Giant forging presses, extrusion presses, hot rolling mills, the largest steelworks and aluminium plants - these all rely on James Walker's proven track record as a leader in fluid sealing and associated technologies.

Our knowledge and experience of the metallurgical sector, coupled with a global presence and distribution network, enable us to solve sealing problems for plant operators, equipment manufacturers and maintenance contractors around the world.

We have longterm 'partnering' contracts for the supply of seals, packings and gaskets to two of the largest multi-national steel corporations. This service is backed with e-procurement systems that allow their engineers to specify, select and order fluid sealing items on-line from site, in the sure knowledge that their requirements will be swiftly and efficiently met.

James Walker's metallurgical industry specialists work in close harmony with engineers in the sector to develop new sealing products to meet the exacting demands of the hostile environment. Our enhanced materials and new sealing techniques are designed to improve value-in-service, cut plant downtime, and greatly improve plant operating costs.

Typical products and services include:

• Walkersele^® radial lip seals.
• Hydraulic sealing products.
• Seal kits.
• Metallic gaskets and ring joints.
• Sheet jointings and custom gaskets.
• Expansion joints and bellows.
• High performance tube test seals.
• Compression packings for pumps, valves and static duties.
• Tension control fasteners.
• Custom rubber mouldings.
• Plastics mouldings and machined parts.
• Anti-vibration, isolating and absorption materials; pit installations.
• Maintenance and refurbishment for control valves, pumps, hydraulic systems and general plant.

Walkersele^® radial lip seals

Our Walkersele^® range is highly proven for bearing protection on hot rolling mills. This is emphasised by the greatly extended sealing life of Walkersele^® Ultraglide when working at high speeds and temperatures in abrasive environments. This seal can be supplied in our patented Walkersele^® OSJ-2 form for convenient On-Site Joining. In addition, Walkersele SpringSafe ensures that lip-energising springs are properly located at installation and cannot readily be dislodged to create secondary damage when a shaft or bearing runs beyond recommended operating limits. In addition, we supply metal cased lip seals and V-rings for less critical applications.

Hydraulic sealing products

We have a worldwide reputation for heavy duty hydraulic packings on massive forging and extrusion presses. These include our Lion^® Expanding, Lofilm^® HD and Chevron^® types, as well as Twinset for older plant. Other designs - including our Lionsele^® P double-acting piston head seal - are used on cylinders, actuators and servo-mechanisms where instant response is essential. We also supply wipers for the heaviest hydraulic duties.

Seal kits

Bagged kits containing all the sealing products needed for the maintenance or refurbishment of a specific assembly are custom-produced. These can be overprinted with the end user's own stockholding reference for ease of identification.

Metallic gaskets & ring joints

Metakamm^® Kammprofile type gaskets and Metaflex^® spiral wound are used in the metallurgical industry where temperatures, pressures, flow rates and vibration are beyond the capability of conventional flange jointings. Likewise, Moorside^® ring joints solve flange jointing problems on high pressure/temperature pipework.

Sheet jointings & custom gaskets

In addition to our comprehensive range of compressed fibre jointings and high-temperature Supagraf^® expanded graphite grades, we custom manufacture special Supagraf^® Furnasele gaskets for blast furnace duties, and composite rubber/metal gaskets for RH De-Gasser Vessels.

Expansion joints & bellows

Comflex composite expansion joints are extensively specified for duties on metallurgical plant such as air intakes, exhaust gas ducts and fans. Our flexible bellows protect hydraulic rams on positioning cylinders working in aggressive environments.

High performance tube test seals

Our fully moulded polyurethane tube test seals are designed for the testing of thick-walled high pressure rated tube. Dual hardness seals give longer working life and improved extrusion resistance under adverse mechanical conditions.

Compression packings

Many of our gland packings are recommended for pump, valve and static duties in the metallurgical sector, where they reduce stockholding requirements and give long-term service with aggressive media and abrasive slurries. Our most popular packings include Fluograf^®,  Duramid^®,  Hornet,  Liongraf^® and Supagraf^® RibbonPak M - plus our new Arasele wear-resistant grade. Valcor^® Hi-Temp packing will seal the doors of steel annealing furnaces at 1000°C, and is braided from heat-resistant fibres that are non-hazardous to health. 

Tension control fasteners

RotaBolt^® stud and bolt tension monitoring systems are accurate to ±5%. These are used across all industry sectors where the failure of a bolted system could have serious health & safety, environmental or financial consequences. RotaBolt^® tension control is recommended for structural, mechanical and flange tightening applications.

Custom rubber mouldings

We precision-mould customised components in general or high performance elastomers and rubber/fabric composites for numerous duties in the metallurgical sector. Typical examples include buffers of all sizes as well as snubber rubbers.

Plastics mouldings & machined parts

Engineering plastics such as polyurethane, nylon and PTFE are moulded and/or machined to produce a variety of specialised components. Examples include V-blocks in nylon or PU to protect tubes from damage in tube mills.

Anti-vibration, isolating & absorption materials

Our Tiflex company specialises in the design and production of materials and components to isolate and absorb noise, vibration and heavy impacts. Its Tico^® High-Duty materials and pads are typically used as buffers on slow counterblow hammers, anvil mats on forging hammers, spigot joints on press frames, etc. With pit installations, complete presses and hammers are isolated by mounting them on inertial blocks lined with Tiflex materials.

Maintenance & refurbishment services

The repair and refurbishment of valves, pumps, hydraulic systems and general plant is a key service we provide to the metallurgical sector. Skilled craftsmen at our dedicated workshops use the best equipment, materials and components for repair and refurbish projects. We are accredited and fully equipped for on-site work during shutdowns.