Honing and superfinishing stones
Honing and superfinishing stones are the terms given to highly specialised tools, which are specifically developed and customised by ATLANTIC for a particular application. Honing and superfinishing stones are manufactured from abrasive grinding materials, which are held in the abrasive matrix by suitable bonding agents.
Vitrified bonds have been widely proven as suitable bonding agents. Resin-bonded stones are also used in some applications. When selecting the abrasive agent, the user usually reverts to synthetically produced grain materials, as these enable a better quality surface finish. A distinction is made here between conventional abrasive materials, such as aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and silicon carbide (SiC), and so-called ultra-hard materials, such as cubic boron nitride and synthetically produced diamond.
A honing stone is thus composed of abrasive grain, bonding and pores. Furthermore, it is possible to impregnate the porosity of the stones with sulphur or wax. This, among other things, extends the tool life of the honing and finishing tool.
Honing as a finishing process is divided into long-stroke honing and short-stroke honing (superfinishing) depending on the application.
Further information about honing and superfinishing stones, as well as their areas of application, can be found on our website at www.atlantic-grinding-wheels.com under 'Grinding processes'.
High level in superfinishing
Honing and superfinishing tools with particularly fine abrasive grains (up to 1 µm in diameter) are used for finishing and dressing. ATLANTIC's certified production processes and "state of the art" technologies ensure safety, reliability and a consistently high standard of quality of our products. Additionally, ATLANTIC is able to formulate and manufacture honing and superfinishing stones to precisely fulfil the specific needs of each workpiece. The use of ATLANTIC honing stones ensures both the highest possible stock removal rates, as well as optimum surface finishes in all applications. The combination of over 90 years of experience with on-going research and development ensures our customers are provided with abrasive tools that exhibit a long tool life and consistently high level of quality.
Long-stroke honing and superfinishing (short-stroke honing)
A particular strength of this process is the improvement of profile defects and roundness irregularaties that have occurred when previously grinding the functional surfaces of the workpiece. The uneven sections (peaks and valleys) are eliminated here by the large contact area between the honing stone and workpiece. Honed/finished surfaces have a high bearing area and are therefore extremely resilient.
Specification and designation
In line with international standards, ATLANTIC uses an alphanumeric code corresponding to ISO 525 to specify products. This code defines an internally documented honing stone composition, which, together with a combination of different test procedures, guarantees the reproducibility of ATLANTIC products.
Information about grain types
Fused aluminium oxide
Behind the chemical formula Al2O3 hides the designation for crystalline aluminium oxide or corundum. We distinguish here between regular, semi-friable and fused aluminium oxide depending on its level of purity.
- Regular aluminium oxide (ATLANTIC designation NK1 to NK9) - purity level of 95-96% AI2O3
- Semi-friable aluminium oxide (ATLANTIC designation HK1 to HK9) - purity level of 97-98% AI2O3
- Fused aluminium oxide (ATLANTIC designation EK1 to EK 9) - purity level in excess of 98% Al2O3
Silicon carbide
Silicon carbide, which is harder, more brittle and sharper edged than aluminium oxide, is used as a suitable abrasive for machining hard and short-chipping materials, such as grey cast iron, carbide, and non-ferrous metals. This abrasive is used first and foremost for surface finish values of less than 0.15 µm Ra.
ATLANTIC designation SC1 to SC9
Types of bond
ATLANTIC honing and superfinishing stones are normally offered in a vitrified bond (designation 'V'). Resin-bonded stones (designation 'RE') can also be used for some special applications. The bond is responsible for ensuring the grain remains on the grinding wheel until it is blunted or worn by the cutting process, after which it is released to allow the use of a new, sharp grain.
Further information about honing and superfinishing stones, as well as their areas of application, can be found on our website at http://www.atlantic-grinding-wheels.com under 'Grinding processes'.
ATLANTIC GmbH is a reliable and innovative partner for grinding, finishing and honing applications and has more than 90 years of experience in this sector. It has gained extensive experience from thousands of successful projects and is proud to work for renowned companies who are involved in the bearing, steel, automotive and transmission industries, in the turbine manufacturing and medical technology sectors, as well as in numerous other industries. With a comprehensive range of more than 40,000 products, Bonn-based ATLANTIC GmbH is one of the world's leading manufacturers of bonded abrasives.
Products and components can be processed for a number of industries including grinding wheels, grinding segments, long stroke honing stones, superfinishing stones and honing cups. Synthetically manufactured electro aluminium oxide, sintered aluminium oxide, silicon carbide, cubic boron nitride and diamond in a vitrified or resin bond are used as high performance abrasives, which guarantee individual adaptation to the customer's existing production conditions.
The end products include grinding wheels in diameters ranging from 2 to 1100 mm, grinding segments, honing stones, superfinishing stones and honing cups. Our global sales team works with customers and manufacturers of grinding, honing and superfinishing machines to develop innovative grinding concepts, whose introduction to the market is often accompanied by applications for patents and test pieces.
• Strong consulting expertise with a highly developed distribution network • International networking for optimal quality, servicing multinational production companies • Use of high-quality raw materials • Core competence ranging from coarse to ultrafine grain • Excellent reproducibility due to consistently high product quality • High performance precision products, optimally utilised in mass production under normal production conditions • Market penetration of all key sectors and numerous industry niches.
