416 Stainless Steel Arrow Points – Burnish

A precision archery components manufacturer in the Missoula, MT region tasked Bel Air with developing a burnishing process for Swiss screw machined 416 stainless steel arrow points. The customer’s existing finishing process was labor intensive, produced inconsistent results, and required long processing times. The goal was to improve surface finish consistency across different point styles while reducing operator involvement and improving overall process efficiency.

Bel Air evaluated multiple high-energy finishing methods to burnish Swiss screw machined 416 stainless steel arrow points, including centrifugal disc and centrifugal barrel finishing technologies.

The machined parts required a smoother, more consistent cosmetic finish while maintaining thread detail and overall part geometry across different arrow point styles. Using high-energy finishing methods, Bel Air developed several process variations to provide the customer with different burnished finish options for evaluation.

The customer’s previous finishing process required 5–8 hours of processing time along with labor-intensive loading and unloading operations. Bel Air developed a repeatable finishing process capable of processing the same volume of parts in approximately 30 minutes with only 1–2 minutes of operator interaction.

The result is a repeatable finishing process that produces a clean, consistent burnished surface while maintaining thread detail and overall part geometry. The smoother, more uniform finish also helps improve overall surface consistency and finished part performance.

If you are unsure what equipment and media you require to achieve your desired surface finish, then send us your part, and we will evaluate it and provide you with a metrology report.