Benefits of Using Centrifugal Barrel Tumbling in the Medical and Dental Industries
Mass Finishing Inc. (MFI) provides finishing equipment to hundreds of customers in both the medical and dental industries. From surgical tools and replacement knee and hip parts to dental partials and crowns, Mass Finishing has decades of experience finishing and polishing the most critical and complex parts.
Our HZ Series High Energy Centrifugal Barrel Finishing Machines eliminate handwork and will allow you to implement a finishing process that is efficient and repeatable.
Medical
MFI’s Centrifugal Barrel Finishing Machines remove machine lines, break sharp edges, and can add a mirror finish to highly sensitive parts. Our machines are also great for finishing acrylics such as those used in the production of hearing aids and other acrylic medical devices and implants.
In the medical industry, having an isotropic finish is needed when finishing and polishing medical parts such as bone screws and hip and knee replacement parts.
With the isotropic finish achievable with the use of an HZ Series Barrel Finishing Machine, doctors and patients alike can feel confident in knowing that there is less likelihood for plaque buildup, leading to fewer complications after surgeries and routine procedures.
Dental
MFI’s HZ-12 and HZ-40 High Energy Centrifugal Barrell Finishing Machines (CBF) were designed with the dental industry in mind. As the two smallest HZ models that MFI offers, these centrifugal barrel finishing machines are the perfect option for dental labs. They are impeccably suited for handling dental polish jobs and can quickly polish multiple dental partials and crowns in a single batch.
MFI also offers great start-up kits to get labs up and running towards higher efficiency quickly.
Achieving An Isotropic Finish with Centrifugal Barrel Tumbling
The HZ High Energy series Centrifugal Barrel Finishing (CBF) systems from Mass Finishing are the fastest and most economical form of finishing machine available. They are the industry workhorse in polishing, deburring and deflashing parts.
Centrifugal barrel finishing machines operate on the “Ferris Wheel” principle. Each of the four barrels is loaded to roughly 50-80% full of media, parts, water, and compound. During operation, the rotation causes parts and media to contact each other, resulting in a consistent isotropic finish across the entire surface of the part. An isotropic finish is a major advantage to using this more automated process, as an isotropic finish is not achievable by hand finishing.
In addition to creating an isotropic finish, our HZ High Energy Series equipment can remove large burrs from products in a matter of minutes, in what normally could take hours or even days by hand. It also smooths and prepares rough parts for anodizing.
Key Advantages to Barrel Tumbling
- Helps achieve an isotropic finish on parts
- Smooths out critical surfaces of precision medical parts
- Removes machine lines
- Breaks sharp edges
- Adds a mirror finish to highly sensitive parts
- Faster than hand-polishing
- Efficient and repeatable process
Speed – High Energy Barrel tumblers can tumble-finish parts in a fraction of the time when compared to vibratory or other traditional tumbling methods. In some cases, what could take four to eight hours in a vibratory machine is accomplished in 30 minutes or less through our centrifugal barrel tumblers.
No Part-on-Part Damage – The barrels or chambers on MFI machines are easily divided to create individual sections for each part. The dividers are easily moved to accommodate larger or smaller parts. With MFI Barrel Tumblers, the part only needs to fit in the chamber with room to tumble. There is no need to hold the part in place or fixture it to prevent damage.
Ability to Use Small Media – The force created when MFI centrifugal barrel tumblers are working at high-speed in upwards of 12 G force. This means even the tiniest media is able to work and rub against parts accessing intricate pieces and features.
Free Parts Processing
Seeing is believing, so we offer sample processing at no cost to prove that we can give you the return on investment and quality finish you need to make your business successful.
An essential step in determining the right equipment, media, and production times for your part is running samples in our lab. Once we have your parts in house, we’ll determine what type of media and the processing times to get your desired finish. We’ll also provide before and after photos of your parts and a detailed lab report showing you the process time and details.
Let us show you what we can do with our HZ Series Centrifugal Barrel Finishers. Send MFI your parts today for free sample processing. We’ll turn around your parts in 3-5 days and send them back to you for review. It’s simple to get started, just submit this form and send your parts in.