New CNC Honing Machine

Our long awaited brand new Pemamo CNC honing machine has arrived!

For the last 50 years at Hy-Pro honing has been a highly skilled manual or semi-automatic operation using traditional Delapena machines.  Using feel, dexterity, experience and an air gauge we have been honing every slice and numerous cartridges to achieve perfect fits for our valves.   With the growth in our output, the difficulty in recruiting skilled personnel and the bonus of a grant from the North Devon Fund, we took the decision last year to invest in the latest CNC honing machinery.

After a long selection process and trials of some of our major parts, the decision was made to go for the Pemamo MVRL 160.  Made in Switzerland to the highest standards and specially designed fixtures, this CNC hone is capable of machining to 1 micron tolerances in roundness and cylindricity.  Our Machine Shop Manager, Kevin Saunders, has been out to the Switzerland factory twice to ensure the machine is ready to hit the ground running.  Supporting us through the purchase process and the visits was Steve Price of SSP Technology Ltd in Derbyshire (UK agent for Pemamo).

Following some initial training on the machine in Switzerland, the Pemamo team will be on site here in Dawlish for the rest of the week to ensure installation and training are complete.

Precision honing is essential for the manufacture of hydraulic valves where the clearances between spools and bores is critical to valve leakage.  Too tight and we can have ‘sticking’ valves, too lose and we have too much leakage.  In addition, different customer applications require different leakage rates.  The perfect round, straight and smooth bores cannot be achieved with even our latest CNC vertical machining centres.  The spools themselves also have to be perfectly round, straight and smooth.  These are turned on our CNC lathes, hardened and ground on a centreless grinder.  Our process is carefully controlled using a TESA laser measuring machine and a Mahr probe to measure roundness.

For more information on Hy-Pro slice valves see our website https://www.hypro.co.uk/products/hydraulic-control-valves/sectional/