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EspañolA wire brush is a great tool for cleaning and deburring surfaces. It can remove contaminants, clean welds and prepare a surface for the next step in an assembly process.
It's important to choose the correct custom wire brush for each application to avoid damage or excessive wear.
Material
A wire brush can be made of a variety of materials, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. Brass, for example, is gentle enough to work on softer metal surfaces and can be used in flammable environments. However, it won’t work as well as carbon steel or stainless on harder material and may leave behind rusty flakes after use.
Steel, on the other hand, is a strong and versatile material that can be adapted to many different surface types. A good rule of thumb is to choose the wire type that matches up with the material that needs working on. For instance, very fine to fine wires are ideal for light-duty contaminant removal while medium to coarse are best for heavier tasks. A wire brush's filaments can be crimped, twisted or flared to help them reach narrow or congested spaces.
Diameter
The diameter of a wire brush determines how much material it will remove from the work piece. Thinner, finer wires are more flexible and less prone to fatigue while thicker, coarser wires are stronger but more brittle.
Filament type also impacts abrasion speed and aggressiveness. Crimped wire brushes use thin bristles that are crimped together to provide lighter cleaning and deburring results while knotted wire wheels, known as cable twist or stringer bead brushes, have thinner, longer trim lengths that make them more aggressive.
Finally, the arbor diameter of a wire brush matches tool compatibility and helps to determine its maximum operating speed. Higher-diameter brushes will need to be used at a lower rpm than brushes with smaller diameters. This will help reduce stress on the brushes and extend their life.
Length
Steel wire brushes are available in a variety of lengths. The longer the wire, the more fatigue receptive it is. In general, a shorter wire is less aggressive and requires less brushing to achieve the same result. However, longer wires can reach into tight areas and conform to more irregular surfaces.
Knots
Knot wire brushes are used for heavy-duty surface treatment applications like polishing, deburring and removing weld scale and paint. These brushes feature a combination of twisted and non-twisted steel knots to support higher removal capacity. Their rugged construction supports higher RPM speeds to ensure faster material removal and extended peak performance.
They are available in a variety of shapes including wheel brushes, end brushes and hand brushes. They are filled with carbon steel, stainless steel or, for non-sparking applications, brass wire.
Filaments
Metal filament brushes are ideal for applications requiring abrasion, electrical conductivity or chemical shielding. They can also dissipate static charges in extreme high-temperature applications. They can be manufactured in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and configurations. They can be made with either twisted or knotted wire. Both generate high impact and cover a large surface area. Straight wire is less aggressive but cannot cover as much surface area, making it best for light applications like cleaning.
End wire brushes have a stem that is wrapped with different types of metal filaments and can be used in constrained spaces to deburr holes, polish molded parts, remove flash or roughen up a part for welding. The type of metal that the filaments are made from is important for the results the brush produces.
