Bronze powders
Copper–tin powders for bearings and wear parts
Overview
Copper–tin alloy powders designed for self-lubricating bearings and wear-resistant components, optimised for low friction, long service life and consistent mechanical performance in motion-intensive systems. Seven grades from 90/10 to 62/38, including zinc-modified variants, cover P/M parts, diamond tools and PTFE filler duty.
Copper–tin powders tuned for the moving-parts problem: low friction, long service life and consistent mechanical performance in bearings and wear components.
Capabilities
- Designed for self-lubricating bearings and wear-resistant components
- Optimised for low friction and consistent performance in motion-intensive systems
- Compositions from Sn 9–11% (90/10) through Sn 37–39% (62/38)
- Zinc-modified 90/10 Z and 85/15 Z variants for adjusted sintering behaviour
- -325 mesh (45 µm) sizing across the range
- Applications across PTFE filler material, P/M parts, diamond tools and aesthetics
Specifications
| Type | Copper–tin (bronze) alloy powders |
| Compositions | Available under controlled technical briefing |
| Size | Available under controlled technical briefing |
| Particle shape | Irregular |
| Quality system | Available under controlled technical briefing |
| Origin | Independent / non-aligned |
Why Unstrat: the difference
Unstrat is the authorised global representative and distributor for this capability. It is already in service with a track record behind it, so you are buying something that has done the job elsewhere, not funding a first attempt. You are not the test bed.
Independent, non-aligned origin, with no political exposure to any major-power ecosystem.
One accountable team from first briefing through delivery and in-region sustainment.
Seven compositions from 90/10 to 62/38, including zinc-modified variants, matched to the bearing, not the other way round.
How it reaches you
Related capability
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Procurement & sustainment
Classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed before this capability is represented to your market.
Sourced from an independent manufacturer: no major-power disclosure rules or political conditions.
A single team responsible from first briefing through delivery: not a chain of foreign primes to integrate yourself.
Lifecycle support and operator training delivered in-region, building capability that outlasts the initial deployment.
Questions buyers ask
Bronze powder for self-lubricating bearings
The classic oil-impregnated bearing composition is 90/10, which we publish at Sn 9 to 11%, with a zinc-modified 90/10 Z variant where sintering behaviour needs adjusting. The whole range is -325 mesh, which suits fine P/M work but not a press tooled for a coarse bearing grade. Makin and Pometon publish cuts up to 500 µm and we do not, so say what your press is set for at enquiry stage.
See: Bronze compositions and sizingCompared with Makin, Nippon Atomized and Pometon
Copper tin alloy powder grades available
Seven discrete compositions: 90/10, 90/10 Z, 85/15, 85/15 Z, 80/20, 70/30 and 62/38, running from Sn 9 to 11% up to Sn 37 to 39%, all at -325 mesh. Makin publishes one irregular family stated as Sn 10 to 40%, which is a manufacturing envelope rather than a menu. Nippon Atomized publishes a comparable ladder to ours and adds sieve and flow data we do not.
Bronze powder supplier for wear-resistant components
These grades are in service in self-lubricating bearings, wear components, PTFE fillers and diamond tool segments, produced under an ISO 9001:2015 system. They are optimised for low friction, long service life and consistent mechanical performance in motion-intensive systems, which is a different design brief from decorative or pigment bronze.
High-tin bronze powder above 30% tin for diamond segments
This is where the composition ladder earns its keep. 70/30 and 62/38 are published as discrete, repeatable grades rather than as the upper end of one wide alloy band, which matters when a segment recipe is written to a tin percentage. Nippon Atomized publishes 67/33 and 50/50 in the same territory with fuller process data. Makin's published range covers the span as a single family.
What are the zinc-modified bronze grades for?
90/10 Z and 85/15 Z exist to adjust sintering behaviour without changing the base composition of the part. Zinc shifts how the compact densifies, which is useful when a furnace profile is fixed and the alternative is redesigning the cycle. Makin publishes a separate zinc bronze range at Cu 88% minimum with Zn 1.5 to 2.5%, and Pometon publishes CuSn10Zn2, so the approach is not unique to us.
Do you publish apparent density and flow rate for bronze?
No, and both are logged as gaps. Nippon Atomized publishes them per grade, down to 2.10 to 2.42 g/cm³ on L89 with flow under 30 s/50 g, and Makin publishes 2.6 to 3.6 g/cc across its irregular bronze. Those two numbers set fill and press cycle time, so a buyer has to ask us rather than read them off the page. We would rather they asked than guessed.
Bronze powder for PTFE compounding rather than pressing
The -325 mesh bronze range covers PTFE filler duty, and there is a dedicated filler line with cuts from -100 mesh down to -500 mesh at 25 µm for compounding work where dispersion is the deciding factor. Which one you want depends on wall thickness: coarse filler in a thin-wall bushing gives a wear surface with weak points, which is why the fine cuts exist.
See: Bronze PTFE filler powdersFiller comparison with Makin and Pometon
Bronze powder supplier outside the European producer base
Bearing and segment production stops just as hard for a missing commodity powder as for a missing exotic one, and the commodity suppliers are consolidating. Makin's own brochure records that it sits inside a group whose Chinese sister company holds the largest copper powder production base in China. Our bronze comes from an independent, non-aligned producer under an ISO 9001:2015 system, in current production supply.
Bronze powder for oil-impregnated bushings in vehicle programmes
Self-lubricating bearings are the largest published duty for this range, with 90/10 as the classic oil-impregnated composition and the zinc-modified 90/10 Z where the furnace cycle is fixed. The grades are in service in motion-intensive systems where low friction and long service life set the design brief. Confirm your press is set for a -325 mesh cut, because that is the only sizing we publish.
We need a tin content that is not in your published ladder. Is that a special order or a refusal?
A conversation. The published ladder runs Sn 9 to 11% up to Sn 37 to 39% with zinc-modified variants at 90/10 and 85/15, and custom powder development to programme specification is part of the line. What we will not do is claim an intermediate grade exists before it has been made and measured, which is why you will not find it listed. Bring the composition, the volume and the press conditions.
See: Custom development in the powder lineComposition ladder
Why does a single -325 mesh cut across the whole bronze range help, and where does it hurt?
It helps because one cut removes a variable from qualification: moving between 85/15 and 80/20 changes chemistry only, not sizing, so a trial answers one question at a time. It hurts if your press is set up for a coarse bearing bronze, because you then need a supplier with cuts up to 500 µm and we do not publish one. Makin and Pometon do. That is a genuine limitation, and it is better raised at enquiry than after a trial.
How does this range compare with Nippon Atomized Metal Powders if we are buying on published data alone?
Theirs is deeper today. Nippon Atomized publishes apparent density, flow rate and a full sieve distribution per grade, including 3.20 to 3.50 g/cm³ on S91 at -325 mesh. We publish composition, mesh and morphology, and not apparent density or flow. On grade breadth the two ranges are comparable and both cover diamond tool bond duty. If your decision rests entirely on what can be read before contact, buy from the deeper sheet.
A defence vehicle programme is localising bearing production. Does the bronze powder source matter that much?
It matters exactly as much as the rest of the localisation. If the bushings are made under a programme meant to reduce foreign dependency and the powder comes from inside another bloc's supply chain, the dependency has moved one layer down rather than gone away. The material class is the same wherever you buy it; the exposure is not. Our bronze is in production supply from an independent producer.
See: Bronze powder lineWhy origin matters for commodity powders
What should we specify in a bronze powder purchase order so the second delivery matches the first?
Name the composition to a tin percentage rather than a trade designation, state the mesh, and add the parameters we do not publish as contractual acceptance values: apparent density and flow, measured per batch. Repeatability is not a property of a datasheet, it is a property of an incoming test you actually run. Any supplier confident in its process will accept those clauses without argument.
Should the bronze come from the same supplier as the rest of a diamond segment matrix?
If the bronze is blended with copper, nickel, tin and iron-copper in one segment, yes, because bond behaviour is set by the interaction of the constituents and not by any of them alone. Sourcing four powders from four mills makes batch variance the sum of four tolerances, and diagnosing a diamond retention problem means four conversations. Our matrix line exists for that reason.
See: Diamond tool matrix powdersMatrix versus pre-alloy comparison
Bronze powders: questions
What are Bronze powders?
Bronze powders are Unstrat's Land (Land Domain) capability: Copper–tin alloy powders designed for self-lubricating bearings and wear-resistant components, optimised for low friction, long service life and consistent mechanical performance in motion-intensive systems. Seven grades from 90/10 to 62/38, including zinc-modified variants, cover P/M parts, diamond tools and PTFE filler duty.
How do Bronze powders work?
Bronze powders deliver their effect through designed for self-lubricating bearings and wear-resistant components, Optimised for low friction and consistent performance in motion-intensive systems and Compositions from Sn 9–11% (90/10) through Sn 37–39% (62/38), capabilities matched to the requirement and confirmed under briefing rather than published.
Who makes Bronze powders?
Bronze powders are built by The Specialty Alloys Producer, whose focus is tungsten heavy alloys & specialty metal powders. Unstrat represents The Specialty Alloys Producer to government and enterprise buyers worldwide as an independent, non-aligned prime vendor.
Why choose Bronze powders over a major-power alternative?
Bronze powders are sourced from an independent, non-aligned manufacturer, so they carry no major-power disclosure rules, upgrade-locks or political ramifications. Concretely: seven compositions from 90/10 to 62/38, including zinc-modified variants, matched to the bearing, not the other way round. The capability is accountable to you, not to a foreign vendor's government and its release schedule.
How are Bronze powders procured, and where can it be exported?
Copper–tin powders tuned for the moving-parts problem: low friction, long service life and consistent mechanical performance in bearings and wear components. Every engagement begins with a briefing, and export eligibility is confirmed per market under briefing rather than published. Where controlled capabilities are involved, the classification and end-user-certificate chain is confirmed first. Bronze powders are then sustained in-region by one accountable team from briefing through long-term operation.