What's Happening with Honing - Sunnen

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Trade Shows What's Happening with Honing
November 2001 Manufacturing Engineering
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By Gerry Schnitzler, Performance Products, Sunnen Products Co., St. Louis, MO

In the honing operation, a rotating tool carrying abrasives removes metal from the interior surface of Click on a link below to view related
a bore or cylinder. The main purpose is to finish the surface to a particular diameter and geometric information to Sunnen products.
cylindricity. It's usually a secondary machining operation that finishes a part, relieves stress, or
corrects some feature such as out-of-round, undersize tapers, or misaligned bores. A typical Catalogs
production cycle is to drill, ream, heat treat, then hone. Sometimes the operation may only require
drilling and honing. The honing operation typically removes from 0.001 to 0.010" (0.03-0.3 mm) of Brochures
material in a process that competes effectively as a finishing process with boring and grinding.
MSDS
Although the honing process can be applied to any surface, it is most commonly done on internal
cylinder walls using a combined rotating and reciprocating motion. Low cutting pressure, low
velocity, and relatively small amounts of material removal characterize it. Typical speeds are around
250 fpm (76 m/min). However, unlike conventional machining, higher speed is not always an
advantage. Each application has a honing abrasive chip load which is a limiting factor. With
abrasive honing stones, the proper choice of bond and coolant optimizes stone performance and
cost per part. With diamond-plated honing tools, using Teflon in the abrasive binder, peck feed, and
reversing the spindle on retraction stroke can minimize problems with chip formation and removal. Select an Industry or Product from
the dropdown list and then click "go"
Honing speeds are quite slow relative to grinding, but that doesn't mean slow metal removal. Area to continue.
of the abrasive and length of stroke work with feed rate, rotation and spindle speeds to determine
metal-removal rate and the geometric accuracy achieved. Many times this may be below 0.000040" Industry
or one micron.
or
There are two main forces involved in the cutting operation: torque from the pressure of the Products
abrasive against the surface being cut during tool rotation, and the forces from the back and forth
action of the hone or workpiece.

Unlike conventional machining, the accuracy of a honing process is not entirely dependent on the
machine. The tool and abrasive are the keys to accuracy. Another difference from conventional
machining is that it needs no chucking or alignment. The part aligns itself with the tool because the
tool or the part is floating in most applications. Often, the part is placed in a specially designed
honing fixture which provides floating action. Select a category from the dropdown
list and then click the "ask" button to
Machine Basics continue.
Honing machines are made in horizontal and vertical versions. For long workpieces, horizontal
Tooling
machines are more practical. They are also easier to load and unload and less costly to fixture.
Vertical machines are more effective for short, heavy parts.

Honing machines can be

manual, automatic, or under
CNC. In the manual
machines, the operator holds
the part and strokes it over
the rotating honing tool. With Automated Krossgrinding machine, left, uses oscillating spindles
automatic machines, the part carrying plated abrasive. Work area, right, has fixture that allows the
is fixtured and the operator part being honed to float freely.
sets the hone motions. The
machine starts on command and stops automatically when the required bore size is reached. The
operator is responsible for some basic calculations for setup and monitoring machine cycles. With
CNC, the operator enters workpiece parameters, sets starting positions for stroke and feed, presses
start, and the honing machine controls the workcycle. Automatic compensation for abrasive wear
can be programmed, as well as bore size and taper gage feedback. When high productivity is
required, loading, unloading, and part transfer robots are added.

Job Function

Honing machines have three basic work techniques.

Single-stroke machines hone a bore in a single stroke instead of oscillating. Standard tools handle
bores from 6 to 50 mm, although other sizes can be manufactured that are smaller or larger. An
abrasive is plated on a split sleeve that fits over a tapered arbor. The position of the sleeve on the
arbor determines the diameter to be honed and is initially mechanically set, usually with a threaded
pilot.

The hone can be adjusted to cut a small range of diameters. For example a hone with a 0.354" (9-
mm) nominal diameter carrying a 220 grit sleeve, can be adjusted to cut bores from 0.353 to
0.358" (8.97-9.09 mm) Single-stroke machines work best with workpieces which have a length-to-
diameter ratio of 2 or 3 to 1. Longer parts can also be successfully single-stroked with coolant-fed
tools or if the parts have bore interruptions such as cross holes or keyways.

If larger diameter bores are needed, a machine with up to 6 or 8 spindles is used. The spindle
sequence has progressively larger diameter sleeves. If a fine finish is the goal, the spindles will
carry abrasive sleeves with progressively finer grit.

Single-stroke machines are used chiefly on cast iron and powdered metal parts such as valve
components or certain gears. Various types of steel, both hard and soft, are also single stroked
successfully. The main advantages of single-stroke machines are high production rates with rotary
table index machines and long tool life.

Multistroke machines use a single rotating spindle that carries one or more abrasive stones.
Standard tools are used on diameters ranging from 1.5 mm to 60". Larger and smaller tools can
also be made. The workpiece or the tool can be stroked. Materials from alnico to zirconium can be
honed. Typical applications include gears, valve spools, drill bushings, die bushings, engine
cylinders, and landing gear. Main advantages include removing large amounts of material quickly

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What's Happening with Honing - Sunnen

(as fast or faster than ID grinding) to a tightly controlled finished diameter size, cylindricity, and
surface finish. Abrasive sticks continuously abrade during the multistroke honing process which
HOME grits
exposes sharp abrasive CONTACT US theTRADE
throughout SHOWS
life of the CAREERS
stone. Because of theLANGUAGES
multiple strokingPRIVACY SITE MAP LEGAL INFO
action, a helical crosshatch pattern is generated within the bore which provides an ideal surface for
lubrication between the bore and a mating part. © 2010 Sunnen. All rights reserved.

Krossgrinding is a patented, proprietary honing system that combines the expandability of a honing
stone type tool with the slow wearing nature and repeatability of single stroke. It is a split tubular
tool design carrying a plated abrasive mounted with a tapered inside surface. The taper is about
0.020 ipi. Krossgrinding is used to create bores with standard tooling from 6 to 32 mm (other sizes
can be provided also) and operate at speeds of around 300 fpm (91 m/min).

A feed shaft within the spindle positions a wedge, which in turn sets the diameter of the abrasive
sleeve section of the tool. Wedge position is controlled by a motor-driven ballscrew with an encoder
that gives the machine a resolution of 1/40th of a millionth. Actual bore size adjustments during
Krossgrinding can be made to 0.000010" (0.1 micron).

The big differences between Krossgrinding and other plated tool techniques are that the tool is
multistroked, expanded under CNC control, and uses plated diamond abrasive. Because of CNC,
Krossgrinding needs less operator skill and knowledge for machine setup and size control. The
operator enters the starting and final diameter, bore length, workpiece material, and required finish.
The control does the rest, calculating stroke rate, stroke length, spindle speed, feed rate, and
required grit size. It can be set to automatically adjust for diamond wear after initial setup.

Main advantages of this type of machine are found in the ease of setup, precise size, and bore
geometry control. Operators with little honing experience can produce parts within micron
tolerances in less than a day and will continue to do so on a production basis. Typical applications
include high bore geometric tolerance parts such a fuel injectors, bearings, and precise valve
components.

Abrasives

Honing machines carry either of two types of abrasive elements: plated sleeve sections or stones.
The sleeves, made in sizes from approximately 1 to 6" (25-52-mm) long, are electroplated with
diamond grit so the abrasive coating is only one grain thick. They are used on single-stroke and
Krossgrinding machines.

The stone abrasive, used on multistroke machines, is carried on a spindle that consists of a
mandrel, a wedge, and a honing stone. When the wedge is moved the stone shifts radially and
engages the wall of the bore. As the machine rotates the mandrel and stroking begins, the stone
abrades the bore wall. The mandrel may have one stone with two guide shoes or multiple stones
with no guide shoes. Guide-shoe mandrel designs remove a rainbow shape from the bore and
provide higher geometric accuracies. One feed system feeds the wedge out to the proper position
and applies a constant force to provide operating pressure until final size is reached. Another feed
system feeds out at a controlled rate until the bore reaches the final size, then the machine shuts
off.

With a plated tool, wear has to be considered because there is only

one layer of abrasive. When that wears, cutting action suffers. With a
stone, cutting is consistent because the stone has a thickness. As one
layer wears away, other abrasive grits are exposed.

Grit selection depends on the finish desired and number of parts to be Mechanical gages are
processed. For only a few parts, the lower cost aluminum oxide may used to check the
be used. Higher production volumes or repeating jobs make CBN or accuracy of bore
diamond more practical. Grit size can range from 70 to 1200 grit. They diameters from 2.3 to 74.3
mm.
will provide finishes from less than 1 to 50 or more microinches Ra.
The chief grit materials are aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, CBN, and
diamond. Aluminum oxide was the most common honing abrasive for some time, and is still the
most cost-effective material for extremely short runs. However, the introduction of CBN and its
derivative Borazon changed the picture. They provide much longer hone life and precision.

Aluminum oxide is commonly used to rough-hone steel; silicon carbide works well on cast iron,
bronze, beryllium, aluminum, some nonmetallics, and to fine-finish steel. CBN is used on most
steels and their alloys as well as cast iron. Diamond, the hardest abrasive, is used on cast iron and
tungsten carbide.

Bonding material for the honing stones may be vitreous, resin, or metal bond. Vitreous is a rigid
glass-like bond. Resin is a more pliable bond which works better than vitrified bond in certain
materials. Metal bond is used with diamond and Borazon abrasive and can be configured to be slow
wearing or fast wearing, depending on the application material. All bonds are available in different
hardnesses. This allows the stone to be matched to the process to provide the best cycle time and
stonewear combination for the lowest cost per part.

Essential Lubricant

Lubricants are essential to remove heat during the honing operation and to prevent the abrasive
from picking up chips and welding to the part. They normally come in two forms: oil and water-
based. Because of pollution problems, there is a decided preference for water-based lubricants. Oil
is often used on difficult-to-hone material such as aluminum and stainless steel. Filtration helps
achieve fine surface finish and increases abrasive life.

Fixturing

Because the honing process often requires a roundness or

straightness within microns, fixturing is a major concern. It is
important that the part be held so that it isn't distorted. If the part is
deformed by the fixture, when the restraint is released, the part
reverts to its original shape and the honed surface will no longer be
geometrically perfect. Vertical, single-stroke, multi
-spindle unit has a series of
During the honing process, there are two forces act on the part: progressively larger
torque due to hone rotation and the push-and-pull action of the spindles.
hone. The fixture has to absorb both, but without deforming the part.
Some parts have weak wall sections, such as in some valve spools,
so torque can be a big problem.

Normally the fixture has a custom "nest" that captures the part, allowing it to float while the tool
does its work. One common fixture design has fingers that lightly "cage" the part to provide back
and forth motion.

In the normal cycle, the fixture may lock the part before the stroke starts to align the bore with the
tool. The part is then allowed to float up to 0.010" (0.25 mm) in the X-Y plane when the honing
action starts. The tool follows the centerline of the existing bore. The fixture may also mount the part
in a gimbal that allows angular rotation about the X and Y axis.

Fixturing techniques have been developed that avoid the distortion problem. A spring collet is used
to apply a uniform pressure around a circular part. There are no jaws to individually squeeze the
part. The collet is used for parts with a smooth OD and no other features that can be gripped. A
flexible band like an oil filter wrench also works on near-circular parts.

Where part configuration allows, the fixture is designed to grip some area that does not influence
the portion of the part being honed. For example, with a gear, the main concern is the accuracy of
the bore. The gear teeth are restrained to take the torque without transmitting load to the hole area.
Honing will maintain the relationship which exists between the bore centerline and the pitch
diameter of the gear.

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What's Happening with Honing - Sunnen

Engine-block cylinders are normally honed using a torque

plate. It is a heavy piece of metal that bolts to the block
and simulates the engine's head. Because the engine bore
may distort when the head is bolted to the engine block,
this distortion can be simulated by the torque plate so that
the bore is straight and round after the cylinder head is
assembled.

Some fixtures are designed to maintaining

perpendicularity. This is done by using a fixture with a
precisely flat surface for the part to rest on which is aligned
to be perpendicular with the honing tool.

Honing technology is not stagnant. Projects under development include tools which hone holes
below 2 mm in diameter. Improved methods to finish bores which have an obstruction at one end
(called "blind bores") is another project underway.

Providing tools to customers, that deliver the proper size and

geometry "right out of the box," is another area of interest.

TurboHone high-production, multi-stone mandrels are used on

bore diameters from 3.8 to 31.7 mm.
TurboHone high-production,
Going to higher-pressure coolant with pressures around 1000 psi
mutli-stone mandrels are used
(6.9 MPa) might improve productivity by blasting away the chips. on bore diameters from 3.8 to
Better chip removal may allow for more aggressive feed rates to 31.7 mm.
improve productivity. More integration is also in the future. Honing
systems are being integrated with other machine tools and gaging
to make flexible high-productivity cells. There is greater use of robots in increase productivity. The
key to success in the future is being able to take advantage of changes in technology to improve
the productivity of the honing process. This will drive increased use of the honing process as a
finishing step in manufacturing operations.

Copyright 2001 Society of Manufacturing Engineers

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