Removing Lapping & Polishing Compounds from Parts - Case Studies

Process for removing polishing compounds from stainless steel & titanium:

Glass jars were used to hold the pins due to there size and quantities. One jar was filled with tap water then diluted with 3% Galvex 18:01. The second jar was filled with 100% concentration of deionised water. Both jars were placed into the Kemet 30 ultrasonic cleaner and allowed to degas and reach required temperature of 50°C. A handful of pins were placed into Jar 1 and set for a cycle time of 5 minutes, immediately after the Sonics have been activated you can see the contamination being removed. Once the cycle has finished, place a sieve over a clean empty jar and pour in the contents of jar 1 filtering the pins separately. The pins were placed into jar 2 and set for a 5 minutes cycle, once complete filter the pins using the same method as before. Now the pins were placed in a clean empty jar and dried in the versa hot air dryer for a cycle time of 3 minutes at 70°C.

% Satisfactorily Cleaned: 100%

Comments: Upon inspection pins appear visually clean. The cleaning cycle times and concentration will vary depending on the size of the average batch aiming to be cleaned.

Process for removing polishing compounds & debris:

Each part was cleaned individually for test purposes for a cycle time of 1 minute in the ultrasonic cleaner using the Kemet S3 cleaning agent. The part was then rinsed in a separate tank for 2 minutes, rinsing is an important stage as the cleaning agent may cause staining/damage if left on. Finally the parts were dried in a hot air dryer for 3 minutes. This test was conducted to demonstrate that Kemet S3 is suitable for cleaning pure copper.

% Satisfactorily Cleaned: 100%

Process for removing polishing residue from sapphire:

The part was placed into a fine mesh holder to secure the part whilst cleaning then placed inside the ultrasonic cleaning tank. The part had an initial cycle of 5 minutes but after inspection there was still white spots so had an additional 5 minutes. The rest of the batch was then cleaned using the same process but unfortunately because of the parts dimensions they stick and group together. This is not a major problem on the cleaning cycle as the sonic cause’s cavitation moving the parts and still effectively cleaning. The drying is the issue as the parts group together trapping in water and not drying/causing water marks. A special design fixture can be made to hold the parts which would solve the drying issue. Alternatively, manual drying the parts using hand laps with ASFL polishing cloths can be achieved.