Surface Finishing News – BRM’s 2014 Year in Review

As 2014 draws to a close, Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM) brings you highlights from this year’s headlines about our full line of surface finishing solutions. For outer diameter (OD) applications, BRM NamPower nylon abrasive brushes create consistent, reliable, and cost-effective results. For resurfacing brake rotors and flywheels, the Flex-Hone® for Rotors imparts the ideal surface finish. For cylinder wall surface improvement, Flex-Hone® tools set the standard for deburring, deglazing, and surface quality.

The New Year is almost upon us, but don’t turn the calendar just yet. First, flip through the pages of some leading publications that featured NamPower technology, the Flex-Hone® for Rotors, and Flex-Hone® tools for inner diameter (ID) applications in 2014.

Automated Deburring with NamPower Technology
Last March, NamPower abrasive nylon brushes were featured in Industrial Machinery Digest magazine. These high-performance brushing tools were also showcased in another leading trade publication, Modern Machine Digest. When Orange Vise, a California maker of CNC machine vises and quick-fixturing components, wanted to achieve a smooth, blended finish on machined components, BRM’s NamPower abrasive disc brushes exceeded the manufacturer’s expectations.

“We started using NamPower brushes for deburring,” says Orange Vise founder Eric Sun, “but quickly discovered they provided a really nice surface finish.” Before using NamPower technology, the CNC parts manufacturer removed burrs by hand. Today, the Orange County company mounts NamPower abrasive disc brushes in its Mori Seiki NHX4000 high-speed horizontal machining center for automated deburring that creates a uniform appearance – even on machine vises made of different metals.

 
Brake Jobs with the Flex-Hone® for Rotors

Last August, DSPORT magazine reviewed the Flex-Hone® for Rotors, BRM’s surface finishing solution for new and turned brake rotors. To test BRM brake hones under real-world conditions, this publication for the automotive aftermarket and performance racing industry acquired four used rotors from a race car. Equipped with a cordless drill and a coarse-grit brush tool, the DSPORT crew removed the transfer layer from each rotor’s face. The mechanics then switched to a medium-grit tool, and finally to a fine-grit tool.

As the “Glaze is for Donuts” article explained, the Flex-Hone® for Rotors breaks the glaze-like finish that is transferred from overheated brake pads to brake rotors. Designed to promote proper pad bedding, BRM brake hones remove this transfer layer, expose the brake rotor’s surface, and impart a unidirectional surface finish that reduces harmonic vibrations. Flex-Hone® for Rotors tools are also ideal for use with improperly bedded rotors, and for removing surface corrosion and sharp edges.  

Flexible Honing Improves Piston Ring Performance

Last October, Performance and Hotrod Business magazine explained how BRM Flex-Hone® tools can help increase piston ring performance. In “Rings True,” PHB described how flexible hones “allow for the fine-tuning of cylinder bores,” even in engine blocks made of harder materials that can make piston ring break-in challenging. As Keith Jones of Total Seal explained, “We recommend this type of hone because it works very well, is easy to use with a hand-held drill motor, and is really foolproof” for non-machinists.

Jone’s company, an engine parts maker, chooses flexible cylinder hones with levigated alumina super-fine abrasive. BRM supplies ball hones, as Flex-Hone® tools are also known, in 11 different abrasive types and 8 different grit sizes. Mechanics, machinists, manufacturers, and metalworkers are welcome to contact BRM with technical questions, and to download the Flex-Hone® Resource Guide for more information.