Diamond and Silicon Carbide Abrasives for NamPower Wheel Brushes

NamPower technology from Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM) includes abrasive disc brushes, abrasive hex-drive tools, composite hub wheel brushes, and accessories such as tool holders and adapters. These high-quality, professional-grade products enable manufacturers to deburr, radius, and surface finish the outer diameter (OD) of metal parts. For removing sharp edges and creating a desired radius, manufacturing leaders in a variety of industries prefer NamPower wheel brushes.

As this YouTube video shows, NamPower nylon abrasive composite hub wheels feature indestructible cores, a balanced construction, a choice of face widths and diameters, and a uniform fill pattern. An alternative to wire wheels and non-woven abrasive brushing tools, NamPower wheel brushes are used in the production of turbine blades, steel gears, machine parts, extrusion cut-offs, and shaft finishing. These wheel-shaped abrasive nylon brushes can also produce an edge radius on cutting tool inserts.

Understanding Abrasive Types

Recently, BRM announced the addition of diamond-impregnated composite hub wheel brushes to its NamPower product line. The introduction of these long-lasting, cost-effective diamond wheels extends the capabilities of NamPower technology, and means that industrial buyers need to consider abrasive type during wheel brush selection. Other important specifications to consider include grit size, brush diameter, and face width.

Available with silicon carbide or diamond abrasive, NamPower wheel brushes solve surface finishing challenges. Choose silicon carbide for deburring and edge radiusing most metals. Choose diamond for harder materials such as ceramic, glass, carbide, and hardened tool steels. BRM’s diamond abrasive wheel brushes are also ideal for producing edge radii on diamond and cubic boron nitride (CBN) surfaces. Their composite hub construction offers a dense, uniform fill pattern for more cutting points.  

Diamond Wheel Brushes

NamPower diamond-filled composite hub wheel brushes are also great for polishing the flute relief on carbide and high speed drills, end mills, and reamers. These BRM brushing tools can produce an edge radius on carbide inserts, too. With end mills and reamers, a polished flute relief greatly enhances chip removal and promotes better finishes and longer tool life.  With carbide inserts, an edge radius prevents fracturing and premature insert wear. 

BRM’s black diamond-filled composite wheel brushes are available in three diameters: 100-mm, 150-mm, and 200-mm. The 100-mm diameter brush is manufactured in a 5-mm face width to allow finishing of smaller sizes. The 150-mm and-200 mm brushing tools have either a 10-mm or 15-mm face thickness to accommodate a variety of flute relief requirements. All NamPower diamond wheels come standard in 600-grit, which offers the perfect combination of cutting power and ultra-smooth final finish. Other grit sizes are available by special order.

Silicon Carbide Wheel Brushes

NamPower wheel brushes that use silicon carbide (SC) abrasive are available in four different grit sizes: 80, 120, 180, and 320. Grit selection is highly dependent on the starting surface finish and the amount of material refinement that’s required. During product selection, choose the coarsest grit possible that will still yield the required surface finish. The NamPower Resource Guide lists staring Ra values, a measure of roughness, for each available SC grit size.    

Coarse grits are recommended for use on heavier burrs, or in applications where a fine surface finish is not required. Fine grit brush tools that are used on a rough starting finish will have less effect on surface condition improvement than the use of a coarse-grit brush followed by a finer-grit tool. In addition to cutting and finishing, grit size also affects radial brush flexibility. Industrial buyers should note, too, that NamPower nylon abrasive wheels with coarser grits have larger-diameter filaments.