Spiral Brushes
Spiral brushes are one type of the many types of brushes available to help a variety of customers. As one might guess, spiral brushes are characterized by their spiral bristle configuration and cylindrical shape.
Quick links to Spiral Brushes Information
Applications of Spiral Brushes
Some of the most common applications of spiral brushes include:
- Conveyor Belt Cleaning
- Deburring
- Bottle and Flue Cleaning
- Polishing
- Swabbing
The applications for which a spiral brush may be used are incredibly broad. However, the options become narrower and easier to digest when one looks at each possible configuration separately.
Spiral Brush Design and Customization
For as many spiral brush configuration options as there are, there are twice as many spiral brush bristle material options. Bristle material choice is determined by a brush’s intended application. For example, if a spiral brush is intended to deburr, it must be made with a strong metal material that will not erode easily or substantially when it comes in contact with another metal. Light washing applications, on the other hand, require a brush with a material that will not cause scratching or abrasion.
Twisted-in wire brushes are mostly made of polypropylene, nylon, aluminum, steel, or brass. Cylinder brushes, both wheel brushes, and coiled strip brushes, on the other hand, are all most often offered with a mix of natural, synthetic, and wire bristle material options, such as tampico, horsehair, polyester, nylon, abrasive nylon, polypropylene, bronze, brass, steel, and stainless steel. Because twisted knot wheel brushes are used for tougher tasks, they are offered with carbon steel or stainless steel bristles (for sparking applications), or they are offered with brass or bronze bristles (for non-sparking applications). All brush styles are available with a wide variety of bristle/wire widths and trim lengths. In addition to the array of standard brush styles, bristle widths, and trim lengths, spiral brushes can usually be custom designed to fit specific application or industry requirements.
Notable Types of Spiral Brushes
- Twisted-in Wire Brushes
- Have bristles that are clamped and spiral twisted between folded wire. Easy and inexpensive to manufacture, they are available in both large and small configurations. Therefore, they are the perfect choice for the surfacing and cleaning of areas that cannot normally be reached, such as internal threads, keyways, the insides of condenser tubes, and other narrow tubes and valves. They’re also often used for the cleaning of cans, bottles, fireplace flues, sockets and socket fittings, and medical instrumentation, as well as general polishing, swabbing, and deburring.
- Cylinder Brushes
- Cylindrically-shaped and have outward facing bristles. Some of the cleaning, surfacing, scrubbing, and deburring applications they perform relate to and/or involve industrial conveyor systems, bakery and food conveyor belts, products on a conveyor line, plating processes, block and brick manufacturing, and lumber mills. Additionally, spiral cylinder brushes may be self-cleaning, which makes them the perfect choice for those looking to remove unwanted particles from a moving web.
- Spiral Wheel Brushes
- Consist of a solid circular base and radiating bristles. They, too, are often employed for various conveyor-related tasks, such as cleaning, dusting, lint brushing, static dissipation, surface finishing, surface roughening, and food product washing. Additionally, they are useful in paint removal, rust and scale removal, weld blending, and deburring. Wheel brushes are often capable of connection with one or more power tools, such as robotic finishing equipment, bench grinders, handheld grinder, and drills.
- Coiled Strip Brushes
- Similar to cylinder brushes and wheel brushes, coiled strip brushes, also known as rotary strip brushes, are cylindrical in shape with outward facing bristles. Typical coiled strip brush applications include material handling, glass washing, screen cleaning, lint removal, pipe cleaning, textile felting, conveyor cleaning, sorting, panel dusting, and fruit and vegetable washing.
- Twisted Knot Wheel Brushes
- The bristles of the last common spiral brush type, the twisted knot wheel brush, are made of heavy, straight tempered wire that has been twisted and grouped closely together. The configuration of these bristles allows the twisted knot wheel brush to offer heightened abrasion services. Per their abrasive nature, twisted knot wheel brushes are used for more substantial cleaning and treating processes, such as rough surface preparation, weld cleaning, and heavy flash removal.
Points to Consider When Purchasing Spiral Brushes
Because they are so frequently made with twisted-wire bristles, some people use the term "twisted-in wire brushes" interchangeably with "spiral brushes." However, this is a mistake, and spiral brushes can be fabricated using many styles other than twisted-in wire.