When it comes to those tough jobs, when no other brush can handle it, where do you turn? Power brushes. Actually this is not entirely true. Power brushes aren’t used in the traditional brush sense. They are typically used for smoothing out rough surfaces be it stone, wood, plastic, metal or glass. Power brushes are typically made out of metal or abrasive nylon. Abrasive nylon is nylon fabricated with grains of silicon carbide, diamond or aluminum oxide to make the polymer tougher and more abrasive. And these are not your everyday brushes. These are made for precision cutting and deburring of tough surfaces. While they can come in a wide range of types, typically they are found in wheel, cup, end, wide face cylinder and internal twisted-in wire.
These brushes are usually attached to grinders, lathes, drills or another form of automated machinery. They are comprised of wires and fill material that is used to remove the excess material once it is cut off. In these brushes, only the tips of the wires are able to cut the surface of the material. As the brush is used, the wires will break, constantly forming new tips to cut. To aid this process the wires are typically crimped, allowing easier formation of new stronger cutting tips.
It is because of this wide variety of types and forms of power brushes that allows it to be used on virtually every surface type, shape and size. While they are most often used for deburring and cutting, they are also instrumental in removing rust, paint, gear and thread cleaning, surface preparation, cleaning, finishing and weld blending. While there are industrial machines that can provide the same results which can sometimes be achieved more quickly and more easily, they take up a lot more space, and can be very costly. Power brushes are a cost-effective way to go to make sure your finishing goals are met.