Your drills are asked to perform in some pretty tough conditions. They need to be durable and resistant to wear. That’s why every Drill Defender product produced by Kondex includes laser cladding.
Laser cladding is an additive manufacturing process that uses a laser to metallurgically bond tungsten carbide to a product’s base material. A laser creates a shallow melt pool of the base metal, while carbide powder is simultaneously introduced into the melt pool to infuse the carbide powder as part of the base metal. This creates improved impact and wear-resistant properties, offers protection that won’t weaken or distort base parts, creates greater carbide distribution and product strength, makes for a longer-retained leading edge, and, according to Diane Riley, a marketing professional with Kondex, increases the lifespan of the tool two to six times.
“Laser cladding is the industry’s highest level of wear protection, which Kondex brought to the HDD market with its tooling in 2019,” she says. “Drillers are seeing tremendous success and lowering their job costs through less frequent tooling replacements.”
Kondex brought laser cladding technology to the underground drilling industry after 9 years of use in the agricultural industry. According to Riley, similarities in ground-engaging wear properties between the two industries led to Kondex looking to HDD as a new market.
“Before launching the Drill Defender product line in 2019, we spent years working alongside local drillers to validate the most effective laser cladding application, tungsten carbide powder matrix and tooling designs,” she says. “We closely analyzed how each product wears, including how the tooling rotation and mud flow impacts wear characteristics. Because it’s robotically applied, Kondex can ensure pinpoint accuracy that enables wear protection on areas of tooling that were once vulnerable to high wear conditions.”
Kondex Drill Defender tooling is designed for small- to medium-sized HDD rigs and works well in all ground conditions. The product line currently includes sonde housings (flat bit or splined connection), dirt bits, cobble bits, splined adapters, starter rods and collars.
“They are becoming a must-have among drillers who don’t want to stop to change tooling midbore when they know this system will get them through tough conditions,” says Riley. “Drillers know the job will get done in a fraction of the time previously needed running alternative tooling.”
800-447-1860; www.kondex.com
