Burrs that are not removed pose a risk of injury for anyone handling materials and parts. They also impair the functionality of machines and systems or cause a complete breakdown. What is deburring equipment? One or more tools are often included in a deburring machine to remove burrs from the metal that has been machined. The tools’ orientation enables reliable, high-quality deburring. The disc, brush, or belt heads of many deburring machines are used to remove burrs from workpieces.
For fabricators, implementing deburring equipment reduces human error and allows them to maintain the quality of their products while increasing production capacity. Learn more about the benefits of deburring equipment:
Increased Productivity
Regardless of what type of metal fabrication process your shop employs, the presence of burrs can make the entire operation less efficient. Rough edges increase the likelihood of part jamming in critical mechanisms, causing unscheduled downtime and costly repairs. They also pose a significant safety risk for personnel as they can cause cuts or impair the function of components and equipment.
Establishing deburring specifications and then using the right machine to maintain those specifications allows for greater efficiency. Reducing the chances of inconsistent results, using an appropriate choice of wet or dry, type and style of abrasive, head configuration, and other factors, is crucial to achieving optimal performance and cost-effectiveness. A metal fabricator with expertise can assist in determining the best approach for a specific application.
Belt heads are a popular choice that removes burrs and leaves the workpiece’s surface smooth by using a range of polyamide fibers coated with coarse abrasives resembling sandpaper grains. They are particularly effective at removing vertical burrs and shifting material to the sides of the workpiece, eliminating the need for manual grinding.
Another popular option is water jet deburring, which uses high-pressure water to reach hard-to-reach areas on the workpiece and remove chips. It’s ideal when parts cannot be exposed to corrosive chemicals or heat.
Reduced Downtime
While it may seem counterintuitive, a deburring machine can reduce downtime and improve quality. This is because it can do it faster than a human, meaning it takes less time to do the same amount of work. Moreover, it reduces the room for error that comes with manual deburring. It is common for experienced metal workers to make mistakes during manual processes, leading to production delays and wasted labor.
Deburring machines also allow your staff to stay focused on their areas of expertise. They eliminate the need to double up on duties, allowing you to cut costs on staffing and equipment. This saves you money and enables you to produce better results.
Ultimately, deburring is a crucial process that can ensure the safety and performance of your parts. Burrs on workpieces can be hazardous to anyone who handles them, from operators in the fabrication shop to customers who use them. They can also cause jamming and other issues that will slow production, increase maintenance costs or even lead to product recalls.
As a result, it is important to set clear guidelines for your fabrication and deburring processes. This includes specifying the type of burr you want and how it should be removed. This will help you standardize internal procedures, which will help you achieve more consistent and accurate results.
Enhanced Safety
Deburring can help improve safety in your manufacturing process by reducing the risk of small pieces falling off and causing friction or obstructing airflow, fluids, or lubricants. Deburring can also make handling your metal workpieces safer by preventing them from becoming scratched or dull, increasing their lifespan, and making cleaning easier.
Whether caused by laser cutting, plasma cutting, punching, or shearing, metal fabrication operations create burrs—unwanted rough, sometimes raised edges or ridges—that must be removed from the finished product. Burrs reduce the ability of a metal to withstand stress, strain, and pressure and can lead to fatigue or corrosion in components. They can also obstruct drilled or punched holes, requiring rework to fix.
In addition to causing damage to the finish of the metal workpiece, burrs can be a safety risk for your employees. They can cut or irritate the skin and hands of employees and can cause machinery to overheat, leading to costly repair bills. They can also cause accidents if they catch on equipment or machinery and cause jamming.
Manual grinding of metal to remove burrs takes a lot of time and effort. This slows the production process and increases the chances of repetitive motion injuries. An automated deburring machine can help eliminate these problems and provide higher-quality finishes.
Increased Productivity
Deburring helps manufacturers meet customer specifications for a better fit and finish in a shorter amount of time. By automating the process, fabricators can reduce inconsistencies that might lead to rejected parts. This also helps reduce the risk of faulty or incorrectly-finished workpieces slipping through quality control inspections and finding their way into end-product production.
When selecting the right deburring machine for a specific application, metal fabrication experts recommend considering factors such as whether or not it will be wet or dry, the type and style of the abrasive head, and the characteristics of the workpieces. These factors should help the shop choose a machine that offers greater consistency, superior results, and higher productivity.
For example, rotary brush machines can uniformly deburr and finish laser-cut or punched metal parts by removing sharp edges on both sides with little effort. Furthermore, these tools are relatively harmless to metal surface coatings like cladding and zinc. This allows shops to increase the rate at which they produce metal parts without sacrificing quality.
Similarly, cryogenic deburring uses liquid nitrogen to flash cool a chamber containing a part and abrasive media. The flashing process cools the part material to the glass transition temperature, which embrittles burrs while leaving other surfaces unaffected. This deburring method is effective on hard-to-machine materials and difficult-to-reach areas.
