Flexible honing tools and industrial abrasive brushes are used in the aircraft and aerospace industry. Jet engine builders and aviation MROs use flexible hones for
applications such as through-hole edge rounding, chamfer
blending, automated cutting, deburring,
edge breaking, and rust removal. Industrial brushes are used for aircraft parts deburring and surface conditioning after machining or
grinding.
Flexible Honing for Aerospace Metals and Space Age Alloys
The aerospace industry uses flexible hones to cut and surface finish aerospace materials and space age alloys,
lightweight metals used in aircraft components such as rotating engine parts,
landing gear equipment, helicopter rotor drive shafts, and hydraulic control
mechanisms. These alloys are often hard-to-machine, and require a cutting and
finishing tool with a consistent geometry and long life.
Available in a variety of abrasive types and grit sizes, the Flex-Hone tool uses a
low-temperature, low-pressure abrading process to produce a plateau surface
finish that's metallurgically free of cut, torn, and folded metal. Aerospace manufacturers also use flexible honing to improve the
surface condition of aircraft and
aerospace components made of metals such as aerospace stainless steels;
Hasteloy, Monel, and Inconel, and titanium and aluminum alloys.
The Diamond
Flex-Hone is specially designed
for deburring, edge blending, and surface finishing hard materials such as
carbides, ceramics, and aerospace steel alloys. Available in different mesh
sizes, this flexible honing tool features resin bond diamond crystals with
high-friability for self-sharpening edges. To aid heat dissipation and improve
bond retention, diamond honing tools are made with coated
nickel abrasive.
Aircraft Brushes and Aerospace Brushes
For surface conditioning and part deburring
after machining or grinding, the aerospace industry uses abrasive nylon brushes. High-performance brush tools
provide consistent surface finishing of metallic, super alloy, advanced
composite, and ceramic parts. Nylon abrasive brush tools are also used for blending surface imperfections and
inconsistencies, deburring and edge radiusing, and parts cleaning.
Author's Note: This CR4 blog entry is excerpted from the Flex-Hone Blog.
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