Stahli FLM 500

Lapping machine

STAHLI FLM 500

3-ring lapping machine This machine can be inspected under power in our warehouse Test run possible Mimu Machine Tools Gussago BS Italy

Lapping is a machining process in which two surfaces are rubbed together with an abrasive between them, by hand movement or using a machine.

This can take two forms. The first type of lapping (traditionally called grinding), involves rubbing a brittle material such as glass against a surface such as iron or glass itself (also known as the "lap" or grinding tool) with an abrasive such as aluminum oxide, jeweller's rouge, optician's rouge, emery, silicon carbide, diamond, etc., between them. This produces microscopic conchoidal fractures as the abrasive rolls about between the two surfaces and removes material from both.

The other form of lapping involves a softer material such as pitch or a ceramic for the lap, which is "charged" with the abrasive. The lap is then used to cut a harder material—the workpiece. The abrasive embeds within the softer material, which holds it and permits it to score across and cut the harder material. Taken to a finer limit, this will produce a polished surface such as with a polishing cloth on an automobile, or a polishing cloth or polishing pitch upon glass or steel.