Cardan shaft factory Wilhelm Sass Coatings are becoming increasingly important
The Wilhelm Sass cardan shaft factory in Stapelfeld near Hamburg has been producing cardan shafts for commercial vehicles and almost all branches of industry since 1935. With special designs, custom-made products and tailor-made system solutions, the third-generation owner-managed company succeeds in fulfilling the largely individual wishes of its customers. Instead, Sass is relying more and more on in-house production. The coating of the cardan shafts also takes place in-house. Whether pure transport coatings, colored top coats or heavy corrosion protection – since 2017, the company has been painting exclusively with wet paints from Brillux Industrial Coatings.
Around 20,000 cardan shafts are produced each year in Stapelfeld in the east of Hamburg using state-of-the-art production facilities and the latest technology. While Sass buys in the raw forgings, the complete machining and finishing of the cardan shafts is carried out by experienced Sass employees. “Everything that is machined - such as the seat for the crosses, grooves for retaining rings, the grooves on the connecting flange or the bolt circles – is made by us. This enables us to ensure the high quality standards of our cardan shafts. At the same time, we can offer tailor-made system solutions and realize individual customer requests and special designs,” explains Mathies Rüggen, plant manager of cardan shaft production at Gelenkwellenfabrik Wilhelm Sass.
Sass manufactures cardan shafts in lengths from 10 cm to 10 m and with flange connections from DIN 58 - 435 mm, offers different connection types as well as a quick-change coupling version. The areas of application for cardan shafts range from a wide variety of commercial vehicles to industrial applications in conveyor technology and crane construction, printing machines, the plastics industry, marine, rail vehicles, rolling mills and steelworks, construction machinery, agricultural engineering and stage technology.
Our previous supplier required that we purchase at least 40 to 60 kg of material at one time. In the case of special colors, for example, where only small quantities of paint are required, this regularly led to large quantities of surplus paint that had to be disposed of at some point.
Mathies Rüggen, Plant Manager for Cardan Shaft Production at Gelenkwellenfabrik Wilhelm Sass.
The coating of the cardan shafts is becoming increasingly important
In addition to design and production, the coating of the cardan shafts is becoming increasingly important. Depending on requirements and customer wishes, the welded and degreased cardan shafts are given a transport coating in the company’s own wet coating facility, are colored or given an anti-corrosion coating. As the production process demanded faster drying times, contact was made with Brillux Industrial Coatings in 2017. The unreserved advice and competent technical support on site – in addition to the products – immediately impressed plant manager Mathies Rüggen.
As one of the few coatings manufacturers, Brillux Industrial Coatings develops, produces and distributes powder coatings, wet coatings and coil coatings. The wet paint range alone offered Sass the right coating material for every requirement. Another major advantage for Sass Gelenkwellenfabrik was the ability to purchase small batches from Brillux Industrial Coatings. “Our previous supplier required that we purchase at least 40 to 60 kg of material at one time. In the case of special colors, for example, where only small quantities of paint are required, this regularly led to large quantities of surplus paint that had to be disposed of at some point. At Brillux, we can now purchase 10 kg containers of primer and 2.5 kg containers of topcoat,” says Mathies Rüggen. “The third point in favor of Brillux Industrial Coatings is the fast delivery service. Wet paints that we order by 11 a.m. are usually dispatched on the same day. The manufacturer we previously bought from, on the other hand, had a delivery time of 4 to 5 days.” Sass can order both 2.5 kg and 10 kg container sizes via the fast delivery service, which means lower storage costs and less storage space for the company.
Faster drying time for visible and transport coating
Around half of the Sass cardan shafts are given a visible and transport coating with 1K Adhesive Primer 5408 smooth, matt – 90 percent of which is in the color black, the rest is primed in beige. As the universally applicable primer from Brillux Industrial Coatings dries faster than the previously used primer, it is applied in a layer thickness of 10 to 40 µm. The black steel cardan shafts coated with 1K Adhesive Primer 5408 using the low-pressure process are dry after just 15 minutes. “The drying time is a key factor for us. We produce and supply a large proportion of cardan shafts in a 24-hour service. The paint has a maximum of 30 minutes to dry before packaging and delivery,” says Mathies Rüggen, describing the challenge.
Colored drive shafts: all RAL colors possible
Numerous shades of yellow, blue, red, orange, green, white, black – the second half of Sass customers want colored drive shafts. As for the visible and transport coating, the drive shafts are first coated with the 1K Adhesive Primer 5408, smooth, matt in beige. This is followed by a top coat of 2K-PUR Acrylic Paint 5740, smooth, high-gloss, approx. 40 to 60 µm thick. Unlike the primer, it is applied using a cup gun in the desired RAL color. “The 2K-PUR Acrylic Paint is a two-component polyurethane lacquer with excellent gloss and color stability and good spray mist absorption. If the goods are to be sent by overnight express, 2K-PUR Topcoat Accelerator 5136 is also used as a drying accelerator,” explains Jan Werges, Brillux Industrial Coatings sales consultant. Andre Alder, Head of Sales at Sass, adds: “Another service from Brillux Industrial Coatings that we really appreciate is the training of our employees. The fact that they are taught the basics by Brillux employees is worth a lot to us.”
Corrosion protection: two variants to choose from
With a share of 2 percent, the corrosion protection coatings offered by Sass are rarely used, but special requests are the particular strength of the over 80-year-old family business. Thanks to the two different anti-corrosion coatings, Sass lives up to its reputation as a specialist for customized, individual drive shafts.
In order to achieve corrosivity class C4 H, the cardan shafts are first blasted SA 2 ½, then primed with 2K-EP Adhesion Primer 5706 and then top-coated with 2K-PUR Acrylic Paint 5740. As soon as the corrosion protection requirements reach C5 H, then 2K-EP Zinc Powder Paint 5707 is first applied to the steel blasted in SA 2 ½. The 2K-EP Adhesion Primer 5706 is then applied twice. For the top coat, 2K-PUR Acrylic Paint 5740 is used. All material is applied in a layer thickness of approx. 80 µm.
