FAQ
General Questions
Advanced ceramics - also referred to as engineering, structural or technical ceramics - have been processed to be very pure and, in general, have superior properties to unrefined ceramics. Many are man-made, i.e. they do not occur naturally, e.g. silicon nitride, and their properties can be enhanced to produce very high strength at high temperatures, good corrosion resistance, etc.
Alumina(Al2O3) in purity from 90% to 99.7%, Aluminium Nitride(AlN), Cordierite, Hot Pressed Boron Nitride(BN), Machinable Glass Ceramic(Macor), Mullite, Silicon Nitride(Si3N4) and Zirconia(ZrO2).
The harder ceramics like alumna and zirconia will require diamond tooling but other materials like Machinable Glass Ceramic and Hot Pressed Boron Nitride can be machined. To get the right result it does take time, experience and semi-specialised tooling but it can be done and many of our customers take advantage of this when they need extremely fast solutions in-house.
Yes, we can ship to virtually anywhere in the world. Typically we will use international express, like DHL, EMS, Fedex, UPS, TNT... We can also arrange shipments on your own courier account if you prefer to take this route.
Yes, we are happy to supply small samples of material for you to test. We can also supply prototype quantities through to volume production to suit your needs.
This depends totally on the complexity of your requirements. For simple items such as bars and rods, we can generally supply a quotation within 24 hours.
For our standard products, like ceramic protection tubes and insulating rods, delivery time is normally 7 working days. For hot pressed boron nitride and machinable glass ceramic, it's about 10 working days. For customized products made of alumina, zirconia, boron carbide and silicon nitride, total producing time is about 20-30 working days.