Method and apparatus for blending air bearing sliders

A method of blending an air bearing slider having rails, each rail having an inside and an outside longitudinal edge, including the steps of:

• (a) blending a slider to provide edge contours at the inside and outside longitudinal edges of at least some rails, including generating a relative motion in two generally orthogonal directions between the rail and a blending surface;
• and
• (b) trimming at least part of at least one rail to remove at least a portion of a contoured longitudinal edge, thereby forming a trimmed longitudinal edge;
• wherein the inside and outside longitudinal edges are asymmetrically blended.

A method of blending an air bearing slider having rails, each air bearing rail having an air bearing surface, including the steps of:

• (a) positioning at least one slider on a holding fixture spaced apart a predetermined distance from a spacer, the air bearing surface of at least one rail being exposed;
• (b) contacting the exposed air bearing surface rail with a layer of compressible material having an abrasive blending surface;
• (c) applying a predetermined force to the layer of compressible material to cause the abrasive blending surface to deform;
• and
• (d) generating a relative motion between each slider and the abrasive blending surface;
• whereby the deformation of the abrasive blending surface due to the contact between each slider and the abrasive blending surface is controlled by the distance between each slider and an adjacent spacer and the mount of pressure required to deform the layer of compressible material, and thereby the amount of edge contouring at each longitudinal edge of the air bearing surface of each rail is controlled.

A blending apparatus for blending longitudinal edges of an air bearing slider, the slider having at least one inside and outside longitudinal edge, the apparatus including:

• (a) at least one blending bar, each having an abrasive blending surface;
• (b) a slider retaining fixture for holding one longitudinal edge of an air bearing slider in contact with a corresponding blending surface;
• and
• (c) a propulsion system for generating a relative motion in two generally orthogonal directions between the slider and the blending surface;
• wherein the inside and outside longitudinal edges are asymmetrically blended.