Patent ID: 7763573

Claim:
A method for producing a blended or clad composition comprising: (a) admixing particulate solid lubricant, an inorganic binder, and a liquid to produce a mixture having about 5 to 60 weight % solids based on the total weight of the mixture, wherein the ratio of the weight of the solid lubricant being admixed to the weight of the binder being admixed is from about 19:1 to about 1:19; (b) drying the mixture to produce a dry agglomerate; (c) classifying the dry agglomerates by size, or milling and classifying the dry agglomerates by size, into an undersize particle fraction, an onsize particle fraction and an oversize particle fraction, admixing the undersize particle fraction with the particulate solid lubricant, the inorganic binder and the liquid, admixing the oversize particle fraction with the particulate solid lubricant, the inorganic binder and the liquid, for redispersion of the undersize and the oversize particle fractions in the liquid to form the mixture, and heating the onsize particle fraction to a temperature effective to render the binder in the dry agglomerate of the onsize particle fraction non-dispersible in the liquid; and (d) blending or cladding the dry agglomerate with either: (i) a metal selected from the group consisting of Ni, Co, Fe, Al, or Cu, (ii) a metal alloy selected from the group consisting of alloys of Ni, Co, Fe, Al, or Cu and combinations thereof, or (iii) a metallic composition, wherein the metallic constituent of the metallic composition includes a metal selected from the group consisting of Ni, Co, Fe, Al, or Cu.