1. Welcome and Thanks

2. Wear Technology - Hardfacing as a way of life?

Sounds crazy, I know. Most people haven’t even heard the word "Hardfacing", let alone how it affects our every day life. Let’s face it, it’s not a household word, but I assure you, that practically everything you come into contact with in daily life is affected by hardfacing.

Let’s see what hardfacing is NOT. It is not a degenerative disease associated with a hardening of the arteries in the facial area of the body. It is not a beauty treatment akin to mudpacks. It is not an architectural wall covering used to project a feeling of the outdoors.

What is Hardfacing?

Hardfacing is a metallic protection or cladding applied to materials that would otherwise wear away prematurely. It is generally applied by a welding technique.

Now that we know what Hardfacing is, one might ask;

Yes, Everywhere and in just about Every Industry.

Let’s take a closer look. As you look around the room, pick out a few objects. Jot them on a piece of paper. Now think about what they are made of. You may have picked your computer screen. Good, because it is made of glass and plastic. Glass is silica, and is a highly popular item to recycle. Recycled glass is very abrasive. Chutes, conveyors, and crushing equipment must all be hardfaced to protect it against excessive wear. The plastic housing of the monitor is made of plastic, which is usually an extruded product. Plastic is a polymer, and quite abrasive. In the processing of many objects, the polymer is extruded into a mold under tremendous pressures and heat, all of which contribute to the excessive wear of the extrusion machine. Hardfacing with Cobalt alloys is a common method to increase the life of the extrusion press.

Perhaps you chose a piece of paper, or a pencil. Both of these items are products of the Pulp and Paper industry. Practically every facet of the process of bringing the tree to the pulping process involves the handling of abrasive materials. Bark is loaded with sand from dragging the trees through the forest. It also contains nails and fencing. Wood chips moving at high speed cut through ordinary steel plates like hot knife through butter. Acids are used in the pulping process. All of these processes rely on hardfacing materials to protect them from the ravages of wear.

Perhaps you chose your car while looking out the window. Steel is mined from Iron ore. Iron ore is highly abrasive and practically every aspect of the mining operation requires that equipment be protected from abrasion and impact. Truck beds, shovels, chutes, hoppers, conveyors, crushers, and classifiers are all targets for excessive wear. Only hardfacing products can economically be used to salvage the costly wear that occurs. Turning ore into steel requires tremendous heat. Process equipment would not last very long if it weren’t for hardfacing. Stamping, forming, bending, and punching require the use of tooling. This tooling is under the constant siege of wear. Hardfacing materials prolong its useful life and make it economically possible for us to afford so many items. Think we are done with the car and steel? Not hardly, because your car will eventually see the junk yard. Car shedders depend upon hardfacing materials to function properly.

How about the light you are reading by. Did you choose a light bulb as your item to jot down? Well, chances are that you electricity is a result of fossil fuel burning or hydro power. Each of these industries depends heavily upon hardfacing to prolong process equipment life.

January 1^st is only 115 days away. When it comes, will your computer crash? A few weeks ago, a subscriber alerted me to a potentially momentous Y2K computer glitch.

Sure enough, after a quick test, I found that my PC might have failed to run just after midnight on January 1^st.

It could happen to you, too.

4) Click on the "Date" tab at the top.

A 2-digit year might not roll over to the year 2000! That’s because the computer might think it’s the year 1900!

Here’s the good news: There’s a simple way to prevent this problem!

1) Click on the arrow to the right of

There may be millions of Windows computers worldwide that are set to fail the Y2K rollover. That’s why it’s important for us to let the world know. Forward this tip to as many people as you can think of. You’ll be doing them the biggest favor-and you’ll probably become their hero! This problem will only affect PCs using a Windows operating system. If you’re a Mac user, this gives you one more reason to feel smug! Forward this tip to your friends who use PCs. They’ll probably envy you for not having to worry about this!

If you don’t make this simple fix, will your computer crash on January 1^st?