Polishing Toolox®
- Hone with a coarse honing stone, for instance with a grain size of 120. All marks of milling or EDM should be worked off completely. This work is preferably done using the flat side of the honing stone to achieve as flat and even surface as possible. Vary the directions of the honing (in X-shape). This helps produce an even surface while ensuring time savings.
- Hone as above but with a fine grain, for instance with a grain size of 320. All remaining marks left by the previous honing (in step 1) should be completely removed.
- Perform rough polishing with diamond paste on a brass piece. Grain size 45 microns (μm). Continue until all remaining traces of the previous honing from step 2 are completely removed.
- As in step 3, but with 15 μm diamond paste. Continue until all remaining traces from step 3 are removed.
- As in step 4, but with 7 μm diamond paste. Continue until all remaining traces from step 4 are removed.
- Polish with 7 μm diamond paste on a fiber or plastic element. Continue until all remaining traces from step 5 are removed.
- Polish with 3 μm diamond paste on a fiber or plastic element. Continue until all remaining ”nuance differences” from step 6 are completely removed. (We use the term ”nuance” because at this point the surface is so fine that scratches are no longer visible to the naked eye.)
- Polish with 3 μm diamond paste on a felt element. Continue until all nuance differences from step 7 are removed.
- Perform final polishing with 3 μm diamond paste and cotton. This is manual work that will produce the final gloss. Continue until an even gloss is achieved over the entire surface.
To consider when polishing Toolox®
Take proper care
As each step is performed, remaining marks and scratches from the previous step must be completely removed. For example, if step 3 is not done well enough, and in step 4 you then see scratches remaining from step 2, attempts to remove them will fail. You must go back to step 3 and to this step again until it is completed. There are no short cuts!
Keep it clean
Between each step, the work piece and everything that comes into contact with it must be completely cleaned so that no coarse particles prom the previous step come into contact with the surface. For example, if diamond paste from step 4 (15 micron) remains as the polishing in step 5 begins (with 7 micron paste), the coarser grains from the 15 micron paste will produce scratches, no matter how much polishing is done with the finer paste. Do not over-polish.
Excess polishing with a soft material (like felt) can easily cause an “orange peel” surface. It is often tempting to polish a little extra on areas where perhaps remaining scratches from previous steps are seen in order to get rid of them, but this can easily create an orange peel surface in this area. Furthermore, even the finest diamond paste works off some material, and this means that a local - more intensive - polishing, will produce waviness on the surface.
Texturing Toolox®
Recognized service and quality
Toolox® 33 and Toolox® 44 are homogeneous materials, with properties as ESR remelted material. Because of its homogeneity, Toolox® steel is well suited for texturing. We hold certifications from different recognized texturing bodies such as Standex, the Surface Etching Cooperation and others.
