De-burring inside tubes with nylon brushes

I have to de-burr 3/4" aluminum square tubes that have literally hundreds of holes. Even using Cogsdill bits takes a long time. I was searching around and found some info on using nylon abrasive tools. I noticed a few offered nylon abrasive tube brushes as "de-burring" tools. I'm wondering if there's a way I could run one of those on a long extension through the tubes. Has anybody ever tried these for that? I actually started thinking about it while I was watching that "How It's Made" show, and they were showing how these guys put a brushed surface on stainless sinks. It looked like they were using some sort of Nylon abrasive covered drum that spun while partially submerged, and then the assembly line would run the sides of the sink around the drum. I was thinking maybe I could also use something like that to finish the outside of the tubes as well, since we use a brushed surface on them now... but it's done by hand.

Thanks,

Dave

Reply to
Dave99
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What is the volume and speed you need? (How many and how fast?)

Reply to
Tom Gardner

Dave, Orbitool has the best tool in the world for this exact situation. They were designed for you problem and they are cheap and very effective.

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Reply to
John R. Carroll

Wow, it's a shame this list is really getting spammed these days. Thanks John, that's an interesting tool. I'm not sure if it would work at the lengths we're using... usually 4' or longer sections. Tom, we do about 100 pieces per run, most of which are 4-4 1/2" feet long, with an average quantity of 80 #27 and F size holes in each piece. Right now we use a combination of Cogsdill fork bit and a hand tool, which is murder. Anything faster than that would be an improvement. That's why I was thinking that maybe there was a nylon abrasive brush that could just be spun down the inside of the tube. It doesn't have to be perfect on the inside, just basic de-burr.

Thanks,

Dave

Reply to
Dave99

Do it from the outside on the machine. Orbitools can be used by hand of in the spindle.

Reply to
John R. Carroll

How's about using an abrasive flap wheel on a shaft extension? Not sure if they are made small enough for you, but looks like one would do the job. It would be run down the inside length of the tube. I have often honed a tube or bore by slitting a 1/4" rod at one end for an 1-1/2" length on the bandsaw, and using emery cloth wrapped with abrasive side out for a long reach hone. Only start it up when it's engaged in the hole. Otherwise it makes a pretty buzzing sound, and the rod could whip. A drill or die grinder will drive it.

RJ

Reply to
Backlash

It just seems to me that it would be preferable to extent a tool through the material thickness rather than into the part through it's length. Maybe I didn't understand what needed to be accomplished.

Reply to
John R. Carroll

--You might want to consider abrasive slurry deburring, wherein a viscous abrasive goo is pumped thru the length of the part. Can't name any company that offers the service but they're out there. Saw it at WESTEC a couple of times; very nice results..

Reply to
steamer

Used in moldmaking.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

That's Extrude-Hone's original product. They're the ones that are doing the metal-powder rapid prototyping we discussed in another thread. They're called ExOne now, but I don't know if they're still the makers of the extrusion deburring goo.

-- Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

It there any reason not to use wire? In any case, the way to do the inside is with a "Pig" of square cut brushes ganged on a shaft and pushed through or back and forth. Or a twisted-in-wire square cut tube brush. Neither will be cheap but they will reduce the job to almost nothing. To spin a brush down the length, you will need a series of support bearings fed in with the brush to keep the shaft centered. Send me a print and call me toll-free 888-411-3265 and we'll get you some solutions.

Reply to
Tom Gardner

Thanks for the info guys. I ordered a few nylon abrasive spiral tube brushes that were the size of the OD for the tube sizes. That seems to make them just about the right size for inside the tube. Attached to a drill they work pretty well. I just need to find some sort of extension to make them long enough. But it looks to be a lot faster than having to do each hole individually. I wanted to use nylon because this is aluminum tube that's going outdoors, and I didn't want any steel shards coming off.

Reply to
Dave99

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