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Automated mirror finish of SS flat parts?

Matte4

Plastic
Joined
Mar 27, 2019
Hello
We machine SS which need mirror finish, so far this has been done manually with an operator holding each piece against a polishing wheel. The parts are at most 5"x3" and .500" thick. The problem is this very inefficient,tiring and everyone hates doing it.
So I am looking for an alternative polishing method, anything that can help automate the process, so does anybody know of automated polishing machines out there? Just anything to get rid of manually holding the parts while polishing them will do.

We polish about 80pieces per 8hour shift, so production rate is not an issue.
 
Hello
We machine SS which need mirror finish, so far this has been done manually with an operator holding each piece against a polishing wheel. The parts are at most 5"x3" and .500" thick. The problem is this very inefficient,tiring and everyone hates doing it.
So I am looking for an alternative polishing method, anything that can help automate the process, so does anybody know of automated polishing machines out there? Just anything to get rid of manually holding the parts while polishing them will do.

We polish about 80pieces per 8hour shift, so production rate is not an issue.

.
saw video once of robot polishing sink faucets and other plumbing stuff. i believe it was doing
a lot per day and humans preferred not to do that as a full time job
 
What sides do you have to do? Just the flat sides, or do you have to get the edges too?

I believe I've seen machines that are basically conveyor belts on the bottom and brushes/rolls/belts on top. You lay the parts on the belt, and it slowly feeds them underneath the polishing mechanism.
 
I imagine someone makes something like a timesaver with a polishing belt on it. I've seen them run with non-woven belts on them (e.g. scotchbrite).
 
Check into super finish , similar to R.E.M. super finishing. There is guy on my Linkin account that advertises,
Some back ground, it a tumbler debur that has polishing stones. And special chemicals to obtain a mirror finish.
What is the tolerance on the parts?
This procedure removes very little parent material. You can purchase the equipment and chemicals to run in house.
 
What sides do you have to do? Just the flat sides, or do you have to get the edges too?

I believe I've seen machines that are basically conveyor belts on the bottom and brushes/rolls/belts on top. You lay the parts on the belt, and it slowly feeds them underneath the polishing mechanism.


Just have to do the flat sides. so a machine like that would work, any supplier you have in mind?
 
Check into super finish , similar to R.E.M. super finishing. There is guy on my Linkin account that advertises,
Some back ground, it a tumbler debur that has polishing stones. And special chemicals to obtain a mirror finish.
What is the tolerance on the parts?
This procedure removes very little parent material. You can purchase the equipment and chemicals to run in house.

I will look into this, thank you. I have +/-.015 tolerance on the flat sides, only need the flats polished.
 
First off, have you optimized the machining process so that parts need minimal polishing off the machines?

Do you require any flatness, or just a cosmetically shiny surface?

Both sides of the 5 x 3, or just one?

Consider cleaning after polishing, usually some residue is left behind. Whatever method you use has to not damage the surface.

Storage/packing for shipping should be optimized.

Unless flatness is required, I'd not lap the parts unless the lapping machine is in some way converted to conformal polishing with a face-buff wheel. Even so, I'm not sure you could get the speed needed (RPM) without significant modification to the lap, to the point where I doubt it would be economically feasible.

Raking of the buff wheel or scheduled replacement is needed to prevent hard buffing compound or buff wear from compromising the process. You'll need to do some process study to come up with the right parameters.

Safety! Whatever you do, those are sizable pieces of steel, and you must be sure they can't be "tossed" out of the buffer in a way that risks injury to people.
 
First off, have you optimized the machining process so that parts need minimal polishing off the machines?

Do you require any flatness, or just a cosmetically shiny surface?

Both sides of the 5 x 3, or just one?

Consider cleaning after polishing, usually some residue is left behind. Whatever method you use has to not damage the surface.

Storage/packing for shipping should be optimized.

Unless flatness is required, I'd not lap the parts unless the lapping machine is in some way converted to conformal polishing with a face-buff wheel. Even so, I'm not sure you could get the speed needed (RPM) without significant modification to the lap, to the point where I doubt it would be economically feasible.

Raking of the buff wheel or scheduled replacement is needed to prevent hard buffing compound or buff wear from compromising the process. You'll need to do some process study to come up with the right parameters.

Safety! Whatever you do, those are sizable pieces of steel, and you must be sure they can't be "tossed" out of the buffer in a way that risks injury to people.

There is a flatness requirement so I guess lapping is not an option here. We have special totes for moving machined product to our de-greasing/cleaning station, therefore residue on the surface is not a problem.
 
First off, have you optimized the machining process so that parts need minimal polishing off the machines?

Do you require any flatness, or just a cosmetically shiny surface?

Both sides of the 5 x 3, or just one?

Consider cleaning after polishing, usually some residue is left behind. Whatever method you use has to not damage the surface.

Storage/packing for shipping should be optimized.

Unless flatness is required, I'd not lap the parts unless the lapping machine is in some way converted to conformal polishing with a face-buff wheel. Even so, I'm not sure you could get the speed needed (RPM) without significant modification to the lap, to the point where I doubt it would be economically feasible.

Raking of the buff wheel or scheduled replacement is needed to prevent hard buffing compound or buff wear from compromising the process. You'll need to do some process study to come up with the right parameters.

Safety! Whatever you do, those are sizable pieces of steel, and you must be sure they can't be "tossed" out of the buffer in a way that risks injury to people.
this true the better the finish at machining the quicker and easier the parts will polish up.
with super finish. it's a time factor the longer in the tub the better the finish.
 
A member here recommended Cogsdill to me when I was looking into it. It's expensive as heck though. It is like a facemill but with flat diamonds inserted into it. For a roughly 2.5" model it is almost 4k
 
A member here recommended Cogsdill to me when I was looking into it. It's expensive as heck though. It is like a facemill but with flat diamonds inserted into it. For a roughly 2.5" model it is almost 4k

Well, the OP answered almost none of my questions, so not sure I should bother continuing. But as far as burnishing goes, you'd need to use a highly-filtered coolant/lubricant during the process (unless Cogsdill says different), and that could require adding a filtering unit to whatever machine it's done on.
 
Do you need optical mirror or shiny mirror-like? What's the flatness requirement? These details can take you from fairly simple to orders of magnitude more PIA and expensive.
 
Well, the OP answered almost none of my questions, so not sure I should bother continuing. But as far as burnishing goes, you'd need to use a highly-filtered coolant/lubricant during the process (unless Cogsdill says different), and that could require adding a filtering unit to whatever machine it's done on.

Their website says no special coolant needed, and no mention of extra filtration, but I have never used one so I couldn't say.
 
Their website says no special coolant needed, and no mention of extra filtration, but I have never used one so I couldn't say.

Dunno what they'd say, but if I'm burnishing I'd want to ensure I'm not forcing little particles suspended in the coolant into the workpiece. Bad for finish, bad for the burnishing tool.
 








 
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