Nylon fiber deburring wheel: cheap & works well

Maybe it's due to supply chain issues, but where I live the 3M Scotch Brite silicon carbide deburring wheels are super expensive now ($230 each), so I decided to try one of the cheap nylon fiber polishing wheels that are available on Amazon.

I bought a random 320-grit nylon wheel for my 8" bench grinder for $18 and I am quite pleased with the results.

I haven't used a silicon carbide wheel before so I can't compare them, but at less than 1/10th the price, the "nylon" nicely deburrs and polishes both aluminum and steel, and compared to doing it by hand, the wheel is much faster and leaves a nicer surface. 

Anyway, I thought I'd post this here in case anyone else is in the same situation.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Lauer on July 17, 2022 at 3:35pm

is this what you bought?

https://smile.amazon.com/Diameter×1-Polishing-Grinding-Abrasive-Gritx18mm/dp/B07VMKB629/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2DFZX4AL92DRF&keywords=320-grit%2Bnylon%2Bwheel%2B8%22&qid=1658090038&sprefix=320-grit%2Bnylon%2Bwheel%2B8%2B%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-2&th=1

Permalink Reply by Matt Pope on July 17, 2022 at 10:42pm

Yep, that's the one. 

Permalink Reply by Dan Hill on July 17, 2022 at 7:31pm

The prefered product for deburring is silicone oxide, also for scotch brite pads it is best to stay with a known brand such as 3M as some of the other cheaper alternatives have iron oxide which will also contaminate the aluminum and cause corrosion.

Permalink Reply by Matt Pope on July 17, 2022 at 10:42pm

I could be missing something - if so, please tell me - but I'm not too concerned about a microscopic amount of iron oxide on the aluminum parts. To oxidize aluminum with iron oxide, you need more iron oxide than aluminum (like three times as much). The reaction stops as soon as one of the reagents is used up, so if there's only a microscopic amount of iron oxide available, I can't imagine it causing a detectable amount of corrosion, especially since the aluminum will naturally form a layer of aluminum oxide on its surface even if there's no iron oxide there. 

If in doubt, you could avoid the red deburring wheels, but we use ferrous tools for everything else and they don't seem to cause problems.

Permalink Reply by Dan Hill on July 18, 2022 at 7:51am

Just offering the standard known, recommended practices for building our experimental aircraft, everyone is free to do as they wish.

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