Honing feed system having full control of feed force, rate, and position and method of operation of the same

A method of honing a bore of a workpiece, comprising steps of:

• providing a honing tool having at least one radially expandable honing element;
• providing a feed system in connection with the honing tool, including a movable feed element automatically controllably operable for applying a feed force against the honing tool for radially expanding the at least one honing element;
• providing a control operable for automatically controlling operation of the feed system;
• providing a device for determining information representative of a feed force applied against the honing tool by the feed element and outputting a signal representative thereof to the control;
• providing a device for determining information representative of a position of the feed element and outputting a signal representative thereof to the control;
• automatically operating the feed system to apply at least two levels of feed force against the honing tool when in contact with a surface of the bore to be honed and determining information representative of positions of the feed element during the application of the feed forces, respectively;
• and
• automatically computing a value approximating an elasticity of at least the honing tool as a function of a difference between the two levels of feed force and the information representative of the positions of the feed element during the application of the feed forces, and determining a value representative of a diameter of the bore during honing thereof as a function of the value representative of the elasticity, the information representative of the feed force, and the information representative of the position of the feed element.