Long lasting ceramic locating pins available from norelem

Typically made from metal, these products are used for controlled, fine tolerance positioning of a workpiece along jigs and fixtures and must be able to withstand repeated use and forces in industrial environments.

Alongside the metal versions that norelem already offer, the new ceramic locating pins and rest pads provide engineers with even longer lasting performance. Made from an innovative metal-ceramic compound known as Cerazur, they are designed to be impact resistant and are incredibly durable, making them resistant to wear and tear that can lead to compromised positioning.

“Rest pads and locating pins are used by engineers and manufacturers every day across many different applications. When they wear, those tolerances are thrown out and the positioning is no longer accurate,” said Marcus Schneck, CEO of norelem.

“When this happens, the workpiece can be misaligned, leading to rejection and wastage, and the locating pins and pads must be changed. This is why we’ve added ceramic versions of these parts to our range. Made from a high-performance ceramic, they have a much longer service life, and are more resistant to wear in comparison to metal equivalents.”

Ceramics are becoming increasingly popular across machine and plant construction professionals as they offer dependable performance. The basis of the Cerazur material is zirconium dioxide. The inorganic material is pressed into shape as powder, then milled in green machining and finally sintered. In the final processing stage, the workpieces are ground to their exact standardised dimensions.

As well as being more resistant to wear through their high abrasion resistance, the new ceramic components also have a high temperature stability property, meaning they are less subject to expansion and contraction that can lead to positioning errors.

Alongside locating pins and rest pads, norelem also sells ceramic versions of dowel pins, parallel keys and guide bushes. Engineers can find the parts they need from norelem’s industry leading catalogue and reference guide, THE BIG GREEN BOOK, and products can be ordered online directly through norelem’s webshop.