Posted by: Ashley

Mirror Surface Finishes – Supfina Spiro F5

New Equipment Update: Supfina Spiro F5

Today, we are introducing you to the latest machinery here at GLE, helping us to provide high surface finishes. The new machine is the Spiro F5 Double Disk grinder by Supfina. This double disk grinder features a wide range of loading and unloading options for parts of many sizes and shapes. It features shortened short cycle times and will reduce downtime. An integrated grinding process ensures that parts will always be uniform in terms of, but not limited to, flatness, parallelism, and size within .0002” or better. The maximum size of the part itself varies based on its shape; a rectangular part up to 5” x 2.5” (127mm x 63.5mm), or a circular part up to 4” (101.6mm) in diameter, will be the largest that the machine can handle. Each shape can handle up to 2 inches in thickness.

With the addition of the Spiro F5, GLE is able to maximize the highest precision for a lower cost, thus increasing part manufacturing efficiency. With the addition of this machine, the process will give the opportunity for flat parts to be delivered to you faster. GLE will continue to focus on improving the processes for part throughput to ensure that your parts are produced efficiently and accurately. The utilization of the Spiro F5 will give GLE the ability to produce a flatter part more effectively.

GLE Lapping Capabilities

Although the Spiro F5 is going to help with production times, we are able to go beyond its capabilities. For years, GLE has been able to produce parts with a surface finish down to 0.4 Ra µin (.01016 µm). We are able to hold super finishes on the OD’s of round parts as well as on flat surfaces. These surface finishes can be critical on parts such as wire bonding guides used in computer and phone chip manufacturing. Waterjet plungers, bushings, nozzles, and poppets require mirrorlike or better surface finishes as well. One of our sales engineers took a sample of one of our plungers to the engineers at a potential new customer, what they saw amazed them and turned them into a steady customer.

Benefits of High Surface Finish

What is surface finish? Ra is one of the most common ways to measure surface finish, and it is the average distance between the lowest and highest point on the surface of a part. For example, if a part has a peak that is 4 µin above the mean, and a valley that is 4 µin below the mean, the surface finish would be 8 Ra µin. Our surface finish means that if we were able to enlarge one of our plungers to the size of the Earth, Mount Everest would be the height of the Lincoln Memorial!

Imperfections in the surfaces of parts cause them to wear more quickly. When a material has a high spot, it will scratch the surface it is rubbing against or chip off. If the material is more polished, these imperfections will not cause as much wear. In fact, our proprietary lapping technologies can remove material almost grain by grain in carbides and ceramics. This produces some of the most polished surfaces in the world, and ensure that ultra-tight tolerances are held. GLE is able to hold tolerances down to .000003″, allowing for engineers to push the boundaries of possibility. 

If you have questions or want to request a quote, please call us at 989-652-6136!