Hone and dry

Apperley Honing, based in Cheltenham has been in business for 46 years and in terms of having the necessary credentials for prosperity, certainly ticks all the right boxes.

Apperley was established in 1963 by the current managing director Charles Sanders' father Theo. Son Charles still remembers as a small boy eagerly watching delivery of machines into the present factory site. It has invested heavily in new machines over the years and has both modern and traditional honing technologies working alongside each other at its Alpha Works factory.

The company has over 20 different types of honing machine to choose from – most of them manufactured by Delapena, Sunnen or Barnes which can hone bores from 3mm to 750mm diameter and lengths up to 15m. In 1967 Apperley started manufacturing its own machines introducing the Centaur hand-hone and later, the Jason horizontal tube hone. Now in its third generation Apperley operate three Jason machines and use them to hone long tubular parts in its workshop, which occupies over 12,000ft².

Over the years that followed the launch of these machines, Apperley has seen its contract honing business evolve, mirroring Britain's industrial landscape as it evolved from heavy engineering such as shipbuilding, earth moving and mining to industries involving motorsport, aerospace and hydraulics.

A large proportion of the work that Apperley now undertakes is devoted to polishing the insides of storage bottles and distribution pipes for specialist gases and the semi–conductor manufacturing industries using a process called Contour honing.

The Contour honing process was developed in house by Apperley Honing in the early 1990s and utilises conformable honing stones that effectively mould themselves to the inside of a tube. Using this process Apperley is able to polish the bores of very thin wall tubes, removing a minimal amount of material so as to achieve the required surface finish.

Although originally developed for the semi-conductor manufacturing industry, the process is now widely used for tubing destined for pharmaceutical applications as well as for the conveyance of dairy and food produce.

In fact, Contour honing is ideal for use anywhere where a clean and sterile finish is required on the internal surface of tubes and pipes. The process is suitable for 20mm to 200mm diameters with wall thicknesses typically from 1.5mm to 2mm, but has also been successfully applied to tubes outside this range including fabricated pipes of up to 500mm outside diameter, where both circumferential and longitudinal weld beads have been removed. More modern technology is represented by a Delapena E3000, two E2000s and two Sunnen CK21 Cylinder Kings operated by the company. These NC controlled machines have the latest programmable software that makes them ideal for finishing tight tolerance bores and for honing large batches of valuable components.

Honing is often one of the very last operations to be carried out on machined parts and this means that quick turnaround times are paramount to maintain competitive leadtimes. Because of this Apperley Honing's production schedules are structured with built-in flexibility to account for components that are needed on an urgent basis.
The company is well equipped and able to cope with the largest of production jobs, and has the ability to run several machines concurrently thus reducing leadtimes. In certain circumstances, urgent work can often be completed same day, or even ‘whilst the driver waits', the company claims.

Charles Sanders comments: “The ability to remove stock from bores rapidly in a cost effective manner is of paramount importance to many industries. Honing can be used on every industrial material from carbon steels to high temperature alloys and on materials that have been hard anodised, chromed or have had various different surface treatments applied. During the last 45 years, I am proud to say, that we have honed just about every type of bore in every imaginable material.”

In 1999 Apperley Honing were delighted to achieve ISO9001 certification and in 2007 it achieved Investors in People status showing a dedication to the development of both its people and products. In 2008 the company expanded when it acquired the contract honing division of Delapena Honing Equipment, further growing its expertise and market position.

Apperley Honing
www.apperleyhoning.co.uk