Why use a laminated shim ?
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Any mechanical assembly is built of parts manufactured to specified machining tolerances. In a complex assembly of several hundred or thousand parts these tolerances soon add up. Unpredictable and undesirable clearances will generally be discovered once the assembly is completed. Bad fit leads to harsh wear and tear in use and early, possibly catastrophic mechanical failure.
Before the invention of laminated shims engineers had resort to one of two possible solutions (which have today been rendered obsolete).
Grinding of adjustment shims
Principle: after measuring the clearance needing to be compensated, the technician resorts to a grinding process in order to manufacture 'adjustment shims'.
Disadvantage: this process is wasteful of time, money, and resources. It requires the purchase of a grinding machine, and the use of highly skilled (and costly) technicians. It also adds an extra stage to the manufacturing process.
Stacking of solid shims
Principle: starting as before - and measuring the clearance needing to be compensated, technicians stack thin metal sheets, inserted with difficulty into often almost inaccessible places.
Disadvantage: this method risks dangerous imprecision. Due to residual matter such as dust, grease and material chips which get in during the creation of the stack, any precision of the end result becomes very hit and miss.
LAMECO Solution: laminated shims
LAMECO offers a third solution, the superior technology-oriented solution: the Laminated Shim.
Principle: precision manufactured from metals or high technology composites which have the property of being easily peelable into micro fine strips of a few hundredths of a millimeter.
How can I select the suitable laminated material ?
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New to laminated shims? Or maybe just wondering which type would best meet your requirements?
There are two key issues to be born in mind:
First factor: Maximum use temperature
It should be born in mind that the special binder film is extremely fine. After thermal treatment its thickness can be virtually discounted it is so thin.
But above a certain temperature (see LAMECO standard), the binder will be destroyed. However, its disappearance does not impact in any way the continued use of the LAMECO shim. The part will continue to work until it is replaced during the maintenance disassembly.
Second factor: Mechanical stress
You must first know what pressure and stress will be exerted on the laminated material.
You must avoid situations where shim faces would be submitted to friction - there will be a risk of de-lamination unless you specify a PTFE treatment.
If your parts are provided with fixation holes, the only pressure will be that exerted by the tightening of fixing screws. This is only a small pressure. In this case all LAMECO laminated materials can be used without any limitations.
Once you have taken these two factors into account, you can choose which material best suits your requirements by considering the following points:
Do you need quickly and easily peelable shims?
All of our composite materials INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, X.FIBER®, X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®, PEEKPEEL® and COBRA.X® can be peeled by fingers alone, no tools required.
The same can be said of all the metallic materials in the INSTANT-PEEL® range.
With any and all of these products peeled leaves stay fl at without any distortion, and as a result they can be reused too!
Is LIGHTNESS a primary factor?
If weight reduction is your primary concern (for portability, or more useful carrying capacity, etc.): INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, X.FIBER®, X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®, PEEKPEEL® and COBRA.X® would be perfectly suited to your needs. They are best recommended as they are the lightest of our products and have an excellent weight/mechanical characteristic ratio whenever minimum weight and outstanding performance are demanded together.
An extra plus with these products is that both INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, X.FIBER®, X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®, PEEKPEEL® and COBRA.X® can be easily peeled with forefinger alone - no tools required!
INTERCOMPOSITE® and DUOPEEL® are not only very fast to use, but are the least expensive of all laminated materials.
Does your assembly have 'DIFFICULT' shapes? CURVED profiles?
If you want to wedge on curved shapes, you have to choose INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, PEEKPEEL® and, according to thicknesses, X.FIBER® and X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®. These materials can be quickly and easily adapted to most curves without any loss of utility or precision.
On the other hand, for metallic materials, we recommend you to make your selection from the range of laminated shims CURVPEEL®, an exclusive process where the required curve radius is incorporated into the shim during production.
Would NOISE REDUCTION prove a useful asset?
If you are inserting laminated shims into systems or machines whose operation is noisy due to considerable vibrations: choose SILENTLINE®. This laminated material, said “ silent ”, has the property of dispersing, in emission duration and amplitude, over 50% of the harmful frequencies.
SILENTLINE® is also the most resistant of LAMECO's special shims
Three final hints:
Steel is best avoided in assemblies presenting a corrosion risk.
It is better to avoid aluminum, whenever productivity improvement is being sought. The peeling of aluminum is namely more delicate, therefore longer.
Finally, it is not advised to use aluminum (or to a lesser extent stainless steel) where galvanic coupling also known as 'fretting' can take place.
Bearing in mind the temperature at which the shim will be performing, the mechanical stresses exerted, the possible benefits of noise reduction, the presence of difficult curved mating surfaces, or the desirability to save weight in your final assembly should guide you to selecting the correct LAMECO laminated shim for your precise application.
Use limitation of "solid" parts
Once the material has been set out, avoid planning said "solid" parts (or "S.P."
= solid stocks, unpeelable parts) in strong thicknesses. For in contrast to what one would be led into thinking, by thus inserting solid parts, the shim mechanical qualities are being lowered. Moreover, the shim price is substantially increased since the shims require a delicate machining (for instance tool jumping at sliding feed). The more so as they belong to the class of special manufacturing without available stock.
Consequently, the solid part will be used only in case of special technical constraint. This notably occurs whenever it is necessary to carry out a threaded portion within the shim or chamfer thickness.
How can I order laminated shims ?
You can use our enquiry's form here. Or you can send us an e-mail: *, or a fax, The Easy Peel Shim Company (LAMECO USA): 888 317 1055 - Lameco: + 33 / (0)1 30 68 14 47*.
*Since 99% of LAMECO shims are manufactured according to our client's drawings/prints. Please provide the following details for an accurate quote:
- Drawings or prints (not necessary for simple shims)
- Dimensions
- Materials
- Total thickness of shims
- Thickness of each lamination
- Quantities.
You can send us your information like as following:
| Geometric shape | Dimensions width x length Ø external X Ø internal |
Material |
|---|---|---|
| Square: | 8'' x 8'' | LS12, A, 3, X.24(*) |
| 40 x 40 mm | LS12, A, 3, X6 | |
| Rectangle: | 5'' x 7'' | LS13, A, 5, X.045 + 3, X.02 |
| 50 x 70 mm | LS13, A, 5, X1,15 + 3, X0,6(**) | |
| Washer: | 8" x 4" | IPLS5, A, 2, X.4 |
| 30 X 10 mm | IPLS5, A, 2, X5(***) |
(*)INTERCOMPOSITE®, fully laminated, thickness of laminations: .0005", total thickness:.24".
(**)DUOPEEL®, fully laminated, thickness of laminations: 0,023mm, total thickness: 1,15mm + thickness of laminations: 0,012mm, total thickness: 0,6mm.
(***)Stainless Steel AISI 304 in INSTANT-PEEL®, fully laminated, thickness of laminations: 0,01 mm, total thickness: 5mm.
For technical support e-mail us at: .