Finishing - September-October 2021

ABRASIVES 41
the coolant generated during the machining
process itself.”
At his shop, that includes scale, grit and rust
created by cutting through raw stock.
Wolfram Manufacturing is also machining
more 3D parts made of Inconel, which can
release fine metal powder into the coolant that
isn’t fully sintered.
As for abrasive tools, Urano says Wolfram
Manufacturing has, “never ever experienced
any problems caused by abrasives in our
cutting fluids.”
For the past eight years, the machine shop
has incorporated the Flex-Hone in all CNC
machines for cross-hole deburring and surface
finishing. The Flex-Hone from Los Angelesbased
Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM).
Characterized by the small, abrasive globules
that are permanently mounted to flexible
filaments, the product is a flexible, low cost
tool utilized for sophisticated surfacing,
deburring and edge-blending.
Removal of burrs and sharp edges in crossdrilled
holes and other difficult-to-access areas
such as undercuts, grooves, slots, or internal
holes is critical. Failing to remove burrs can
cause blockages or create turbulence in the
flow of fluids, lubricants and gases through
critical passages.
“On a given part, we might deploy two to
three different size Flex-Hones, depending on
the number of cross port intersections and
different hole sizes,” explains Urano.
The Flex-Hones are added to the tool
carousel and are used daily, usually several
times an hour, on some of the shop’s highest
volume parts.
“The volume of abrasives that could even
possibly come off of the Flex-Hone is
insignificant compared to the rest of the
particulate that gets into the coolant,” explains
Urano.
At Delta Machine in Gardena, Calif.,
automated crosshole deburring is also
integrated into the CNC machining process.
“When you use the Flex-Hone for
deburring, all you are doing is removing the
burr. It doesn’t create much dust,” adds Delta
Machine’s Garaczi. “So, for me, any grit or
dust released is zero concern. It is not like we
are grinding inside the machine with powder
everywhere – this is not the same at all.”
Abrasive Nylon Filaments
For Eric Sun, founder of Orange Vise
Company in Orange County, Calif., even
cutting tools such as carbide drills and end
mills can create debris that must be filtered
from the coolant.
“Some machine shops might say, ‘I don’t
use any abrasives in my process; therefore, my
machine is completely free of all particulate
matter,’ but that is not the case. Even cutting
tools can wear down and the carbide can
come loose and get into the coolant,” says
Sun.
Although Orange Vise is a contract
manufacturer, the company primarily
machines vises and quick-change fixturing
components used in CNC machines out of
aluminum, steel and cast iron. The company
utilizes four Mori Seiki NHX4000 high speed
horizontal machining centers and two vertical
machining centers.
According to Sun, many of the vises are
made of cast iron with selectively hardened
surfaces. To match the surface finish of the
hardened surfaces, Orange Vise uses
NamPower abrasive disc brushes from Brush
Research.
Composed of flexible abrasive nylon
filaments bonded to a fiber reinforced
thermoplastic base, the NamPower abrasive
disc brushes contain a unique combination of
both ceramic and silicon carbide abrasive. The
abrasive filaments work like flexible files,
conforming to part contours, wiping and filing
across part edges and surfaces to deliver
maximum burr removal rates along with an
ideal surface finish. Other common uses are
edge blending, part cleaning, and rust
removal.
To complete the surface finishing operation,
abrasive nylon brushes are installed in the tool
loading system of each CNC machine.
Although abrasive grit is involved, Sun says
the NamPower brush is a “different type of
abrasive” because it is essentially “selfsharpening.”
Because of its linear construction,
sharp new grains constantly come in contact
with the work surface and wear off exposing
fresh cutting particles.
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Finishing - September/October [...]
2021