New abrasive mineral creates shiny surface finishes 

Walther Trowal, Haan, is presenting a new grinding mineral for smooth, glossy surface finishes for the first time at Deburring Expo.

During deburring operations a new grinding mineral generates particularly smooth, pre-plate surface finishes as well as a high luster on the work pieces.

The company developed the AF media specifically for finishing high-value work pieces made from metal, for example, turbine blades for jet engines, stampings for the automotive industry or medical implants.

For the new media the experts at the Walther Trowal chemical lab developed an innovative abrasive mineral that is maintaining the pH value of the process water over long time periods. This ensures the optimal functionality of the compound. An additional effect is that an increase of the pH value through orthosilicic acid is prevented. Therefore, the pH value must no longer be monitored, and the correction with additional buffer chemicals has been completely eliminated: The dosing of the compound is now very simple and requires no special knowledge.

Angelika Helten, manager of the test lab at Walther Trowal, explains why Walther Trowal’s investment in the new media was so important: „In some high-performance finishing applications certain physical processes cause the pH value of the process water to decline over time. With the new media we could develop a long-term, sustainable solution, which no longer requires the addition of corrective chemicals. This is also beneficial to customers, who are dealing with less challenging finishing tasks. For, apart from keeping the pH value stable, the AF media offers other advantages”.

Since the new abrasive mineral wears at an exceptionally slow rate, the usable life of the media could be significantly prolonged. For this reason, the new AF media contributes to a higher cost-efficiency of the mass finishing operations.