Automated Deburring – Tips and Techniques

Parts manufacturers are using automated deburring technologies to reduce labor costs and speed high-volume parts finishing. Instead of removing burrs offline during secondary operations, companies are using CNC equipment and nylon abrasive disc brushing tools. For example, as Modern Machine Shop magazine has reported, Orange Vise Co. automates deburring with a high-speed horizontal machining center from DMG Mori Seiki Co. and NamPower nylon abrasive disc brushes from Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM). 

NamPower technology removes burrs and improves surface finish at the same time. For Orange Vise, a manufacturer of CNC machine vises and quick-change fixturing components, imparting a specific surface finish is also important. Although the precision parts manufacturer began using NamPower abrasive disc brushes for deburring, company founder Eric Sun discovered that these outer diameter deburring tools “provided a really nice surface finish”.

Deburring Case Study

As Sun told Modern Machine Shop, Orange Vise selected dot-style NamPower abrasive discs, a BRM nylon abrasive brushing tool for general-purpose deburring and surface finishing. Made with flexible abrasive nylon filaments bonded to a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic base, NamPower disc brushes feature a unique combination of both ceramic and silicon carbide abrasive. Their light-weight, flow-through tool holders also integrate easily with CNC machinery and other production equipment. 

To remove burrs and achieve the desired surface finish at the same time, Sun told Modern Machine Shop that Orange Vise reduced the spindle speed of its Mori Seiki NHX4000. The NamPower Resource Guide, a downloadable technical book from BRM, offers suggested disc speeds for optimum operating RPMs. This free guide also provides suggested feed rates and brush depths for dot-style and turbine-style NamPower nylon abrasive disc brushes.

Disc Speeds, Feed Rates, and Brush Depths

As the NamPower Resource Guide explains, many factors determine optimum disc speed. In addition to brush diameter, trim length, and filament diameter, specifications such as fill pattern and cut depth play a role. For each disc diameter and grit size, the NamPower Resource Guide lists the recommended speed. As a rule, disc speeds should remain under 2,500 SFPM in dry applications and 3,500 in wet applications. Excessive speed can cause brush filaments to flair and bounce off the workpiece.

Feed rate is a function of factors such as burr size, workpiece material, surface contours, and finish requirements. Starting feed rates between 30 IPM and 80 IPM are recommended, but the final feed rate is application-specific. Cut depth varies with finer or coarser-grit abrasive filaments, and dot-style brushes provide deeper penetration than turbine-style brush tools. Typically, spindle speed is decreased with increased depth of interference so that nylon abrasive filaments can conform to part contours.

Solve Your Deburring Challenges at PMTS 2015

Do you have questions about deburring tips and techniques? Are you headed to the Precision Machining Technology Show (PMTS 2015) in Columbus, Ohio later this week? From April 21 to April 23, BRM will be in Booth #1223 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. While you’re at PMTS, learn more about BRM’s burr removal technologies by attending an educational session, Deburring – The Challenge of Burrs, on Tuesday, April 21 from 8:15 AM to 9:15 AM. Hope to see you there!