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VIBRATORY FINISHING

WHAT IS VIBRATORY FINISHING?

Vibratory finishing is a surface treatment method, also called trowalizing. By trowalizing metal components you can get several different properties, depending on what you are looking for. The properties vibratory finishing can offer are:

DEBURRING OF SHARP EDGES
POLISHING FOR BETTER SURFACES AND FINISH
CLEANING
CORROSION PROTECTION
DEGREASING

This creates surfaces that become smooth, clean and free from sharp edges.

HOW DOES THE METHOD WORK?

Vibratory finishing is done by putting the components in a drum. within the drum, the components are vibrated around and rubbed against chips in a liquid called compound.

COMPOUND

The compound is the liquid in which the components are spun. The function of this liquid varies depending on the purpose but may have properties such as:

DEGREASING
CLEANING
RUST PROTECTION
GRINDING
POLISHING

CHIPS

Chips are the physical material that spins around among the components. These chips can vary between:

CERAMIC STONES
STEEL BALLS
PLASTIC CONES

The chips are there to separate the components from harming each other, but mainly to:

REMOVE SHARP EDGES
POLISH UP THE SURFACE
EVEN EVENINGS

WHAT PROCESSES CAN A VIBRATORY DRUM DO?

Thanks to that the vibratory drum is using both compounds and chips as a method, the drum becomes a very universal machine. that one machine allows us to do all these processes:

SMOOTH OUT IRREGULARITIES

GRINDING

With the help of a vibration drum, machined components that have visible unwanted lines can be grind down. This grinding is possible thanks to the chips, which rub against the mechanical component and then grind the surface.

POLISHING

Sometimes mechanical components or fasteners need to be polished. Polishing by hand is both inefficient and expensive. It is therefore both more time-effective and cheaper to polish the details by trowalizing.

The surfaces that can be obtained by polishing in a drum are:

MIRROR FINISH
GLOSSY
HIGH GLOSS
REFLECTIVE

RUST PROTECTION

When using materials that are sensitive to rust, it is important to protect the component as quickly as possible. Instead of sending the details to a surface coating company, you can use a compound with rust protection when you trowalizing the pieces.

DEGREASING & CLEANING

When a mechanical component is machined in a CNC lathe, the machine uses oils or emulsion to cool the tools and the workpiece.

This makes the pieces greasy and dirty. One way to solve this is to wash the details in an industrial washing machine.

If the parts have to be drummed for other reasons, a process (washing) can be avoided as the drum can do two steps in one.

REMOVE SHARP EDGES

Rounded edges slide into each other more easily and reduce the risk of injuries.

When processing in a CNC machine, there is a risk of getting sharp edges, especially when milling .

In the drum, the details are rubbed against the chips, which grind away the sharp edges and rounded corners.

REMOVE IRREGULARITIES

There are many reasons to smooth out roughness on your CNC machined mechanical component:

AESTHETICS
LESS FRICTION
LESS WEAR
QUIET MECHANICAL RUNNING

When the drum rubs the part against the chips it becomes smoother and nicer to hold. This is because the drum lowers the RA and RZ values of the product.