Metalizing / Relining Compressor Cylinders

How We Metalize a Cylinder

Worn bore? We don't just build it back up and hope for the best. There's a process, and we run it the same way every time.

We metalize using a twin arc spray process — two wire electrodes arc against each other, atomizing the metal and depositing it into the bore in controlled passes until we've built the wall back to spec. Once sprayed, it gets machined and honed back to blueprint tolerance — not just "close enough."

Prep is half the job. Before anything gets sprayed, the cylinder is cooked to burn off years of trapped oil and impurities baked into the iron, run through a VAT treatment, then sandblasted to bare, clean metal. Spray doesn't bond to grime — skip this step and the repair doesn't hold, so we don't skip it.

Then we inspect, not guess. Bore measurements get pulled with dial bore gauges to confirm the wear is real and the repair's actually needed. We check the valve seats for wear that calls for facing, and we check the bolt holes for damage that needs to be repaired — helicoil or weld-and-redrill, whatever the hole calls for.

Once we know exactly what it needs, we send you a quote. You approve it, we get the cylinder on the schedule and get to work.

This is Chance. He's been at Disco for a while. If you send a cylinder in to our shop, chances are that he's going to work on it. He loves working on cylinders if you can't tell.