This section provides an overview for lapping as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 33 lapping companies and their company rankings. Here are the top-ranked lapping companies as of November, 2024: 1.Lapmaster International, LLC, 2.ALLIED HIGH TECH PRODUCTS, INC., 3.Stahli USA.
Table of Contents
Lapping is a precision polishing method often employed for workpieces requiring high accuracy. This process involves rubbing abrasive grains (lapping agent) between a flat base (lap) and the workpiece. This action eliminates surface irregularities through abrasion, achieving a highly smooth finish.
While less efficient than grinding, lapping excels in delivering extremely smooth surfaces with high dimensional accuracy, making it ideal for the final finishing of workpieces.
Typically performed with specialized lapping machines, lapping can also be done by hand for intricate adjustments of shapes and dimensions not easily achieved with machines. Hand lapping, however, demands significant skill.
Lapping is crucial in the finishing stages of products and parts where precise machining accuracy is paramount.
Effective in achieving high dimensional precision and mirror-smooth finishes, lapping reduces frictional resistance, enhancing the performance of mating and sliding parts. Consequently, it finds extensive use in precision components such as optical parts, gauges, and bearings. It is also integral in manufacturing semiconductor wafers, where smooth, parallel surfaces are essential.
In hand lapping, for instance, a workpiece is pressed against a moving flat base (lap) with abrasive grains (lapping agent) in between. This movement causes the abrasive grains to grind away the workpiece surface gradually, resulting in a uniformly smooth and undistorted surface.
Machine lapping varies in its configuration, with changes in the shape and number of laps, driving methods, and types of lapping agents, depending on the workpiece's material, shape, and processing requirements.
Lapping is categorized into wet and dry processes, based on the lapping agent used. Wet lapping employs a slurry of abrasive grains in a fluid, leading to a large-scale, non-directional finish. Dry lapping, in contrast, semi-fixes the abrasive grains on the lap, creating a sliding, scratching action that produces a more mirror-like finish with less work involved.
*Including some distributors, etc.
Sort by Features
Sort by Area
WPT Power Corporation, established in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1992, is a manufacturer of mechanical power transmission equipment. The company's product portfolio includes Gearboxes used for transmitting power, Shaft Couplings, sprockets and roller chains, suitable for power transmission in conveyor systems and other mechanical applications and Belt Drives. Their products are used in industries including Manufacturing and Industrial Plants, Mining and Quarrying, and Agriculture. The company provides Quality Assurance, Technical Support, national distribution, customized services and customer support.
Speedfam, founded in 1959, is a machine manufacturer that produces single-side lapping machines, fine grinding and polishing machines, edge grinding machines, double-side lapping systems, and measuring systems. Consumable products such as include segments, plates, work holding rings, carriers, and polishing pads for telecommunications, power generation, fuel & gas, data storage, and optical industries. Based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, provides field services such as machine repair or re-build, upgrades, spare parts, additions, and Retro Fits. The Lake County Haven and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are among the charities supported by the company.
LAPMASTER WOLTERS’s roots go back as far as 1804 with the founding of Peter Wolters. Lapmaster was founded in Chicago in 1948 as a manufacture of lapping and polishing machines for the mechanical seal market, Lapmaster has grown to a worldwide solution provider for more than 20 industries like precision optics and advanced materials. Lapmaster serves many industries including automotive, semiconductor, electro optics, and medical devices. Lapmaster also sells many consumables including abrasive powders, lapping compounds diamond lubricants, and composite plates. Products include lapping, polishing, bore honing, buffing, grinding, and special purpose machines.
Stahli USA started in Illinois, United States, as a manufacturer of precision fine grinding, flat honing, polishing, and lapping machines for customers across medical, automotive, aerospace, commercial, and industrial markets since 1969. Its major offerings include Engineering and R&D, as well as contract services such as Metrology, Deburring, Lapping, Fine Grinding, and Polishing. The company also offers a wide range of automation-related solutions, diamond suspensions, testing equipment, process engineering, and on-site customer support for machines, systems, and processes.
Allied High Tech Products Inc, established in 1983 in California, USA, is a manufacturer of equipment and consumables for metallographic analysis. The company specializes in manufacturing advanced materials preparation and analysis equipment with proprietary technology. Its products include precision sectioning machines, mechanical milling machines, mounting machines, grinding and polishing machines, and other microscopy systems. These tools offer enhanced accuracy, efficiency, and data insights for industries like materials science, aerospace, metallurgy, and electronics. These products are ideal for all types of surface and sample preparation needs, especially for laboratory analysis.
Sunnen Products Company, founded in 1924, is an American manufacturer and supplier headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, specializing in of high-precision and bore sizing machines, tools, and abrasives. Joe Sunnen, founder of the company, invented the first manual cylinder hone in 1928. Over the years, Sunnen has developed industrial honing machines, tools, and abrasives with bore sizing and finishing systems, lapping machines, deep hole drilling machines and tools, bore gaging and roller burnishing systems. These products find applications in various industries, such as honing solutions in the automotive sector, as well as a line of machines, tools, and abrasives for energy drilling.
Swift Glass Company, Inc. (SGC) is an American ISO 9001:2015 certified contract manufacturer specializing in glass parts fabrication that was established in Elmira, New York in 1927. The company offers various precision glass fabrication capabilities, including glass CNC machining, waterjet cutting, surface lapping, drilling, and edge grinding and polishing. They commonly manufacture products such as glass wafers, lenses, panels, and panes for a broad range of applications in industry and aerospace manufacturing. SGC primarily produces biomedical device components and industrial equipment for their clients, which include Auer Lighting GmbH, Corning Inc., and General Electric.
Grind Lap Services, Inc., established in 1978 and based in Addison, Illinois, USA, is a custom manufacturer and supplier of precision machined parts. The company's product range includes plates, shafts, steel, glass, and machining. These products are used in various applications, including structural components, mechanical operations, and aesthetic designs. It serves industries such as aerospace, automotive, heavy equipment, and hydraulics. The company also offers services such as grinding, honing, lapping, and finishing.
VY Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer of different kinds of optical precision element and photographic lens &accessory. The company is located in Jilin, China and is founded in The company product portfolio includes laser optics, imaging lenses, optical component, lasers. The company integrate lens design, production and sales. Application of the company’s items are very extensive and involves in military, aerospace, industry, scientific, medical instrument, photoelectric device, optical communication and mechanical equipment and so on.
NORITAKE CO., LIMITED, established in 1904 as Nippon Toki Kaisha, Ltd., is a Japanese manufacturer headquartered in Nagoya, Aichi, specializing in tableware and technological products. The company crafts fine porcelain and bone china Western-style tableware, glassware, and cutlery, catering to residential and commercial settings. The company also offers ceramics in various forms, including electronic ceramic powder and engineering ceramics, thick film circuit substrates, and vacuum fluorescent displays. Other offerings include provides grinding and polishing tools, such as grinding and cubic boron nitride (CBN) wheels, as well as coated abrasives. The company further offers filtration systems and thin cut master (TCM) machines.
Kemet International Limited, founded in Maidstone, Kent in 1938 is a manufacturer of lapping and polishing equipment. The company's product portfolio includes vacuum solvent cleaning machines, diamond pastes, ultrasonic cleaners, and polishing stones. Their products are used in industries such as Food and Beverage, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology, Chemical and Petrochemical, Environmental Testing and healthcare. The company also provides services including national distribution, product selection, customized services, technical support and customer service.
Stähli Lapping Technology Ltd. has been a manufacturer of Swiss machines headquartered in Switzerland since 1969. The company specializes in lapping and honing machines and processes which is the smoothing and polishing of surfaces using abrasive particles and fluids, and the machines involved are side lapping and polishing, wheel flat honing and fine grinding, cylindrical lapping and optics polishing. These machines have applications in the automotive, semiconductor, ceramics manufacturing, aerospace, and optical industries.
Kemet International Ltd. is a British ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer and supplier of lapping as well as polishing tools that was established in 1938. Based in Kent, United Kingdom, the company offers ultrasonic cleaners and various lapping machines, including floor standing and bench top models. It also offers related supplies, such as standard abrasive slurries, diamond slurries and compounds, and polishing stones. Kemet International products are used in various industrial processes, including in development and engineering operations within the aerospace, semiconductor, construction, and automotive sectors.
Musashino Denshi, INC., established in 1977 and based in Japan, is a manufacturer of grinding and polishing machines, cutting machines, and scribers. The company's product range includes blade saws, manual scribers, and room-temperature curing embedding resin catering to a diverse clientele. The company earned an award from the Musashino Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2005 and a letter of appreciation from the Japan Society of Applied Physics in 2007 for its development and contribution.
Okamoto has been a manufacturer of Total Abrasive Process Machine in Japan since 1926. The company offers a range of Griding machines, including Precision Cylindrical, Double Column Type, Specialized, Ultra Precision Form, and CNC Precision Surface Grinding Machines, as well as Semiconductor equipment devices such as polishing, lapping, and slicing machines, along with special consumer-designed devices. These products provide abrasive processing for the automotive, IT, digital consumer electronics, and semiconductor industries.
MEIKO KOGYO CO., LTD., established in 1966 and headquartered in Osaka, Japan, is a manufacturer of engineering plastic products. The company produces fluorocarbon resin and other engineering plastic products through techniques like injection molding, isostatic pressing, compression molding and other methods. The product range includes fluid valves, screws for heat exchanger and sensor component for conveyor line. The company has acquired ISO 9001:2015 certificate, and has a quality control system with inspection and testing equipment like roughness, friction and tensile testing machines.
TDC CO., LTD., established in 1989 and headquartered in Miyagi, Japan, is a manufacturer that specializes in precision technologies. It employs polishing and lapping technology capable of achieving ultra-fine specifications, even for materials with surface roughness as low as Ra1 nanometer. It specializes in achieving sub-micron level super fine flatness, parallelism, and size tolerance, all while accommodating multiple requirements. The company processes various materials, including metals, ceramics, glasses, and semiconductor materials. The company has created precision-finished surface plates, precision machining of XY stage spindles, precision feed rails, positioning jigs, and glass scales for encoders, leveraging precision dimensional control technology.
United Precision Technologies Co., Ltd. (UPT), established in 2015 with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a manufacturer of precision and miniature metal parts. The company's product line includes VCM springs, precision jig trays for micro-size electronic components, mesh for air, gas, and fluid filtration, and device packaging rubber sheets. It also offers solutions for thermal testing of microelectronic parts, general miniature product and component process manufacturing for the electronics industry, and miniature precision parts production for various markets, including mobile devices, electric vehicles, and medical devices. United Precision Technologies USA, Inc.'s North American presence is located in Irwin, California.
Dongguan Kizi Precision Lapping Mechanical Manufacture Co. Ltd., established in 2010, is a Chinese manufacturer and supplier based in Dongguan, Guangdong, specializing in the provision of grinding, lapping and polishing machines. The company’s product range includes single-sided and double-sided lapping machines, and both high-speed and horizontal high-speed thinning machines. The company also offers related consumables, such as diamond grinding wheels and slurry, lapping and polishing discs, and polishing liquid and pads. These offerings are designed to process various materials, including ceramic, gallium nitride wafer, and silicon carbide substrate.
EFCO, established in 1978 in Düren, Germany, is a manufacturer and supplier of precision machines for valve, flange, and pipeline repair. The company's product range includes portable grinding and lapping machines, turning technology, and stationary grinding and turning technology. These products cater to industries such as petrochemicals, power plants, and engineering. The company is devoted to a proactive repair culture, offering quality solutions that promote equipment efficiency, reduce downtime, and address environmental challenges. Certified with TÜV CERT ISO 9001, the company upholds rigorous quality standards with decades of experience.
Engis was established in 1983 in Yokohama, Japan as a manufacturer and supplier of super-abrasive technology. The company's products involve using diamond and CBN (cubic boron nitride) as the abrasive material for lapping and polishing various surfaces such as lapping and polishing equipment for polishing optical components, semiconductor wafers, metal parts, ceramic materials, and more and there are diamond and CBN powders used for abrasive material in lapping and polishing slurries for hard materials, such as tungsten carbide, sapphire, glass, and ceramics. Electroplated tools and Bore honing systems are also available for aerospace, medical, optics, and semiconductor industries.
Miroku Machine Tool Inc. established in 1971, and located in Nangoku City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, is a manufacturer and distributor of machine tools. The company's product range includes Gun Drill Machines, Gun Drills and Reamers, and Lapping Platen. These products are essential for various manufacturing and machining processes, ensuring precision and efficiency. Serving industries that require intricate drilling and lapping operations. Its offerings play a pivotal role in enhancing production quality. The company's services include tool manufacturing, deep hole drilling, sales support through multiple offices, and after-sales services.
Ohno Seiko Co. Ltd., founded in 2001, is a Japanese manufacturer and supplier headquartered in Nishio City, Aichi, providing precision metal parts. The company’s product range includes electronic and integrated circuit (IC) parts, such as pallet basses and parts for IC chip carriers. It also offers parts related to lithium batteries and starter devices. The company provides object cutting and welding services as well as grinding processing using cylindrical and surface grinders. It also offers polishing services through lapping processes to achieve surface roughness of specific measurements. These products find applications in various industries, including the automotive and medical sectors.
Ranking as of November 2024
Derivation MethodRank | Company | Click Share |
---|---|---|
1 | Lapmaster International, LLC |
9.3%
|
2 | ALLIED HIGH TECH PRODUCTS, INC. |
8.8%
|
3 | Stahli USA |
7.0%
|
4 | Okamoto Machine Tool Works,Ltd. |
5.1%
|
5 | Sunnen Products Company |
5.1%
|
6 | Stähli Lapping Technology Ltd |
4.7%
|
7 | SpeedFam Corporation |
4.7%
|
8 | Kemet International Ltd |
3.7%
|
9 | Amardeep Enterprise |
3.3%
|
10 | EFCO Maschinenbau GmbH |
3.3%
|
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the lapping page as of November 2024. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
Company with a History
*Including some distributors, etc.
*Including some distributors, etc.
Country | Number of Companies | Share (%) |
---|---|---|
United States of America | 9 | 30.0% |
Japan | 8 | 26.7% |
China | 5 | 16.7% |
United Kingdom | 2 | 6.7% |
Germany | 2 | 6.7% |
India | 2 | 6.7% |
Switzerland | 1 | 3.3% |
Denmark | 1 | 3.3% |