rweigel
Elite Cafe Member
Hi,
while browsing the net for 50-60mm ceramic discs for my DIY mini hone, I had an idea. Instead of using a hard ceramic disc for graver polishing, I could use a hard anodized aluminum disc. The anodized layer is aluminum oxide, almost as hard as sapphire or ruby. Fortunately, I have a stock of such material. Aluminum faceplates for 19“ rack modules, hard anodized to be resistant to scratches and such.
So I cut a 60 mm disc out of a part of such a Al faceplate, drilled a hole in the middle, and put it my minihone. First I tried a to polish 120° graver made from an old dentist burr, that is less hard than HSS or glensteel. I generally use chinese 0.5um diamond paste for graver polishing. I spread a VERY TINY amount of it on the Al disc. It polished the heels and face with ease. Of course, one has to be careful to put the tool down onto the disc with the slightest possible pressure, else the graver might gouge the disc trough the anodized layer.
Then I tried a ultrafine carbide graver. I buy 2mm diam. 300mm long carbide blanks from a german company and cut my gravers from them. It polished very well face and heels, I made one mistake and gouged the Al disk slightly. The lap still works. Even If I would damage it beyond usability, so what? It has a second site I can use, and the raw material is not hard to come by. I used hard brass and later phosporous bronze as polishing laps, they also work well, but gouges are frequent.
I hope this information helps other users of minihones.
Cheers
Ralf
while browsing the net for 50-60mm ceramic discs for my DIY mini hone, I had an idea. Instead of using a hard ceramic disc for graver polishing, I could use a hard anodized aluminum disc. The anodized layer is aluminum oxide, almost as hard as sapphire or ruby. Fortunately, I have a stock of such material. Aluminum faceplates for 19“ rack modules, hard anodized to be resistant to scratches and such.
So I cut a 60 mm disc out of a part of such a Al faceplate, drilled a hole in the middle, and put it my minihone. First I tried a to polish 120° graver made from an old dentist burr, that is less hard than HSS or glensteel. I generally use chinese 0.5um diamond paste for graver polishing. I spread a VERY TINY amount of it on the Al disc. It polished the heels and face with ease. Of course, one has to be careful to put the tool down onto the disc with the slightest possible pressure, else the graver might gouge the disc trough the anodized layer.
Then I tried a ultrafine carbide graver. I buy 2mm diam. 300mm long carbide blanks from a german company and cut my gravers from them. It polished very well face and heels, I made one mistake and gouged the Al disk slightly. The lap still works. Even If I would damage it beyond usability, so what? It has a second site I can use, and the raw material is not hard to come by. I used hard brass and later phosporous bronze as polishing laps, they also work well, but gouges are frequent.
I hope this information helps other users of minihones.
Cheers
Ralf
