Abrasive brush Catalog - Abtex Corporation - #4

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Figure 3 Typical Brushing Tools Employing Fiber Abrasives Aluminum Extrusion End Deburring For end deburring aluminum extrusions, two brush formats are generally used; theradial wheel or the disc. 2.Disc 2. Radial Wheel A more efficient format for end deburring aluminum extrusions is the disc brushingtool. The disc is constructed of a backing into which the filaments are embedded. The fibers extend perpendicularly from the backing. Unlike the unidirectional rotation of the radial wheel, the disc offers multidirectional wiping action. To take advantage of the disc format, the disc is rotated on the vertical plane. Theextrusion end is presented, in a controlled manner, perpendicular to the face of the brushing tool as shown in Figure 4. The end of the extrusion is then passed from left to right through the top half of the brush. With a counter clockwise rotation of the disc, as the extrusion enters into the face, the fibers are in a downward motion. This deburrs each horizontal upper edge of the profile. When the part moves to the center point, the fibers are now traveling from right to left. The filaments impact and deburr the right facing, vertical surfaces. As the shape moves to exit the disc, the fibers are traveling from bottom to top. The bottom horizontal surfaces are now deburred. The extrusion is then brought back through the lower half of the brush. In the center position, the fibers are wiping from left to right and thus deburr the remaining left facing vertical edges. This process offers 360 degree deburring regardless of profile geometry. The radial wheel, as the name implies, employs fibers extending radially from a hub.The brush is commonly mounted on a horizontal shaft and rotated in a direction which causes the fibers to strike the part in a downward motion. The brushing action with a radial wheel is thus unidirectional. End deburring with a radial wheel is predominately an off-hand procedure. For thepurposes of illustration, we will assume that a rectangular profile is being deburred. The operator presents the profile to the wheel in roughly a perpendicular angle. The brush tips contact the upper horizontal edges of the profile, deburring the upper outside edge and the lower inside edge. The part would then need to be rotated 90 degrees a total of three additional times and presented to the wheel in a similar manner in order to completely deburr the part. Although use of the fiber abrasive radial wheel is an ideal choice for off-hand deburring of aluminum extrusions, the process limits productivity and quality is subject to operator skill.