Draft:Extrude Hone

Extrude Hone is an American engineering company founded by Larry Rhoades, pioneering Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM).

Over time, it expanded into electrochemical machining (ECM) in the 1970s, additive manufacturing, and thermal deburring technologies.

History

Extrude Hone was founded in the early 1960s by Larry Rhoades, who introduced the Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) process—a non-conventional finishing technology that became a cornerstone of the company’s expertise.

Within the manufacturing industry, Rhoades held more than 25 patents in nontraditional manufacturing processes for machining, finishing, forming, and measurement, and he emphasized the value that 3D printing could offer manufacturing in terms of geometric design freedom, waste reduction, and increased speed to market... .

In 1974, the company began distributing electrochemical machining (ECM) products from AEG Elotherm in North America and commenced manufacturing its own ECM machines in 1975 .

Development in Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing

In 1995, Extrude Hone established the ProMetal division focused on developing metal 3D printers. It launched the first commercial direct metal 3D printer, the ProMetal RTS-300, in 1998 using binder-jetting technology licensed from MIT .

These 3D printing assets were later transferred to the newly formed The ExOne Company LLC following the acquisition by Kennametal in 2005.

Acquisitions & Corporate Changes

In 2000, Extrude Hone acquired the Surftran Division from Robert Bosch, which included electrochemical machining (ECM) and thermal deburring (TEM) product lines. Prior ECM distribution from Bosch since the 1970s complemented this.

The company also expanded its ECM capabilities by acquiring VMB Vorrichtungs- und Maschinenbau Babenhausen GmbH and DIVA-TEC GmbH (years unspecified), and, by 2007, consolidated all German operations into Extrude Hone GmbH.

On 1 December 2015, Madison Industries completed the acquisition of the Extrude Hone business from Kennametal .

Technologies & Innovations

Extrude Hone is known for its expertise in several advanced surface finishing and machining technologies.:

Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) – the founding process of the company, enabling deburring, polishing, radiusing, shaping, and flow tuning of internal and external surfaces .

Microflow – an adaptation of hydrogrinding tailored for precision finishing of extremely small channels .

Thermal deburring – ideal for rapid and stress-free removal of support structures in additive manufacturing

Electrochemical machining (ECM) – both static and dynamic configurations for precise material removal, deburring, and rifling, including the electrochemical rifling system capable of polygonal rifling multiple barrels (up to 800 mm) swiftly and without mechanical stress

The company also offers comprehensive cathode and anode design and manufacturing services, including simulation software and rapid prototyping for ECM tooling

Global Presence & Facilities

Extrude Hone maintains a global network of facilities:

- Its historic Irwin headquarters, in Pennsylvania, USA, serves as the central hub for AFM and Microflow machine production and support.

- Huntley, ILL, is a specialized contract shop center for thermal deburring.

- Sterling Heights, MI, opened in 1972, is a deburring contract shop leveraging Thermal Deburring technology, Electrochemical machining (ECM), and especially rifling.

- Riverside, CA. Opened in January 2024, thise office is the only location of Extrude Hone in California. Extrude Hone Riverside provides Consultancy Service and Support to customers on the West Coast from Texas to California, including Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, and Western Canada.

- Extrude Hone GmbH, Holzgünz, Germany – opened in February 2013, but with ECM activity in Germany dating back to 2000. This facility serves as the European center for ECM, TEM, AFM, machine manufacturing, tooling design, engineering, aftermarket services, and contract machining.

The company also operates multiple contract shops, manufacturing centres, sales, and service offices worldwide. Notable operations exist in France, UK (Milton Keynes), India, Italy, China (Shanghai), and Japan (Misato) among others.

Applications & Industry Examples

Extrude Hone serves many industries—automotive, aerospace, energy, medical, fluid power, firearms, additive manufacturing, and more—with specialized processes for each..

For instance:

AFM and TEM were applied for additive manufacturing parts such as conformal cooling channels, vanes, waveguides, and manifolds, offering surface roughness improvement by a factor of 10 and processing intricacies down to 40 µm.

In the aerospace and medical fields, AFM and Microflow improve part performance and hygiene by eliminating burrs and micro-cavities

Contract shop services have been employed by customers such as Parker Precision (UK) and RACL Geartech (India) for burr-free finishing of precision parts using AFM, TEM, ECM, etc., with ISO and AS-quality standards.