Which is the best for you Honed hydraulic cylinder or Burnished hydraulic cylinder? Part 1 ( The Surface) It's a most confusing and debated topic among hydraulic cylinder manufacturing professionals, some even go to the extent of stating that they both are one and the same. Well they are not , although both can achieve similar results in terms of surface finish and dimensional accuracies, their process and the output of the surface are totally different. Honing a hydraulic cylinder is not just for the dimensional accuracy or the Surface finish alone , it's also to get an effect of Valleys and Plateaus on the internal surface of the cylinder famously called the Cross Hatch. Which clearly is not present in a burnished cylinder. Now before you jump into conclusion and comment that I am an evangelist of the honing industry and that's why I opt to support honing over burnishing, please continue to read through as I will list out the benefits of Burnishing as well. Burnishing is a very fast process when compared to honing , burnishing creates higher surface finishes , burnishing is a cold forging method hence creates higher strength at the surface. The surface of a burnished tube is a continous surface , so in case of a scoring being generated, generally caused by the micron peeling of the hard spots generated due to forming , will continue to create a deeper straight damage on the cylinder walls. However in case of the honed cylinder the scoring extends upto the next valley only, which again is reduced drastically due to the oil retention inside the cylinder walls at the valleys generated during honing. While the Plateaus maintain the geometrical accuracy , the Valleys provide the sufficient oil retention to ensure smooth movement of pistons and the perfect sealing between the seals and the cylinder surface. So who is it Suitable for ? #Burnished tubes : High volume low price Hydraulic Cylinders , with higher replacement frequency , agricultural or marine applications #Honed tubes: Batch quantity products, serviceability and longer duration of product life, Large cylinders where replacement cost is very high and the cylinders are re conditioned for longer period of times. More on the applications of both these tubes in another blog. I hope this info has been useful, talk to us if any details are required. Regards, Harikrishna.K.V. #honingworld