Hydraulic tube supplier Honingcraft has acquired a new heavy-duty cylinder honing machine that the company claims is the largest in Africa. The machine was developed by Sunnen, in Switzerland, and supplied by Micron Technologies (ex Safurnco), which is the authorised distributor for Sunnen.

Micron Technologies MD Justin Dowdle says that the 28-m-long machine has an impressive cylinder capacity. It can handle bores of up to 12 m long, with an internal diameter of up to 1 m. It runs on a Windows-based operating system that measures the bore during the honing cycle and automatically detects any deviation from tolerance. The software then adjusts the stroke to correct the variant.

Dowdle says that this improves geometric tolerances and ensures a consistent surface finish along the entire length of the bore. Explaining further, he says that, previously, without a machine that could precisely control the cutting pressures within the cylinder, there was much more guesswork in the honing pro- cess. Now, however, hydraulic companies will know for sure that the tolerances of their hydraulic cylinders are correct. He adds that a more sensitive control system allows for better geometrical maintenance of the cylinder.

This, he says, when combined with the high stock removal capabilities, provides better turnaround time for companies using the machine, and larger capacity and better quality of their hydraulic cylinders.

The acquisition of the machine will ultimately benefit the hydraulic repair companies that Honingcraft supplies, says Honingcraft MD Renaldo Barnard, as these companies will gain from better-quality tube and faster turnaround times. Further, he adds, it will greatly benefit companies in Honingcraft’s African market, as, previously, these companies could not handle large- size hydraulic cylinders.

Barnard says that Honingcraft acquired the machine so that the company could service the inter- national market, by being able to offer a more advanced service. He adds that the main challenge for the company is to start exporting its products and services more, as the company currently exports on a small scale, mostly in Africa.

Honingcraft specialises in honing, a bore-sizing and finishing technique that is used in the manu- facture and repair of hydraulic cylin- der tube. Small amounts of material are removed, and the cylindricality and surface finish tolerances of a cylinder are improved. Typically, this is done on inside diameters, such as hydraulic cylinder barrels, to provide a better surface for the piston.