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 Flexible honing tools remove
burrs from cross-drilled holes, blend-in radiused ports, and improve surface
finish inside of cylinders. Cutting, turning, and drilling metal parts creates burrs
and unfinished edges that are often removed off-line in secondary operations. Using
the Flex-Hone tool, however, manufacturers can automate deburring
and surface finishing operations, saving time and improving quality.
As BRM's new Flex-Hone In-Machine Setup video explains,
manufacturers who use flexible hones with CNC equipment can use a Jacobs-style
chuck directly on the brush tool's stem wire. BRM ball hones also mount in
lathes, mills, drill presses, and electric hand drills. Self-centering and
self-aligning to the bore, these cylinder hones are self-compensating for wear.
The Flex-Hone tool's abrasive globules each have independent suspension and
produce a plateau
finish that optimizes oil retention.
Deburring Tools for Cross-Drilled
Holes
Drilling cross-holes creates burrs where the holes intersect. Manual deburring operations can
be expensive and time-consuming, however, and some automated deburring tools
require rigid and elaborate setups. To reduce production times and costs, BRM cylinder
hones simplify the burr removal process.
Because the Flex-Hone is oversized for the bore, the tool "pops" out and into
the intersection, removing cut, torn, and folded metal while creating a clean
radius at the transition edge.
As BRM's new Flex-Hone
video demonstrates, flexible honing in a machine
tool removes burrs efficiently and uniformly. Examples shown include cross-hole
deburring in 7075 aluminum and the deburring of radial slots in 6061 aluminum.
In addition to removing metal burrs that can cause part misalignments, BRM ball hones can achieve surface finishes in
the single RA level. By reversing the
direction of the spindle, burr removal can be performed in both directions.
Surface
Finishing and Port Radius
Flexible hones for radiused ports improve surface
finish while removing burrs that can impede the flow of fluids, lubricants, and
gases. Unlike rigid hones and honing stones, Flex-Hone tools are not designed
for heavy-duty or high-precision material removal. Made with abrasive globules
permanently bonded to flexible nylon filaments, BRM brush tools follow existing
geometry and will not affect size, ovality, or concentricity. As the website Tool Daddy explains, BRM ball hones are also "friendly" on port edges.
Cylinder honing for
port deburring is used in a variety of industries, including the production of
marine engines. As this application guide explains, a
leading manufacturer once used emery cloth mounted on a fixed spindle machine
to produce a port radius. To solve critical quality-control problems, however,
the Mercury Marine began using machine-mounted Flex-Hone
tools instead.
Author's Note:
This CR4 blog entry originally appeared in the BRM
Flex-Hone Blog.
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