Diamond Honing Tools for Surface Finishing Hard Materials

Diamond Flex-Hone® tools from Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM) are designed for the inner diameter (ID) surface finishing of parts made of hard materials. Examples include carbide wear rings and ceramic cylinders. BRM’s flexible diamond hones are also used to deburr, edge blend, and surface finish parts made of high nickel stainless steels, hardened tool steels, proprietary metals such as Inconel® 718 and Waspalloy®, and titanium and aluminum alloys used in jet engines.

BRM’s Diamond Flex-Hone® Video

As this new BRM video shows, BRM’s diamond honing tools feature resin-bonded diamond crystals with rapid cut-rates and self-sharpening edges. The flexible cylinder hone’s nickel-coated diamond abrasive promotes heat dissipation and bond retention for longer tool life. By conforming closely to the contours of machined components, the Diamond Flex-Hone® removes burrs consistently, helping to prevent part misalignments and achieve tight tolerances in industries where failure is not an option.

BRM’s flexible diamond hones also blend edges and eliminate stress risers to promote smooth, radiused edge transitions. By improving hole quality and removing microburrs, flexible diamond hones help to avoid stress corrosion cracks and damage to the part. Like all Flex-Hone® tools, the Diamond Flex-Hone® is self-centering, self-compensating for wear, and self-aligning to the bore. By improving surface quality without heavy-duty material removal, the tool leaves the base material undisturbed.

Product Specifications and Benefits   

As this brochure explains, BRM supplies Diamond Flex-Hone® tools in stocked sizes ranging from 4-mm (0.157-in) to 20-mm (0.787-in), and by special order from 22-mm (0.875-in) to 38-mm (1.5-in). To produce a soft cutting action, each flexible diamond hone is supplied and used in an oversized condition. This produces the appropriate amount of pressure against the cylinder wall, allowing the Diamond Flex-Hone® to remove burrs, blend edges, and improve surface finish.

Diamond Flex-Hone® tools are available in three mesh sizes: 170/200, 800, and 2500. Measured by passing the diamond abrasive through a stack of sieves or screens, mesh is a size distribution that’s related to grit.  If a part’s surface requires significant improvement, start with a lower-grit Diamond Flex-Hone® and then use one or more higher-grit tools. That’s what a manufacturer of carbide wear rings did to lower average surface roughness (Ra) from 0.7 to 0.05 µm and produce a near-mirror finish.

Automated Operations and Leading Applications

Diamond Flex-Hone® tools are suitable for both off-line and in-machine operations. Built with a rigid, twisted wire metal stem, these surface finishing and deburring tools mount easily in handheld electric drills. BRM’s flexible diamond hones are also ideal for production equipment such as CNC machining centers. Suitable for use with most any machine spindle, Diamond Flex-Hone® tools help to reduce labor costs, optimize machine cycle times, and promote surface finish uniformity.

Today, Diamond Flex-Hone® tools are used in aerospace and medical applications. Examples include through-hole edge rounding in aircraft engine components, chamfer blending on rotating engine parts, and removing stress risers and polishing holes for landing gear equipment. Flexible diamond abrasive honing tools are also used to surface finish helicopter rotor drive shafts and deburr the bearing surfaces of hydraulic swivel components. To learn more, download the Future in Finishing white paper.