Collection: Abrasive Brush

An abrasive brush works differently from a disc. Its filaments or flaps follow the contour of the part instead of flattening it, which lets you deburr, clean and satin-finish a complex shape without altering its geometry.

The 16 references in this range

• Scotch-Brite non-woven flap brushes: C5-ZS, CB-ZS, CF-FB, CP-MB, FF-ZS, PF-ZS, plus the Roloc versions FF-ZR and PF-ZR. See our non-woven abrasive flap brushes.
• Bristle brushes and discs: BB-ZB, BB-ZS, BD-ZB, RB-ZB, RD-ZB, whose filaments carry the abrasive within them. See our Bristle resin abrasive brushes.
• Wire brush: Osborn hand brush. See our wire brushes.

Bristle, flap or wire, three families for three jobs

A Bristle brush is made of polymer filaments loaded with abrasive along their full length. It therefore wears while keeping its performance to the end, and sheds no metal wire. It is the tool for surface cleaning and light stripping, including on parts where a steel wire would be unacceptable, such as aluminium or stainless steel.

A non-woven flap brush carries soft abrasive flaps mounted in a crown. It satins and evens out a surface finish across a wide area, and passes over edges without breaking them.

A wire brush contains no abrasive: it works through the wire itself. It strips aggressively, removes mill scale and rust, but it work-hardens the surface and can leave iron particles behind.

The stainless steel trap

Running a mild steel wire brush over a stainless steel part leaves iron particles on it. Those particles then rust in air and create corrosion spots on a part that is supposed to be stainless, sometimes weeks after the work was done.

Two solutions. Keep stainless steel brushes for stainless steel, and for nothing else. Or work with a non-woven abrasive or a Bristle brush, which deposit no metal at all.

Speed and direction of rotation

A brush spinning too fast does not work better: centrifugal force stiffens the filaments, they lose the ability to follow the shape, and they wear out faster. Every brush carries a maximum permissible speed, which must be respected, and in practice many brushes perform best well below it.

Direction matters too on an edge: attacking as you leave the part rather than as you enter it avoids snagging and throwing.