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  for Metal Finishing since 1989
  

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Alternate or faster method for microfinishing

2003

Sir ,

My company is in the manufacturer of stainless steel surgical needles , which is required to be polished after heat treatment - which blackens the surface . Please suggest the various methods by which the polishing could be carried out in a eco friendly , economical and less labor oriented way to have these needles polished in large volumes . At present though , we are microfinishing the needles using a electrolyte bath after ( pickling ), which we have found effective but it is very laborious and the production rate is quite less .

We have thought and tried mechanical polishing , like using vibratory and centrifugal polishing machines but the shine on the was not that effective and there were some damages on the needle points , which necessarily needs to be avoided .

We now require some suggestions / solutions to our problem where we could have the needles polished at a faster rate with a shine as good as that in microfinishing , or at least using the same microfinishing process is it possible to have the needles polished uniformly at a much faster and using less labor ?

Preetham Raman
medical equipment manufacturer - Tamilnadu, India

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Just a thought. There are problems with nearly all systems for this application. Have you considered working this material in a much longer length and then trying to mechanically polish it by passing it through wipes and then cutting it to length?

AF Kenton
retired business owner - Hatboro, Pennsylvania
2003