How To Compare Honing and Lapping Finishing Process
Lapping finishing process and honing finishing are two very high quality surface treatment to our metal CNC machining parts, Currently, more and more customers ask the product appearance perfect which do not have any scratch, burring and defects, when we are asking the product surface polishing level Ra0.4, or mirror finishing, we have to have high-level polishing technology. Also, there is another way to use them, when our product tolerance under 0.01mm or 0.005mm, even more, smaller, we also have to use these processes to meet the high requirements.
What’s the honing finishing process? 
For engineers, when manufacturing a part, one of their most significant concern when designing the machine is its accuracy and precision cutting when performing a task. Honing is one of those processes that is incorporated in the design process to finalize the face and ensure the accuracy of the machine is up to the task for which it is mad. Honing performs a task that can use a grinding wheel to resolve. By definition, it is the finalizing face of the processes involved in making round holes by applying abrasive force on the material. Honing is carried out mostly on the inner surface of the material.
For instance, the cylinders of the engines in automobiles have their inner surfaces perfected by honing the process. The machine used is a hone; it is cylindrical in shaped mandrel that has its outer cover made of aluminum oxide and silicon whose sole use is for abrasion. It has to rotate on its axis to perform the task. Sometimes, you can consider the honing process is a summarizing procedure for drilling and boring. It is also good to produce diameters, shapes, and surface finishing.
There are two classes of honing that are usually applied, which included:
- Manual honing.
- Machine honing.
Manual honing is the process where when the hone is in motion, the position of the workpiece is manually changed from back to front. Machine honing, on the other hand, can be further broken down to horizontal and vertical honing. In this process, there is a minimal manual operation of the machine. There is several machines used in the industries like single-pass honing machines and stroke honing machines.
Advantages of honing:
- It is less costly compared to other grinding or facelifting techniques.
- When it comes accuracy, it delivers the perfect solution for accuracy.
- Honing skills can polishing in both long and short holes.
- Honing process can complete the hardness of any materials surface polishing.
The disadvantages of honing:
- It maybe generate a slightly ovel hole if this is a very thin workpieces.
- Oval holes may also occur as a result of honing horizontally if the workpiece is not supported.
- The whole process of honing takes a longer time.
What’s the lapping finishing process?
Honing and lapping are are difficult to differentiate of the machine processes, since they all work under the principle of abrasion on the surfaces of materials. However, by definition, lapping is the process of obtaining smooth outer surface of the workpiece by applying the abrasive force on the material to the smooth. The abrasion ensures an excellent surface quality is achieved with accurate dimensions.
You can use both manually and machines for lapping finishing process. However, manual lapping is very involving and labor-intensive compared to using devices. Lapping machines consists of a moving table like a belt that rotates. The table has a name called a lapping plate. The make of the plate is from materials such as copper, iron that is softly cast, and other soft metals. The rings help with keeping the workpiece in position and ensure the wear keeps the lapping plate leveled horizontally long enough, The speed of rotation control the quality of work.
Advantages of Lapping Finishing Process:
- In lapping, there is very little heat produced; hence, the wear out caused by excessive heat is slight.
- There is no distortion of the workpiece since the devices do not require holding.
- There are no whirring sounds.
- The machine can handle any size of the dimension of the material from diameter, size, and thickness.
It is very evident that the difference between honing and lapping finishing process, Creatingway holds that the honing is better to remove the material surface than lapping, Another difference exists in how both methods hold the abrasive particles. In lapping, the particles are loosely held while in honing they are held tightly on the honing stone since it is the grinding wheel. It has also been discovered that in lapping, the workpiece has to be spun while in honing, the workpiece is rendered immobile.
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