Aloha, fun & authoritative answers -- no cost, no passwords, no popups
(as an eBay Partner & Amazon Affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases)

Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

-----

Translate Surface Finish Specs to Profilometer Readings

Q. We are a machine shop and have been requested to produce a surface finish 175 ±5 reading on a profilometer. Do you have any information on what type of shot blasting material, PSI, etc... would produce this surface finish?

Thanks in advance for you help!

Brenda Kay Ballengee, Senior CAD Designer
- Englewood, Ohio
2004

Profilometers

on eBay or

Amazon

(affil links)

A. Sounds like you need to either machine to a finer finish or do a polishing operation afterwards. The RA your after is pretty rough still so should not take much work to get there.

Ian Fair
chrome plating - Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
2005

A. You may want to check with companies dedicated to surface finish metering (one that comes to mind is Gar Electroforming, they have a number of visual and tactile surface finish comparators including roughness readings).

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2005

A. There are many companies that use straightliners and other finishing equipment to reach that type of RA by using profilometers. There are companies out there. You just got to find them.

Brandt Hinton
- Elk River, Minnesota
2005

Q. We are working on method to detect the roughness inside the water supply pipe of pharma manufacturing site.
the question really is how one measures the roughness profile inside a supply line ?

It is important so that the change in the profile also will help identify a tool or a method that will enable one to decide on the maintenance schedule as well.

Arun
- Nashik, Maharashtra, India
2006

(No "dead threads" here! If this page isn't currently on the Hotline your Q, A, or Comment will restore it)

Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread

Disclaimer: It's not possible to fully diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The internet is largely anonymous & unvetted; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories: