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 “self-sharpening.” Because of its linear construction, sharp new grains constantly come in contact with the work surface and wear off exposing fresh cutting particles.
“We have used the NamPower abrasive nylon brushes daily for six years. During that time, we have had no issues with any sort of particulate or grit getting into any critical surfaces,” adds Sun. “In our experience, any small amount of grit created is a non-issue.”
