Selecting the soap, how the film behaves, what it costs per tonne and how to clean it off afterwards — everything that sets die life and surface quality.
Welding wire carries the sharpest contradiction in wire drawing: the phosphate and lubricant film that makes drawing possible is a contaminant the finished product will not tolerate. Both requirements have to be met on the same line.
Read →The job does not end where drawing ends: the soap and phosphate layer left on the surface determine the quality of the next operation. Weld porosity, loss of paint adhesion, uncoated areas in galvanising and residue in the heat treatment furnace all trace back to the same place.
Read →In tube drawing the die does not touch the outside surface alone; a mandrel or plug creates a second contact zone on the inside. That is precisely where lubricant is hardest to deliver. We look at lubrication strategy and soap selection by drawing method.
Read →Drawing soap is a metallic-soap based dry lubricant that forms a lubricating film between die and metal in wire and profile drawing. It is not a cleaning soap that dissolves in water; it is a consumable that keys into the phosphate layer and forms a film under pressure and heat.
Read →Reactive soap reacts with the phosphate layer to form zinc soap; neutral soap leaves a physical film. Which suits which line is decided by drawing speed, reduction ratio, wire diameter and what the wire has to go through after drawing.
Read →Not all the soap you buy reaches the wire surface; some is thrown out of the box, some is lost as dust, some cakes with moisture and is scrapped. We look at which variables move consumption in which direction, and why cutting back can raise total cost.
Read →In dry drawing the lubricating film forms when powder picked up from the soap box is pressed onto the surface at the die entry by pressure and heat. We look at why that film breaks at high speed, the symptoms it shows, and the discipline required on the soap box side.
Read →Get in touch for a solution and a sample suited to your process; we will help you adapt what you read here to your own line.
