Deburring media refers to materials used to remove unwanted materials, called burrs, from various parts. Deburring media may be natural or synthetic, with a long list of materials used including carbon steel, glass, stainless steel, hardwood, aluminum oxide, silicone carbide and more.
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The most common materials used for deburring media are ceramics, synthetic plastics and organic compounds such as corn cob media and walnut shells. Utilized in deburring equipment such as vibratory and parts tumblers, deburring media can range from soft to abrasive and from large to fine particles. Since most machining processes create burrs, including milling, drilling, turning, welding and engraving, deburring media is utilized in a wide range of industries including: electronics, for the deburring of electrical components such as computer chips, batteries and electronic enclosures; commercial, where they are widely used for jewelry polishing applications; industrial manufacturing, for various machining processes including metal fabrication, plastic fabrication, extrusion, metal etching and forging; construction, for the deburring of building materials and hardware; and agriculture, for various implements, supplies and equipment. Deburring media is manufactured in a variety of shapes, such as ball, cone, oval, elliptical, hex, diagonal and drum, each used to achieve optimum results in specific applications.
Depending on the type of material, deburring media can be manufactured in a variety of ways. The most abrasive form of deburring media due to its high-density, ceramic deburring media is manufactured by taking raw ceramic materials, which are fine powders, and adding other materials such as silica and other abrasives to enhance certain properties. After this, the material is prepped for forming through the addition of water or another liquid additive. Afterwards the ceramic materials is extruded then cut into the desired shapes and placed in an extremely high heat oven and sintered. Ceramic deburring media is best-suited for the deburring of hard metals such as steel and stainless steel. For synthetic plastics such as polycarbonate deburring media, the plastic resin is first heated to a molten state and then extruded in cut into various shapes in much the same way as the ceramic deburring media. Plastic deburring media is best-suited for the deburring of softer metals such as aluminum and brass. Organic deburring media differs greatly from synthetic deburring media manufacturing. For instance, corn cob media is formed through treating and hardening a corn cob ring, and then pulverizing it into powder form. Walnut shell media is formed through a very similar process. Organic deburring media is best-suited for applications requiring the absorption of contaminants such as oils, grease and dirt, such as industrial machining processes.
