Kennametal Extrude Hone announces Hydrom add-on electrolyte cleaning unit

Electrochemical machining dissolves surface atoms without direct contact between the tool and workpiece material. The tool is normally designed to have a mirror image of the final surface of the workpiece. Since the tooling, known as a cathode, never touches the workpiece, there is virtually no tool wear in the process. The amount of material removed is proportional to the time and intensity of an electrical current flowing between tool and workpiece. The process is highly controllable and can machine or polish areas previously unreachable by other methods, including hand polishing and deburring. Typical deburring and polishing times are extremely fast – between 10 and 30 sec for most applications. Depending on production requirements and the workpiece size, multiple part fixturing can be used to obtain high production rates. The Hydrom add-on cleaning unit, combined with a chamber filter press (CFP), can reduce filter cake disposal costs by up to 10%, says Kennametal. CFP cleaning time can be reduced by up to six times and extend cathode tool life. Hydrom can be delivered with new ECM equipment or retrofitted to existing machines of all brands.