What Industrial Abrasive Do I Need?

Industrial abrasives are tools that use materials to shape or smooth a workpiece through constant rubbing. As the abrasive rubs against the workpiece, it wears away parts of the surface through friction. This leads to a smooth and reflective surface; however, it can also shape workpieces with beaded, satin or matte finishes if needed. There are many types of materials that create custom abrasives, and some work better with certain types of workpieces. Below you will find a guide to different types of industrial abrasives and our recommendations on when best to use them.

Natural vs Man Made

Industrial Abrasives

The hard crystals that make up industrial abrasives are either natural or man-made. Natural tools include minerals such as diamond and emery. Man-made tools, on the other hand, include aluminium oxide, titanium carbide and others. Natural crystals often make special abrasive tools while man-made crystals find uses in more common tools. In either case, custom abrasives come either bonded or coated. Bonded abrasives attach to a form of matrix such as clay or resin. These often form into tools like grinding wheels. Coated abrasives such as sandpaper affix to a backing material such as paper or cloth. These types of abrasives are handheld and the smoothing process adjusts with speed and pressure.

Industrial Abrasives and their Applications

Custom abrasives have a number of uses in industry. For one, they help clean surfaces and remove any coarse materials. They help to shape and size different workpieces as needed. In addition, you can use them to separate or remove parts of a workpiece. Today, many prefer man-made abrasives such as ones that use aluminium oxide to natural ones. This is due to their reliability and ease of use. Due to the hard and brittle nature of these materials they tend to form shard edges that help reduce heat produced during abrasion. As such, these materials are best used for smooth finishes, whereas tougher materials that resist fracture are a better choice for rough grinding.

Uses of Industrial Abrasives

Abrasives can come in three basic forms: bonded to create solid tools like wheels, coated with backings to create strips and belts, or loose and applied through liquid or air pressure such as sandblasting. Abrasion occurs when a surface is scratched, and in order to scratch a surface effectively the abrasive tool needs to be made of a much harder material. By using the Mohs scale of hardness, a material with a value between six and ten can be used on materials such as glass, metal, stone, plastic and wood. A material’s hardness, strength and toughness determine how easy it is to work with. Hardness determines how easily the abrasive material penetrates the surface, while strength and toughness determine how easily the penetrated material is to remove. As such, different abrasive materials will work better with different types of surfaces.

Our Range of Abrasives

Here at Kayson Green we offer a wide range of industrial abrasives for any purpose. We offer both vitrified and resin bonded grinding wheels, super finishing stones and wheels, abrasive belts and rolls and much more. View our range of abrasive products online or speak with our team for more information today.

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