Collection: Compressed Abrasive Wheel

A unitized wheel is made of layers of non-woven pressed and bonded together. This density lets it cut cleanly and hold an edge, where a more flexible convolute wheel would simply follow the shape.

The 7 references in the catalogue

• 3M Scotch-Brite: EXL XL-UW, Roloc CP-UR, MF-WL finishing, LD-WL convolute deburring, EXL XL-WL, EXL-XP XP-WL, DB-WL.

See also our abrasive wheels, our convolute non-woven wheels and our non-woven discs.

Unitized, wound, convolute

A wound wheel is a non-woven strip wound in a spiral. Flexible, it follows the shape and suits light deburring without affecting the geometry.

A unitized wheel is made of pressed layers. Much denser, it cuts cleanly, holds an edge and is used for sustained satin finishing and heavier deburring.

A convolute wheel is a very tight winding around the hub, in between, used for precision finishing.

The rule: the denser the wheel, the more material it removes and the less it follows shapes.

Working speed

Each wheel carries a maximum permissible speed, which is a safety limit: an overspeeding non-woven wheel breaks up and throws fragments.

Below that limit, working too fast does no good either. The non-woven heats up, the binder softens and the wheel wears without cutting. If the wheel glazes instead of biting, slow down before changing product.