Varedo, 30th March 2021
We are all aware of lead toxicity and its nasty effects on human health.
World Health Organization has identified lead as 1 of 10 chemicals of major public health concern as lead poisoning is responsible of several diseases. It is even believed lead to be primarily responsible for the collapse of the Roman Empire, since Romans used lead to build water piping and as wine sweetener!
But lead is a fantastic metal, when we are talking of metalworking, added to steels, aluminums and brasses.
Its self-lubricant properties and mildness reduce the amount of energy consumed and time required to machine any metal part and improves surface finishing with no significant effects on parts mechanical properties.
Government regulations around the world are progressively banning lead from most of its applications but still allow for reduced percentages of lead to be used in metals intended for metalworking.
At Hydronit we think forward and strongly follow sustainability principles. For this reason we have decided to pioneer, as first ones in Italy in hydraulics, research and testing of NO LEAD aluminum alloy extruded bars to manufacture our range of hydraulic manifolds.
First results are encouraging since we managed to obtain perfectly finished manifold blocks with a slight increase in machining times, by adopting latest generation robotized CNC machines, advanced Polycrystalline diamond tools and adapted cutting parameters and techniques.
Hydronit is phasing out lead from its aluminum blocks completely in a few weeks, as soon as the present stock of standard aluminum alloy is cleared, and passing on to its customers the advantages of working in a cleaner, safer environment.
