Surface Finishing Aluminium
Scope of Work: To lap and polish various sizes of Aluminium light housings
Stage 1 (Lapping) Equipment used:
- Kemet 24” lapping machine
- Cast Iron lapping plate
- Kemet Flatness gauge
- Kemox 0-800s
Stage 2 (Polishing)
- Kemet 24” lapping/polishing machine
- ASFL polishing cloth
- 3 Micron type k diamond slurry
Process breakdown for polishing Aluminium light housings
Stage 1: All parts were spaced equally depending on quantity in a 24” control ring. A dycem backed 4kg pressure weight was place on top to act as a fixture. The machine was cycled on a flat cast Iron lapping plate with kemox 0-800s being applied by the abrasive pump for 5-10 minutes. They were then taken and cleaned off with Co42 cleaning fluid.
Stage 2: The cleaned up parts were then placed into a plastic faced control ring with a 4kg pressure weight placed on top. The machine cycled for 5 minutes on an ASFL polishing cloth with 3 micron type k diamond slurry being dispensed at a ratio of 2 seconds of spray ever 40 seconds. Parts were then cleaned with Co42 cleaning fluid.
Before Surface Finishing Aluminium
After Surface Finishing Aluminium
Scope of Work: To produce best finish on ½” x 2” Aluminium strips leaving no abrasive particles in the samples
Stage 1
- Machine Type: Kemet 15 lapping/polishing machine
- Lap Plate: Cast Iron
- Abrasive Type/Grade: Kemox O-800S Aluminium oxide premixed slurry
Stage 2
- Machine Type: Kemet 15 COL-K Polishing machine
- Polishing pad: MRE short nap cloth
- Abrasive Type/Grade: Col-K (NC)
Process breakdown for Aluminium
We have selected a CMP process for the final polishing as this uses a chemical action to polish the surface of the components in place of a conventional abrasive type polishing process. This means that there should not be any abrasive left in the surface of the Aluminium. The polishing time was 80 minutes using the set-up that we had available for the parts, but with the addition of extra pressure this could be reduced.
Resulting Ra from this process: Ra 1.647µinch
Before Processing Aluminium
After Processing Aluminium
Scope of Work: Polish to achieve a blemish free mirror finish on Aluminium
Component Details: Small Aluminium heat sink
Stage 1 (Grading stage)
- Machine Type: Kemet 15” 3 ring conventional lapping machine
- Lapping Plate: Cast Iron
- Abrasive Type/Grade: Kemox 0-800 Fine
A cast iron plate with Kemox 0-800 Fine Aluminium Oxide slurry was used to give the component a flat matt finish prior to polishing. The length of this stage depends upon the surface finish before lapping begins.
Stage 2 (Pre-polish)
- Machine Type: Kemet 15” 3 ring diamond lapping machine
- Lapping Plate: ASFL-AW silk cloth
- Abrasive Type/Grade: 3micron Type K STD diamond slurry
An ASFL-AW silk cloth with 3micron Type K STD diamond slurry was used to pre-polish, this produced a good reflective finish.
Stage 3 (Mirror Polish)
- Machine Type: Kemet 15” 3 ring diamond lapping machine
- Lapping Plate: Chem Cloth H
- Abrasive Type/Grade: Col-K
Finally a Chem Cloth H with COL-K was used to mirror polish. This produced a blemish free finish.
