In the medical devices industry, platinum is frequently used as the working material, particularly for producing cardiac implants. As platinum is very expensive material – 1kg costs a little over €35,000 Euros – alternatives that are more cost-effective are being sought. Tantalum has been identified as a suitable replacement for platinum in terms of functionality, its also convincing from a cost perspective (approximately €500 Euros per kilo).
Tantalum is used in the medical device industry, but primarily in the electronics or chemical industries for measuring devices and fittings because of its excellent resistance to acids. Occasional applications have also been found for Tantalum in the jewellery and watchmaking industries.
Machining Tantalum is a real challenge. Platinum is already ten times more difficult to machine than Titanium and machining Tantalum is ten times more difficult again! Using chlorinated solvents as "cooling lubricant" has always been one way of ensuring this material can always be machined effectively. But for modern machines accounting for the increasingly stringent legislation, there is a need, in terms of machining to only have recourse to these types of solvents in exceptional cases.
What is recommended for large production runs? The first cutting oils specially formulated for machining Tantalum are still chlorinated oils, which aren’t the preferred option for use in the medical devices industry due to the sanitary reasons we can easily guess.
In conjunction with specialists in machining Tantalum, Blaser Swisslube AG has developed chlorine-free cutting oil that is not harmful to health or the environment and it offers the required performance. This cutting oil performs as well, if not better than the special chlorinated oils for Tantalum in a number of applications. The first customers are already being supplied with the chlorine-free cutting oil developed by Blaser, and are impressed with the results.
With this new development, Blaser Swisslube AG makes it easier for those involved in machining Tantalum to carry out controlled, process-secure series production. This ends the dependence on "cooling lubricants" containing substances that no-one wants to use anymore.
Are you looking for innovative cutting oils for machining Tantalum or for other processes in the medical device industry? If so, contact us - we are here to increase your productivity.
Blaser Swisslube AG CH-3415 Hasle-Rüegsau Tel. +41 34 460 01 01 [email protected] www.blaser.com
