Lapping & Polishing Brass - Case Study

Test Requirements: Matt lap and mirror polish brass components
Component/Material: Oval & Rectangular Brass components

Stage 1 (Matt Lap) A cast iron plate on a Kemet 15 lapping machine with Kemox 0-800 Aluminium Oxide slurry and a run time of 5 minutes was used to give the components a flat matt finish prior to polishing.

Stage 2 (Mirror Polish) Finally an MRE cloth with COL-K and a run time of 20 minutes was used to mirror polish. This produced a blemish free mirror polish.

Before Lapping Brass

Before Lapping brass

After Lapping Brass

After Lapping brass

Process breakdown for lapping Brass
Stage Plate/cloth type Abrasive type/grade Process time
1 Lap Cast Iron Kemox 0-800 Aluminium Polishing Slurry 5 minutes
2 Polish MRE polishing pad COL-K (CMP Slurry) 20 minutes

Test Requirements: To lap and polish components. Ra < 0.2µm
Component/Material: Cast Iron body & Brass top plate.

Parts were run using a non-slip film on a pressure weight , which held 1 part in a control ring at once. The smallest part was hand lapped on the Kemet Iron plate for 15 seconds. Ra achieved on cast iron body: 0.0851 µm Ra achieved on brass plate: 0.0335 µm

Process Breakdown
Stage Plate/cloth type Abrasive type/grade Process time
Lap Kemet Iron Type K Standard Diamond slurry 10-20 minutes, depending on damage

Cast Iron body after lapping

Cast Iron body after lapping

Brass top plate after lapping

Brass plate after lapping

Brass component after lapping

Brass part after lapping

Test Requirements: To improve flatness and surface finish on Brass plate
Component/Material: Brass plate, 69mm diameter
Machine Type: Kemet 24” diamond lapping/polishing machine

A total of 3 rings can be run on this machine. The parts were cleaned using Kemet C0-42 cleaning fluid. The Pressure weight used was a 15 inch machine pressure weight due to the size of the part (faced using an ant-slip membrane). A 24 inch machine could process a total of 9 parts per 5 minute cycle. Ra before - 0.1480 µm Ra after - 0.0332 µm Flatness before - Unreadable Flatness after - 1 light band (0.3 µm)

Process Breakdown
Stage Plate/cloth type Abrasive type/grade Process time
Lapping Kemet Copper SP2 Type O Standard Diamond slurry 5 minutes

After lapping Brass Plate

surface finish of brass after lapping

kemet ISO 9001

BSI number Q05919

Over 85 years of service to industry

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