New Control System Doubles Honing Machine’s Productivity (.PDF Download)

July 25, 2017
New Control System Doubles Honing Machine’s Productivity (.PDF Download)

Older machine designs can be given new life by retrofitting new motion control systems. Such is the case for Sunnen Products Co., St. Louis, and its latest generation of heavy-duty tube honing system, the HTG. Honing is done on the inner walls of oil drilling pipe, hydraulic cylinders, nuclear fuel rods, and other pipe segments to achieve a precision size while reducing metallurgical stress and creating a cross-hatched surface finish.

The HTG machine can hone tubes from 2 to 24 in. inside diameter (ID) in 2-m increments up to 14 m (46 ft) long. Although the original design performed well, the Sunnen team decided to make some control upgrades to enable higher material removal rates and improve operating stability.