Deburring wheels

[oldred]

Do any of you use deburring wheels for metal prep (specifically 3M brand) and if so what grit?

[Crank]

oldred,
I use the 3M wheel, Scotch-Brite™ Deburring Wheel, 152 mm x 25 mm x 25.4 mm 11S FIN, 3 per case, it is the green one. I wore out my first one after 15 years, bought 3 more, gave one to a friend and should still be good for another 30 years or so LOL. I don't use it for large areas, but it works great for an even finish on small items. Be careful, these suckers will make metal disappear in a heartbeat if you aren't paying attention, but with a steady hand and gentle pressure they are amazing. Ruger uses these for many finishing applications in their polish room, I know, that's where I was given my first one back in the late 90's. The only negative is that they are a bit spendy, but worth every penny of it.

Mark

[oldred]

Thanks Crank, would you happen to know (approximately) how course, medium and fine wheels relate to grit numbers? For instance would "fine" be like maybe 180 or 220 grit? I have searched for this info and can't seem to find much about it and while I understand this is not like a grinding wheel or a buffing/polishing compound just knowing an approximate grit similarity would help immensely in choosing which wheel to get, as you point out they aren't cheap and it would get quite spendy buying an assortment trying to settle on the right one.

FWIW, I will be using it mostly on alloy steels and unhardened tool steel (O1).

[Crank]

It will leave a polish equal to 320 or higher as my eyeball sees it. I use that wheel so much, I have never given it a second thought. As I stated it will take metal off like no tomorrow if you screw up. I have buffed the teeth off of a file, trying to true the edge (of the wheel) and it puts up a hell of a fight. What you are working with should pose no problem.

Mark

[W.R.Buchanan]

I use these everyday. Brands are 3M and Norton. it not so much about what grit they are it is more the hardness of the wheel. There is soft medium and hard.

the medium ones work well but they do go away pretty fast. I have been using the hard ones for many years in the shop.

I deburr just about everything with these wheels. They are one of my most valuable tools.

AS far as trueing up, they will do this on their own as you use them.

you will spend about $40 for a hard wheel and unless you only use the edges it will last for many years. Don't let morons use it as they will invariably screw one up.

I have mine on a Buffer, but you can run them on regular bench grinders as well. If you use a grinder that has little clearance between the wheel and the motor itself what you do is wear an angle onto the wheel so you have clearance to work flat things.

Another very useful type of wheel you can make is a Scotchbrite Fuzz wheel. You take Scotchbrite pads 2-3 and fold them in half twice and then cut the very corner off and the 2" strip off the first fold. This yields a square with a hole in the middle of it. you thread them on the buffer shaft and start using it. It will quickly wear itself into a round wheel.

These things work so well for buffing threads or getting into nooks and cranny's it is downright criminal.

Good luck.

Randy

[oldred]

That's some useful info, thanks! Which ScotchBrite pads do you use, Grey, Maroon, maybe some of each??


Another thing that has me puzzled about the deburring wheels is the fact they are listed as being available in both Silicon Carbide and Aluminum Oxide but I can't find anything as to which has what advantages vs the other? For deburring alloy steels and annealed O1 tool steel which would be preferable?

[country gent]

I have used them and they have thier place. I made an all brass ballpeen hammer Handle and all for a mechanics retirement gift. Head was polished bright and handle was a fine brushed finish. The guy mounting it on the Placqe decided to polish the handle with a die grinder and scoth brite pad. He brought it back after the attempt. there wasnt a straight true line or flat surface left on the handle. I spent several hours draw filing and polishing to get it back looking right again. For small to medium sized parts ceramic media and a vibratory polisher work and can be done unattended. We had a medium sized one at work with fine ceramics and we could polish clean up alot of small to mid sized parts with it while doing something else.

[W.R.Buchanan]

oldred: I usually use Red Pads as they are finer than the gray ones. I have used green and brown ones as well. Those are way too coarse.

What is cool about the fuzz wheels is that they get into all the nooks and crannies. I made a bunch of Levin collets for an outfit out here and fuzz wheeled the miniature "Buttress" threads and removed all the burrs from the slits in the body with the fuzz wheel. Then with the collet on a mandrel ( A piece of 3/16 rod with a handle.) I spun the collet on the hard wheel to polish the OD. These collets looked as nice or better than Real Levin Collets which are made by Hardinge.

Country Gent: Finishing is an ART! and it has taken me 30 years to perfect mine and I still screw up occasionally.

What I have found is that the less Human Hands actually touch a part, the better it will look in the end. Obviously sometimes you must touch it, and when you do, you better know what to do right out of the gate, or be able to fix your screw ups. Both sides of this are called "experience."

I'm pretty good at both.

I am also lucky,,, and we all know that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Randy

[country gent]

Well I must have gotten it finished right as at His funneral 15 years later his son told me the "hammer: was over his desk at home from the day after he brought it home. He would clean it and wax it occasionaly. Yes finishing is an art and not to be discounted Ive seen alot of "fuzzy lettering, dished screw holes, wavy lines and polish libnes that dont match up. You can hide alot with a good polish or really make things "stand out not paying attention.

[oldred]

oldred: I usually use Red Pads as they are finer than the gray ones. I have used green and brown ones as well. Those are way too coarse.Randy


Ok I can pick up a bunch of those locally, what would you recommend for the deburring wheel (3M from Enco), Silicon Carbide or Aluminum Oxide?

[W.R.Buchanan]

oldred: the Scotchbrite wheels come in medium and hard. The silicon carbide ones are what I normally get. I get the hard ones as they last the longest . I usually get 6" ones as I have mine mounted on a Baldor Buffer motor.

I went to MSC looking at their catalog and I was blown away by their prices. WOW. I am used to paying $42 ish They had some over $100.

I have never ordered one of these wheels, I always have bought them from my local industrial supply and as a result you can see what you are buying. The MSC site has about 492 different choices. I thought there was only soft, medium, and hard.

I looked at the label on the wheel I have on the buffer now and there is nothing that says the model number. I only says 3M. My wheel is directional which means it has to be mounted for the correct rotation.

I would try to find one at a local industrial supply so you can see what you're buying. There is just too many choices otherwise.

As far as the pads go, you fold one in half diagonally, and this will leave a strip about 2" wide on one side. You cut that off and save it to use elsewhere. You now have a square. you fold it in half twice diagonally and just nip the very corner off which will make a hole in the center of the square. Cut off way less than you think you need !!! as the hole will be 4 times bigger than what you cut off. Mount two or three of these with the points of the squares staggered.

Keep in mind that before the wheel wears itself round it will take things away from you and send them whinging. You will find many uses for these wheels.

Randy

[oldred]

Enco has a real deal going right now with a 20% off offer on anything including sales items plus free shipping! With the 6" 3M EXL wheels already on sale this means I can buy them for just slightly under $30 each with free shipping so I will order two of them.


In case anyone needs anything from Enco,

www.use-enco.com (http://www.use-enco.com)


20% off of everything, with no product exclusions this even means the 20% off applies to machinery! Free shipping is for anything under 125 lbs but there is no minimum order for either the 20% off or the free shipping, they do this occasionally but rarely do they combine both a discount and the free shipping.

At the check-out enter the promo codes 20JUNVIP and JUNSHIP (must use capital letters) but this ends on Jun 30.