Has anyone worked with CADLOY armor ?

[Willy]

Robert, I gotta run run right now but will get back later with some evidence, but I remember reading an article, in I think Modern Machine Shop, a while back about armored vehicle manufacturing processes, and the plates were drilled and tapped in the hardened state as received from the mill prior to being formed.

Maybe I'm wrong, you know what they say about the mind being the first to go...well maybe not the first.

The link I gave though also gave me the impression that the plate was hardened already. I would think on large sections quality control of the end product would be more easy to maintain by procuring sheets from the mill in the hardened state rather than doing this in house.

[Evan]

It would be better if you had acess to a mag drill also,it's gonna be hard to get enough pressure with a hand drill.

If it is manganese steel it is non magnetic.

[lazlo]

If it is manganese steel it is non magnetic.

RHA is definitely magnetic. When I worked for Army Research Labs, we installed sensors on the M1 and Bradley armor with magnetic clamps.

[rdfeil]

Hi All and thanks for the quick replies. Just a little more information...
Cadloy is a trade-name for the armor alloy used by the manufacturer of the vehicle which is Textron Marine. There is very little info on this alloy on-line. I only have to drill a few holes to mount the radio equipment so I think that I will try to sharpen a masonry bit and cross my fingers. The metal is magnetic if that helps. It is also supposed to be able to stop up to 7.62 mm AP rounds so I don't think I want to be that close to it if I tried to poke a hole that way . The ricochet and shrapnel might ruin my day. I understand that it is fairly easy to weld to the armor plating but they have already sent the rig to the paint shop so welding is out for now. I will keep you posted on my progress next week. Thanks to all for the replies.

Robin

[Black_Moons]

Howabout a .243 armor piercing round

Hmm he mentions 0.250 holes required though, thats a little undersize.

Can you buy a 0.250 +-0.001 reamer round?
Or are you just hopeing for the 0.243 round to bore oversized? :P

[Evan]

That material is a well guarded secret. The most I have been able to find is that it is an air hardening alloy steel. That means it is very difficult to anneal and welding doesn't weaken it. It also means that if it becomes the slightest bit hot while drilling it will become even harder. You need to rig a coolant supply while drilling. Soapy water will work fine. Get a plastic 2 gallon camping flexible water jug and hook a hose to it so that it can run over the work location as you drill.

[wierdscience]

Textron,those are built AFIK less than 40 miles from here.I know a few guys that work there.

Maybe try calling the plant-

Textron Marine & Land Systems
2585 Front Street, Slidell, LA 70458-3935
(985) 690-4470‎

[loose nut]

I wouldn't try annealing the plate to drill it. What good is "soft" armor plate, even in a small area it could fail if hit.

[Willy]

A little more info on Cadloy armor plate.
Cadillac Gage (later to merge with Textron Marine & Land Systems), trademarked this proprietary ballistic armor in 1978. I would suspect this is were the Cadloy name for the alloy came from.
As Evan mentioned the properties of this alloy is a well kept secret.
But after a rather exhaustive search I did find that most ballistic armor is formed and machined with conventional tooling.

A couple of pdf's detailing the procedure for drilling holes in Humvee ballistic armor plate.
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc...c=GetTRDoc.pdf

http://www.dodtechmatch.com/Dod/Tech....aspx?ID=30206

Press brakes for forming armor plate into MRAP vehicle (mine-resistant-ambush- protected) V-hulls.
http://www.nsurepro.com/PressBrakes/

Another company that specializes in armor plate processing.
http://www.army-technology.com/contr...tion/mtlgroup/

Although the tooling and techniques are somewhat conventional, I'm sure glad I don't have to deal with armor plate machining. I believe though that once one has gone past the steep part of the learning curve, (as defense contractors obviously have) it just boils down to proper procedure.

But I must admit, not a hell of a lot of detail out there about armor plate material properties.

[Evan]

I wouldn't try annealing the plate to drill it. What good is "soft" armor plate, even in a small area it could fail if hit.

It can't be annealed in place. To anneal air hardening steel alloys such as that requires a very slow and accurately controlled cooling profile over a time period of up to 72 hours.