Modern Machine Shop Features Flex-Hone® for Surface Finishing

Modern Machine Shop is a monthly magazine for production, engineering, and management personnel in the metalworking industry. Recently, Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM) was featured in both the on-line and print versions of this popular periodical for its Flex-Hone® tool. The in-depth case study explained how two companies, Heule Tool Corporation and Vektek, use the Flex-Hone® to meet exacting surface finish requirements.

Surface Finishing Hardened Materials at Heule Tool Corporation
Heule Tool Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio is a cutting tool manufacturer that describes itself as “the quality leader” in through-hole deburring, chamfering, and countersinking. According to Gary Brown, Heule Tool’s vice president and general manager, metals such as nickel, stainless steel, and titanium pose special challenges. If burrs and other surface imperfections aren’t removed from fastener through-holes, components made from hardened materials won’t fit together properly.      

That’s why Heule Tool uses the Flex-Hone® from Brush Research Manufacturing as part of its finishing process. First, a combination DEFA precision chamfering tool and COFA universal deburring tool cuts through the metal and adds beveled edges on the front and back of the part. This automated process performs the edge-breaking step, and removes drill burrs and drill caps. “We also recommend,” Brown adds, “going in with the Flex-Hone® to round the transition between the beveled edge and the hole”.

Surface Finishing Cylinder Cavities at Vektek
Like Heule Tool, Vektek of Saint Joseph, Missouri recommends the Flex-Hone® for removing surface imperfections. A supplier of workholders, Vektek depends upon BRM’s flexible finishing tool to prepare fixture cavities to accept cylinders for the company’s hydraulic and pneumatic clamping systems. If a metal cylinder has small scratches or other surface imperfections, the seals may fail and render the fixtures unusable. Such was the case with 300 fixture cavities that were improperly machined in China. 

“These cylinders require a very good seal – very accurate, very round, and with a high-quality surface finish”, explains Rob Nelson, vice president of Vektek International Sales. So the American company advised its Chinese customer, a manufacturer of heavy equipment, to use BRM’s Flex-Hone® tool to properly finish the cylinder cavities and eliminate sealing problems. By mounting the Flex-Hone® in a handheld drill, Vektek’s customer “saved 300 very expensive holes”, Nelson explains.