Page 49 - MetalForming May 2014
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The unique combination of automated deburring and surface finishing eliminates several time-consuming and laborious processes at Orange Vise.
bit coarse. The silicon carbide acts as a buffer to the cutting action. The result is deburring and finishing in a single operation. The brushes work well with nonferrous materials, as well as cast iron, mild steel and ductile iron, stain- less and alloy steels, titanium and high- nickel alloys.
General Purpose or High Density?
Sun’s first decision was between the brush’s two available fill configurations: the Dot style, recommended for gen- eral-purpose deburring and surface finishing; and the Turbine style, which has a higher-density fill for more aggressive deburring.
To achieve the smoothest finish pos- sible and approximate the ground sur- faces of the CNC vise, Sun selected the Dot-style brush and intentionally reduced spindle speed.
“The surface finish was good enough that we actually were blending it with our ground finishes,” says Sun. “With large surfaces that required multiple passes, there are no visible blends. The
Vise uses a variety of deburring tools, including a 45-deg. chamfer. Although the tool doesn’t typically leave a burr, when it begins to wear burrs can crop up. That possibility previously required an Orange Vise employee to inspect each part and remove any burrs by hand. Now the company automatically deburrs chamfered holes and edges using the NamPower brush.
In addition, Sun says Orange Vise performs engraving on the vice jaws using a ball-end mill. Although the engraving on the underside of the vice doesn’t require deburring, it specifies finer engraving on the top surface. For this operation it employs a 45-deg. V- bit, which can create burrs. To the res- cue—again: the NamPower brush.
“Grinding would be so much more work,” says Sun. “With the brushes it really doesn’t take any extra effort at all. It adds maybe 30 sec. to the process.” MF
Article provided by Brush Research Mfg. Co., Inc., Los Angeles, CA: 323/261- 2193; www.brushresearch.com
whole part looks like it is done in one pass. Needless to say, the brushes speed up the process quite a bit.”
Broader Use than Originally Expected
Orange Vise has found the Dot-style NamPower brush to be flexible enough to conform to features of varying heights, proving useful on other parts man- ufactured at the company.
“We’re finding more and more uses for them,” says Sun. “We use the same brushes for aluminum, steel, cast iron and several other materials without having to swap them out very often.”
One such application, and one of its primary pur- poses, is for edge blending. According to Sun, Orange
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