the outer and inner halves run against each other. An example of the effects of the lower coefficient of friction is a pump that was originally of cast iron. The company was pumping chromium sand slurry. We replaced the pump with a cobalt based alloy to solve a wear problem. An unintended consequence was that the pump put out 15% more volume at the same speed because of the lower coefficient of friction. The lower coefficient of friction make abrasive particle slide off the alloy rather than digging in to the alloy. Geronimo has run numerous tests on wear life between the cobalt based wear resistance alloys and the nickel based alloys. In almost all application the cobalt alloys have a substantially longer life. The nickel based alloys must be “worked” hard enough to continually work harden to have any wear life. Another problem with the nickel based alloys is that they contain boron to get the hardness. Boron is a very contaminating element in a foundry.

The biggest problem with the cobalt based wear resistant alloys is their tendency to break. The more wear resistant the alloy, the higher the tendency for it to break. In the “as cast” condition, these alloys have no difference in the yield and tensile strengths. Hot working will provide some difference in the tensile and yield. Care should be taken in choosing the correct alloy so as to avoid breakage from thermal or physical shock. Geronimo’s 30+ years of experience can seriously help in this choice.

When it comes to specific needs, Geronimo Alloys is always ready to deliver. Understanding that their clients are number one and their lifeblood when it comes to business revenues, Geronimo Alloys are more than just appreciative of the business of their customers. Even more, their clients are seen as key team members in the development of the project for which they have contracted Geronimo Alloys.
Anyone in the manufacturing industry knows that being able to create the most precise materials and items is of the greatest value and necessity for each of their clients. While each customer has unique needs that they are seeking to fulfill, it is the background and experience of the professional staff of Geronimo Alloys that makes the difference through quality workmanship and attention to the most minute details. It is no wonder that they have clients in a variety of industries, including such diverse areas as food production, petrochemicals, die casting, steel mill, synthetic polymer production, and injection molding.

Since 1983, Geronimo Alloys has remained dedicated to serving the needs and desires of their clients. With a 35,000 square foot facility in Seguin, Texas, which was custom designed at the time of construction, they are ideally suited and prepared to meet the demands of any customers, from the smallest to the largest project. They are ready and willing to work 365 days out of the year and 24 hours per day, whenever necessary. In fact, they recently skipped a Super Bowl event in order to deliver the goods to one of their clients. Their philosophy is that whatever it takes to get the job done, they will do it.

This is perhaps one of the reasons that in 2014, there was not one customer return, and in 2013, only $300 in returns was requested. It is obvious that such a company is committed to meeting the needs of their clients. Whether the client needs parts built using cobalt alloys, or other materials, Geronimo Alloys will acquire the best quality raw materials in order to deliver quality products for their clients.

As an AS9100/ISO2009 manufacturing firm, Geronimo Alloys and the staff that makes up this unique business see themselves first as a service company and then next as a manufacturing firm that has one goal in mind: to serve each of their clients at their highest possible capacity and to deliver quality products on time. To this end, they have developed a working business strategy that has proven successful over the long run.  “WE ARE LATE WHEN THE PHONE RINGS”

First off, this small company, which is based in Seguin, Texas, has gained national recognition, largely in part because they firmly grasp the concepts of synergy and teamwork. While they understand that it is their growing list of customers that is responsible for their regular paychecks, they also know that it is because of the intimate knowledge and understanding that their client brings to the table that ensures the foundry, welding, design, and machining divisions of Geronimo Alloys fully comprehend how to best proceed in order to meet the wishes of each client they work with.   Small is an asset if you need something fast and correct the first time.  Geronimo utilizes the following technologies to be the best department your company has:

1. Design: all solids and 3-D, reverse engineering
2. Pattern Making: wood, 3-D printing, metal
3. Casting: exotic alloys
4. Heat Treating
5. Welding: Stick, MIG, TIG, Laser, PTA, Robotics
6. Machining: Manual, CNC, EDM
7. Pressure Testing

Try finding another company that has the ability to rapidly solve your problems 24/365 with these capabilities.

Collectively, this company, which has been in business for more than three decades, boasts of a staff that together makes up a combined and impressive 250 years of experience in the manufacturing industry. While this sort of depth of experience is crucial to being able to consistently deliver results that exceed the expectations of their clients, both existing and new, it is the unusual creativity and enthusiasm that sets the Geronimo Alloys crew apart from other companies.

The overall philosophy of Geronimo Alloys is one of the driving forces behind their continued and growing success. They offer a hotline that is ready to be answered any time day or night, every day of the week, including holidays. From their point of view, if a client has a need that simply must be met without delay, then they are available for them and ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

It is precisely these sorts of attributes that has built the solid and strong reputation that Geronimo Alloys has in the industry and amongst their expanding base of customers.

Geronimo Alloys acquired its first induction heating equipment in 1983. The equipment was manufactured by Inductotherm and was used to power Geronimo’s melt furnaces. We were extremely slow in utilizing the concept of the equipment for other uses. At the end of 2014, we purchased an induction heating unit from Radyne, a sister company to Inductotherm. The unit is a 35 KW power unit. By January of 2015 we had incorporated the unit into a robotics welding area. We had been pre-heating for welding with a torch and MIG welding by hand a series of parts, taking approximately 42 minutes to do each part. The labor cost was $30.00 per hour. The induction heating unit allowed us to reduce our pre-heat time from 25 minutes to 2 minutes. The robotic welding cut the weld time to 8 minutes and the labor cost was reduced to $15.00 per hour. The induction heating also produced a clean part with no residue from the torch that had been used to pre-heat prior to the induction unit. The induction unit, the robots, and the PTA welding system cost a total of $150,000.00. It paid for itself in six months. The PTA welding produced a very smooth weld with no flaws. This allowed us to reduce the amount of cladding thickness prior to machining. The powder cladding material was 1/3 the cost of the MIG wire. The results are that we saved time, labor, raw material, and machining cost. The machining cost was reduced because the weld was much smoother and did not break inserts like the MIG welding and it reduced the insert wear. It actually machined faster.

Although the induction heating unit was bought to pre-heat parts to be welded, we quickly found other uses for the unit. We now use the unit to braze dissembler metals together, we separate press fits (such as bearings), and harden with our unit. We also do some heat treating. We are working on the ability to heat treat in a non-oxygen atmosphere. It seems that not a week goes by without us finding another use for the unit.

Geronimo would like to work with you on your heating, hardening, and heat treating needs. Another area where Geronimo Alloys places themselves apart from everyone else is their idea and concept of employing a true and productive team approach. Recognizing that the client is an expert in their own needs and specifications, the machining, design, welding, and foundry staff will collaborate with the customer to ensure that goals are met with clear understanding and agreement.

At Geronimo Alloys, that it exactly what you will find: the right people using the right equipment and materials. What really makes them stand apart from their competition, in addition to their depth of knowledge and manufacturing experience, is their innate understanding of the importance of properly supporting and serving their clients, both existing and new, with an unwavering dedication to being available to meet the needs of their customers 24 hours per day, and 365 days per year (except for leap years, when they are ready to serve their clientele 366 days!).

An interesting side comment is that we discovered that almost none of the induction heater manufacturers provided true programmable capabilities with their units. The units have the ability to run recipes where you can input various operations, but you get no feedback from the piece being heated. In other words, the machine will automatically increase temperatures to a given point and hold that power setting for a given period of time. The machine then shuts down. If the operator is not watching, goes to the restroom or is called somewhere, the piece being heated begins to cool. Geronimo turned the problem over to its sister company NavMac, LLC. NavMac does research and development on industrial problems. NavMac produced a fully programmable unit (Horus) that controls the induction heater and up to 5 other on/off functions. We have been using it for more than 6 months and it works like a champ.