Single Pass Honing

This advanced honing system  is ideal for manufacturing turbochargers, power steering valves, hydraulic valve bodies, connecting rods and more.

The demonstration of single-pass honing of cast iron hydraulic valve bodies by the VSS Series 2 Single Stroke® Honing system from Sunnen Products Company (St. Louis, MO) in Booth N-7400 at IMTS 2012 will highlight the accuracy, reliability and flexibility that have made the machine a mainstay of Chinese manufacturing in the air conditioning, automotive and hydraulics sectors. According to Sunnen, more than 100 U.S.-made VSS machines have been sold in China to make turbochargers, power steering valves, hydraulic valve bodies and connecting rods.

VSS-2 machines incorporate up to six spindles to progressively size and finish part bores with tools of preset diameter and grit size. The machines are ideal for precision sizing of bores 3.9 mm to 50 mm (0.149 in to 2.0 in) diameter in stamped parts, gears and sprockets, parking pawls, rocker arms, turbocharger housings and similar parts. Ideal materials include cast iron, powdered metals, ceramic, glass, graphite and other free-cutting materials.

The VSS-2 has the most accurate spindle alignment in the industry, combined with flexible, easy-to-use controls. Spindles are factory aligned independently for precision centering over the tooling plate to produce better bore geometry than possible with machines using an “average” alignment for all the spindles. The VSS-2 utilizes a belt-drive spindle cartridge with a 724 mm (28.5″) stroke and 2-105 mm/sec (2-250 ipm) stroking speed for increased flexibility with a wide variety of parts and tooling combinations. The servo-powered stroke system provides process flexibility and is hand-wheel-controlled for quick setup.

The menu-driven touchscreen control allows the column feed and spindle speed to be easily varied throughout the cycle. Operational flexibility is enhanced by the use of six available profiles, including pecking, short stroke and dwell, which are easily added to a setup. More than 100 setups can be stored. Additional I/O and memory are standard for ease of automation.

The VSS Series 2 is available in three models: the 84 (eight-station, four-spindle), the 86 (eight-station, 6-spindle) and the 64 (six-station, four-spindle) to meet various mid- to high- production needs. Spacing between spindles is 190 mm (7.48 in). The 7.5 kW (10 hp) spindle drive provides a speed range of 100 rpm to 2500 rpm. Removable, maintenance-free stainless steel guarding and electrical panel mounted to the rear of the machine allow easy access to the work envelope from either side of the machine to facilitate tool change or integration of custom part handling systems.