Also, devices called centrolizers and scratchers are often inetelled on the cutside of the casing before it is lowered into the hole tig. 103). Centralizers are attached to the casing and, since they have « bowed-spring érrangement, keep the casing centered in the hole after it's lowered in. Centralized casing can make for a better cement job later, Scratchers also come into play when the casing is cemented. The idea is that if the casing is moved up and down or rotated (depending on scratcher design), the scratchers will remove the wall cake formed by the drilling mud and the cement will thus SCRATCHER be able to bond batter to the hele. Other casing accessories include a guide shoe, a heavy steel end concrete piece attached to the botlommost joint of casing that helps guide the casing pet small ledges or debris in the hole; and e dcat collar, a device with a valve installed in the casing string two or three joints from bottom. A float collar is designed to serve as @ receptacle for cemen! plugs and to keep drilling mud in the hole from entering the casing. Just as e ship floats in water, casing floats in @ hole full of mud (ff mud is kept out of the casing). This buoyant effect helps relieve some of the weight carried on the mast or derrick as the long string of heavy casing hange suspended in the hole. CENTRALIZER Figure 103. An array of serotchers and centralizers are instolled on the joints of casing 0 oid ia well cementing,