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» Miniature Precision Balls

The raw material for making precision balls normally comes in wire form. The wire is first cut into pieces with the required length, and the pieces are then forge headed simultaneously in the machine. This results in the headed ball having an "equator" line.

During the second flashing stage, the headed balls with the "equator" are then mixed with specially formulated abrasives, coolants and lubricants, and worked on by special grinding plates to form a more coherent ball shape. The process at this stage stops once the desired diameter has been reached. The balls are then washed and sent for heat treatment. For miniature precision balls smaller than 3mm, the process duration until this stage is much longer as it involves additional grinding processes to form a more coherent ball shape.

The heat treatment process varies according to the material being processed. Customized heat treatment can be carried according to meet specific requirements of the ball application.

After the heat treatment process, the balls are subjected to the grinding process. There is a series of grinding stages from rough to fine grinding. All of the grinding stages are separated by washing and gauging to ascertain the diameter of the balls during this grinding process.

The lapping process of the steel balls is conducted at the end. Similar to the preceding processes, special abrasives, coolants and lubricants are used. Other parameters such as grinding plates configuration setting, rotation speed, etc. are also important in ensuring the final high grade low toleranced balls during this critical stage. As such, this lapping process may be carried out in several tedious stages.

After the lapping process, the balls are washed before final check using various instruments such as the roundness tester, laser scanner, and hardness tester. If required, other reliabiity life tests such as acid or salt test may be performed.

As can be seen above, the making of a miniature precision ball is a long meticulous manufacturing process. However, the end product is a high grade quality low toleranced ball that will meet your critical high tech performance requirements.

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