Honing stick stone is one of the important honing tools. According to the raw materials, it is divided into the ordinary stick (stone) and super-abrasive stick (stone): ordinary stones are made from white fused alumina, monocrystalline alumina, brown fused alumina, pink fused alumina, black silicon carbide, green silicon carbide. super-abrasive stick stone is made from diamond and CBN powder. According to the bond, there are the metal bond, resin bond, vitrified bond, and electroplated bond.

    Abrasive of Honing stick (stone)

Abrasive Code Materials for processing Applications
Brown fused alumina A Unhardened carbon steel and alloy steel Rough honing
White fused alumina WA Heat treated carbon steel and alloy steel Finish honing,

Semi-finish honing

Monocrystalline alumina SA Bearing steel, stainless steel, and heat resistant with good toughness Rough honing,

Finish honing

Pink fused alumina PA All kinds of hardened and unhardened steel parts Finish honing
Black silicon carbide C Cast iron, copper, aluminum, and other non-metallic materials Finish honing
Green silicon carbide GC Cast iron, copper, aluminum and etc. Used for hardened steel and hard and brittle metal and non-metallic materials Finish
Synthetic diamond MBD6-8 All kinds of steel parts, cast iron, and hard and brittle metal and non-metallic materials, such as tungsten carbide and etc. Rough honing,

Semi-finish honing

CBN CBN All kinds of alloy steel with good toughness and high hardness and strength Rough honing,

Finish honing

In the honing process, choose correctly the specification, grit and other parameters of honing stones to meet the processing requirements of the workpiece.

honing stick honing stone

1 Selection of specification and quantity for honing stick stone

The specification of honing stick (stone) mainly refers to the shape and the size (Length X Width X Height). The cross-section size is that width is longer than the height, making the installation of the stick (stone) stable. Choose the honing stones with a square cross-section to extend the stick (stone) life, when honing the holes with the large diameter.

1.1 honing stone length

The length of the stick (stone) l depends on that of the workpiece L. If the stick (stone) is too short, the honing efficiency will be reduced. If the stick (stone) is too long, it makes the hole drum-shaped and affects the cylindricity of the hole.

1.2 Selection of Honing stick stone Length (Unit: mm)

Hole Length L   Honing Stone Length  l  Cases
Short hole(L/D<1) L=(1/3-3/4)L Honing  cylinder hole Ø100*195, l=100
Long hole L=(1-1.2)L     l≥ length of 3 holes Honing Ø65*38, l=40

Selection of stick stone section dimension

The honing stick (stone) is too narrow, and it is not easy to block but it wears too fast. The honing stick (stone) is too wide, the self-sharpness is not good, and the honing heat is large, which affect the accuracy of the hole. Usually, choose wide honing stick (stone) to hone soft materials, and choose narrow honing stick (stone) to hone hard materials. When honing the steel parts, the honing stick (stone) is narrower than that used for cast iron. The honing stick (stone) may be as wide as possible when honing small hole. The stone B≤25mm when honing big hole. The width of a diamond honing stick (stone) or CBN honing stick (stone) is 1/3-1/2 of that of ordinary stone.

diamond honing stick stone

 1.2 Section Dimension and Quantity of Honing stick (stone)

Honing Diameter Stones Quantity/pcs Section Dimension of StonesB*H Section Dimension of Diamond Honing StonesB*H
5-10 1-2 1.5*2.5
10-13 2 2*1.5 2*1.5
13-16 3 3*2.5 2*1.5
16-24 3 4*3.0 3*3.0
24-37 4 6*4.0 4*4.0
37-46 3-4 9*6.0 4*4.0
46-75 4-6 9*8.0 5*6.0
75-110 6-8 10*9, 12*10 5*6.0
110-190 6-8 12*10, 14*12 6*6.0
190-310 8-10 16*13, 20*20
>300 >10 20*20, 25*25

1.3 Selection of stick (stone) quantity

Without affecting the strength of honing head, use as many honing sticks (stone) as possible and reduce the width of honing stones properly. If the total width of honing stone is 15%-28% of the whole circumference, higher efficiency will be obtained and reduce the deformation of the hole. The quantity of honing stones can be referred to the above Figure 1.2

2 Selection of honing stone performance

2.1Abrasive selection. Details can be seen in Figure 2.1

Abrasive Code Materials for processing Applications
Brown fused alumina A Unhardened carbon steel and alloy steel Rough honing
White fused alumina WA Heat treated carbon steel and alloy steel Finish honing,

Semi-finish honing

Monocrystalline alumina SA Bearing steel, stainless steel, and heat resistant with good toughness Rough honing,

Finish honing

Pink fused alumina PA All kinds of hardened and unhardened steel parts Finish honing
Black silicon carbide C Cast iron, copper, aluminum, and other non-metallic materials Finish honing
Green silicon carbide GC Cast iron, copper, aluminum and etc. Used for hardened steel and hard and brittle metal and non-metallic materials Finish
Synthetic diamond MBD6-8 All kinds of steel parts, cast iron, and hard and brittle metal and non-metallic materials, such as tungsten carbide and etc. Rough honing,

Semi-finish honing

CBN CBN All kinds of alloy steel with good toughness and high hardness and strength Rough honing,

Finish honing

2.2 Grit Selection

2.2.1 Selection of honing stick stone abrasive grit

According to the selection of productivity and surface roughness required, 80#-180# is generally used for rough honing, 180#-280# is used for semi-finish honing(or for rough and finish combination), and less than W40 is used for finish honing. Details can be seen Figure 2.2.1 

CBN honing stick stone

2.2.1 Selection of Honing stick stone Abrasive Grit

Abrasive Grit Required Surface Roughness,Ra/μm
Hardened Steel Unhardened Steel Cast Iron Nonferrous Metal Notes
Fused alumina

Silicon carbide

100#-180#

1.25-1.0

1.0

1.6-1.25

Fused alumina Silicon carbide 240# 0.63

1.0-0.8

0.63

—-

1.25-1.0

Fused alumina Silicon carbide W50 0.4-0.32

1.0-0.63

—-

—–

0.5-0.4

—-

0.8

Fused alumina Silicon carbide W40 —-

0.32-0.25

—-

0.63-0.5

—-

0.5-0.4

—-

0.8-0.63

Green silicon carbide used for steel parts
Fused alumina Silicon carbide W28 —-

0.2-0.16

—-

0.32-0.50

—-

0.32-0.25

—-

0.5-0.4

Green silicon carbide used for steel parts
Fused alumina Silicon carbide W20 —-

0.16-0.10

—-

0.25-0.20

—–

0.16-0.125

—-

0.4-0.32

Green silicon carbide used for steel parts

2.2.2 Selection of super-abrasive stick (stone) grit

Under the same roughness requirement, the grain size of super-abrasive used in finish honing is 1# or 2# finer than that of ordinary abrasive, and the grain size of ordinary honing stone used for honing non-chilled steel is 1# or 2# finer than that of chilled steel. Details can be seen Figure 2.2.2

diamond honing stone ,honing sticks

2.2.2 Selection of Super-Abrasive Honing stick stone Grit

Selection of Super-Abrasive Honing stick (stone) Grit

Super-abrasive is suitable for all kinds of materials rough honing and finish honing. But the honing efficiency is not as good as that of ordinary abrasives when honing the roughness less 1.0 micron. As shown in the following figure.2.2.3

Selection of ordinary abrasive and super-abrasive stick (stone)

diamond CBN Honing stick stone

3 Selection of bond, concentration, and hardness

3.1 Selection of ordinary abrasive bond

Usually vitrified and resin bond is used. Vitrified bond honing stone is used for all kinds of materials for rough honing or finish honing with stable performance. Rein bond honing stone features elasticity, anti-vibration, can be used for low roughness honing under high honing pressure.

3.2 Selection of ordinary abrasive hardness

Ordinary abrasive honing stone has high durability on the good self-sharpening condition. Choose soft honing sticks (stone) for large hole honing and strong honing in mass production to process workpieces with high hardness and large honing margin. When the workpiece material is soft and surface roughness is low or honing small holes and discontinuous holes, the hard honing stone should be chosen. See the following figure.

honing stick stone

Selection of Honing stick (stone) Hardness

Grain Size of Stone Honing Margin  (Diameter Direction/mm) Stone Hardness
Steel Parts Cast Iron
100#-150# 0.05-0.5

0.01-0.1

L-Q

N-T

N-T

Q-Y

180#-280# 0.05-0.5

0.01-0.1

J-P

L-S

L-R

Q-T

W40-W20 0.05-0.15

0.01-0.05

E-M

M-R

K-Q

M-T

3.2 Selection of bond and concentration of super-abrasive honing stone

Fine-grained powder and low concentration of resin bond honing stick (stone) are used for finish honing. Vitrified bond honing stone can be used for semi-finish honing. Generally, high concentration bronze bond honing stick (stone) is used for rough honing. High concentration is applied to electroplated diamond and CBN honing stones.

diamond and cbn honing stick stone

Selection of Bond and Concentration of Super-abrasive stick (stone)

Selection of Bond and Concentration of Super-abrasive stick (stone)

 4 Selection of honing speed

 4.1 Selection of honing speed of ordinary abrasive

Material HardnessHRC PeripheralSpeedv1

/(m/min)

Reciprocating Speed v2

/(m/min)

θ /(°) V1/va Applications
Cast Iron 15-50

50-65

33-60

20-33

15-35 15

20

7.6

5.67

Polish honing

Polish and finish honing

Steel Parts 15-35

35-50

60-60

25-30

18-25

15-18

10-25 30

45

60

3.7

2.4

1.73

Finish honing

Rough,rough-finish honing

Rough, plateau honing

Nonferrous Metal 50-70 10-20 75

90

1.3

1

Rough, heavy honing

Rough, heavy honing

4.2 Selection of super-abrasive honing speed

The peripheral speed is a max value when rough honing according to specific conditions. Its speed can be selected according to ordinary stone.

Super-abrasive Honing Speed (Unit: m/min)

Superhard Material Honing Speed Material Honing Process Peripheral Speed Reciprocating Speed
Diamond Honing Stone

CBN Honing Stone

40-80

35-60

Steel Rough Honing

Finish Honing

24-36

36-60

12-18

3-9

Cast Iron Rough Honing

Finish Honing

36-60

48-78

15-30

6-12

4.2 Selection of honing pressure

Honing pressure refers to the pressure exerted on the unit area of the workpiece surface by the feed mechanism. The grinding particle size on the workpiece is used to cut into the metal and fall off and sharpen itself.

diamond honing stick.cbn honing stone

5 Selection of Honing Stick Stone Pressure

Ultimate Pressure of Stone/10⁵Pa Honing Process Material Honing Pressure/10⁵Pa
Vitrified Stone≤25

Resin Stone 15-25

Diamond Honing stick (stone) 30-50

CBN Honing stick (stone)20-25

Rough Honing Cast Iron

Steel

5-15

8-20

Finish Honing Cast Iron

Steel

2-5

4-8

Polish Honing Cast Iron

Steel

0.5-1

0.5-1.5