Summary for vapor honing Discussion
Vapor honed refers to a wet abrasive finishing process, and the thread explains that it is similar to abrasive blasting but uses mostly water as the carrier. In the original question, D. Brown asked for information on vapor honing, and William R. Shaffer said the key is balancing time, grit value, and air pressure to get consistent results, pointing to US Patent #5,709,587. Later, Harry Johnson asked what the process is for titanium, and AF Kenton described it as a manually operated system used for light deburring and cleaning. The thread also includes a 2013 question about vapor-honed 6061-T6 aluminum that was hard anodized and came out spotty; the reply suggested, as a guess, that contamination in the fluid system or from prior work may be affecting the finish and that the machine may need cleaning and maintenance review.
Q. Small Machine Shop in Houston seeking more information on vapor honing if you have any information about it please respond.
D Brown
1998
A. The trick is in the right combination and balance of time, grit value, air pressure to achieve consistent results. Reference US Patent # 5,709,587. I would be more than happy to discuss the subject.
Wiliam R. Shaffer
– Greensburg, Pennsylvania
1999
Q. I am having a hard time finding information about vapor honing. We were quoting some titanium that requires this process. Could you tell me what it is? Thanks!
Harry Johnson
– Puyallup, Washington
A. The word hone usually refers to any system that uses a lot of liquid in mechanical processing. The system referred to is similar to abrasive blasting, except in this case the media is primarily all water. This equipment is normally manually operated and does light deburring and cleaning.
AF Kenton
retired business owner – Hatboro, Pennsylvania
Vapor honing and aluminum anodizing
Q. WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON A PROJECT OUT OF THE UK, THAT CALLS OUT FOR THE ALUMINUM BARS TO BE VAPOR HONED. WE ARE WONDERING WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REGULAR ANODIZING AND VAPOR HONING?
JOE CALDERONE JR.
CONSUMER – Des Plaines, Illinois, U.S.
2007
A. Night and day difference. Vapor honed has two common meanings. The more proper one is an aspirated water as in a common blast cabinet, except it is water instead of grit. A very tiny abrasive can be added. The second is a pumped slurry with air added to create a more aggressive hone action. This will also add a small amount of tiny abrasive. The finish is smooth and can be controlled very closely such as the ability to remove an oxide or soft plate with virtually no parent metal removal.
Anodize is the conversion of the surface to aluminum oxide.
James Watts
– Navarre, Florida
2007
A. Vapor hone is a type of very light and very fine sand blasting (100% mechanical). Nothing to do with real vapor. Anodizing is an electrochemical oxidation of aluminum in order to “grow” a layer of aluminum oxide on its surface.
Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2007
A. One process is a positive surface metal treatment and the other a negative system. Anodizing put something on to the surface, vapor honing removes or cleans the surface.
AF Kenton
retired business owner – Hatboro, Pennsylvania
2007
Ed. note: Please see our FAQ “Introduction to Aluminum Anodizing”
Q. I am currently working with a supplier to get a piece of machined aluminum (6061-T6 grade), that has been vapor honed and then hard anodized. However, the final product is very spotty, with light and dark spots.
We have another part that had been bead-blasted then anodized, and there are no issues.
Anyone have any knowledge of some of the disadvantages of vapor honing, or combining vapor honing with hard anodizing the material?
Ajay Hari
– Irvine, California, USA
December 9, 2013
A. This is just a guess. It is possible some kind of contamination has or is occurring. Possible due to actually something (parts) that were worked on before. I suspect you did not have this problem with the machine system when you first started it. Somehow, someway there was or is something that is affecting the fluid system; therefore, you may have to clean the machine. Check to maintenance manual.