A liquid honing machine is what Norman Ashworth's original wet-and-abrasive process is called when the term "liquid honing" is used - most often in North America and in patent or technical literature, where precision matters more than everyday usage. The machine itself works the same way as any wet blasting equipment: water-cushioned abrasive, driven by compressed air, honing a surface in a single controlled pass rather than blasting it in a series of blunt impacts.
The term "honing" was chosen deliberately by Ashworth because of what the process does to a surface - a controlled, lapping action rather than dry abrasive impact. A machine built for that outcome needs:
- Fine control over media and pressure, since honing work is usually about holding a defined surface characteristic, not aggressive material removal.
- Consistent slurry concentration, so the lapping action doesn't vary between the start and end of a batch.
- Recycled, filtered media, to keep particle size and concentration within the tolerance the honing operation depends on.
See the process control engineering behind Vapormatt machines
Where liquid honing machines are specified
Liquid honing machines are most often specified where surface finish is measured, not judged by eye - tolerance-critical work such as cutting tool edge preparation, jet engine component finishing, and medical implant surface preparation.
See how vapor honing machines are used for that same tolerance-critical work
A machine range with the same lineage as the name
Vapormatt is still owned and run by the fourth generation of the Ashworth family. Every liquid honing / wet blasting machine built today - automatic or manual - is a direct engineering continuation of the process Norman Ashworth developed alongside Sir Frank Whittle in the 1940s.
FAQs
What is a liquid honing machine?
A liquid honing machine is wet blasting equipment operating under its original name - mixing fine abrasive with water into a slurry, then driving that slurry at a component with compressed air to hone the surface to a controlled finish.
Is a liquid honing machine different from a wet blasting machine?
No. They're the same machine and the same process. "Liquid honing" was the name given to the process by its inventor in the 1940s; "wet blasting" is the more commonly used modern term for the same equipment.
Who makes liquid honing machines?
Vapormatt, founded by Norman Ashworth, the inventor of the process, and still owned by his family today.
Where is the term "liquid honing machine" still used?
Most commonly in North America and in technical or patent literature, where it remains the precise engineering term. "Wet blasting machine" and "vapor blasting machine" are now the more commonly searched terms for the same equipment.