Spherical Lapping & Polishing

Current buffing processes used to polish spherical balls and cups can detrimentally effect the roundness. Current machines used to polish spherical balls and cups have between 10-20% failure rate. The machine and process developed at Kemet International produces a mirror polish, holds geometry and can correct these failures while maintaining roundness down to 2 microns. The whole process takes less than 9 minutes. The machine can process parts from 12mm to 75mm diameter. With special modifications, parts up to 100mm diameter can be polished.

The system can be used on most materials including ceramic, natural metals and alloyed metals. Applications include:

• Prosthetic Devices such as Hip joints and Cups
• Bearing Manufacture
• Valve assemblies
• Pump Components

Material that can be polished include:-

• Cobalt Chrom
• Stellite
• Ceramic
• Other materials may be possible

There are only 2 steps to obtain a mirror polish starting with a machine ground spherical ball or cup. These are:-

• Lapping stage
• Polishing Stage

Machine features

• 6 motors all with independent variable speed to provide complete control.
• Lapping and Polishing pressures applied pneumatically.
• Simple change from ball to cup polishing action.
• Low running costs.
• Average process time less than 9 minutes.
• CE marked.

Advantages

• Able to process all common materials including Stellite, Ceramic and Cobalt Chrome.
• Simple fixture designs to accommodate all styles of product.
• All critical parts manufactured from stainless steel.
• Modular design to enable easy configuration of manufacturing cell (Eg 2 x polishing stations or 2 x lapping stations).
• Dedicated approved consumable formulations to give consistent repeatability.
• Built in cleaning option between stages.