Small-diameter Flex-Hone® tools are a great choice for imparting a smooth, oil-retaining surface finish to the walls of smaller-diameter cylinders. These miniature metalworking tools from Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM) can also remove burrs from cross-drilled holes.
Flexible honing requires no special training or instruction, but which small-diameter Flex-Hone® tool do you need? Bore size is important, of course, but you’ll also need to consider the workpiece base material and the amount of work to perform.
Bore Size
BRM supplies standard small-diameter Flex-Hone® tools for bores between 4mm (0.157”) and 76 mm (3”). When you order the tool, specify the size of the bore that you need to surface finish and deburr. Then, when your tool arrives, remember that flexible cylinder hones are used in an oversized condition to provide a soft cutting action. In other words, the tool’s diameter is slightly larger than the bore size.
What happens when a cylinder’s bore size is between two Flex-Hone® sizes? The answer is simple: choose the larger-diameter tool. For example, let’s say you need to surface finish and deburr a bore that’s 4.25mm. BRM supplies standard small-diameter Flex-Hone® tools for 4mm bores and for 4.5mm bores. In this example, you’d choose the 4.5mm tool instead of the 4mm tool for the 4.25mm bore.
Base Material
Small-diameter Flex-Hone® tools feature abrasive globules or balls that are permanently laminated to the ends of flexible nylon filaments. When you order a ball hone, choose the abrasive type that’s right for the base material you need to surface finish and deburr. The Flex-Hone® Resource Guide, a downloadable technical book from BRM, lists the recommended abrasive types for various base materials.
Amount of Work to Perform
Finally, buyers of small-diameter Flex-Hone® tools need to consider the amount of work to perform and the degree of surface finish improvement that’s required. In addition to abrasive type then, you’ll need to specify one or more grit sizes. If you’re starting from a coarse finish, you may need to use standard small-diameter Flex-Hone® tools in progressively finer grit sizes.
Learn More. Get the Guide.
For more information about grits sizes, including abrasive/grit options, download the Flex-Hone® Resource Guide. This free, full-color technical publication from BRM also contains suggested operating parameters for small-diameter Flex-Hone® tools.
