Development of Metallographic Specimen Polishing Machine

One of the most useful pieces of equipment for the grinding and polishing metallic materials in order to determine their physical structure using microscopy is metallographic specimen polishing machine. The objectives of the project are to design and construct a machine that will polish metal for physical metallographic determination and also to design and construct a machine using locally available materials to produce a flat, smooth and mirror-like surface of any metallic materials in order to determine their physical structure using microscopy. The machine consists of motor, pulleys, belt, rotating shaft, wooden disk plate, bush bearing, pillow bearings, metal clip, and metal casing. All of these components are assembled to form the polishing machine. The testing and evaluation of the machine involves test running of the machine at each speed rate without placing any metallic specimen on and also running after that metallic specimen was introduced for grinding and polishing. The machine has the ability to grind and polish any kind of metals, is simple to operate, and requires minimum maintenance. The metallographic specimen polishing machine can be used in the material laboratory for the grinding and polishing of any metallic materials. In all, the machine cost N52,170 ($350) to produce.