Welder For Mold And Die Repair

The Rocklin MoldMender micro welder uses a non-arcing, spot-welding process for mold and die repair. This process transfers minimal heat to the mold or die itself, the company says, adding that it generates universal hardness across the weld, no shrinking next to the weld and no splatter on adjacent areas.

Repairs are made by bonding a piece of ferrous ribbon material as thick as 0.008" or by bonding wires with diameters of 0.020" or 0.010" to the desired areas on a steel workpiece. The ribbon material and wire are usually in the annealed state before welding, but they will be in the hardened state afterward. The hardness varies according to what material is used. Stainless steel, nickel alloys and mold steels, such as P-20, S-7, H-13, A-2 and 420 stainless, are commonly used materials.

The portable welder weighs 65 lbs and can perform repairs virtually anywhere in the shop—including molds in an injection molding machine. It uses standard 110-volt AC power and is also available with 220-volt power.

The welder has six low-power selections and eight high-power selections that adjust the weld pulse length to accommodate different welding situations. Also, the weld speed (number of welds per minute) is available in six selections.

Areas repaired with the welder are said to exhibit the same characteristics as the parent, or base metal, as long as the same repair material is used. Repairs can be finished by standard procedures such as grinding, machining, lapping, EDM, plating, polishing and others. Diamond laps are said to work well because all repairs are in the hardened state. However, if care is taken during the “forming” steps, much of the finish work can be performed by the welder, making the final process easier and faster, the company says.