Aircraft Deburring & Finishing Tools – CRATEX Abrasives

 
In the lack of a perfect tool for rib edge and holes finishing, a lot of aircraft enthusiasts and RV owners had to improvise (see this tread). They had to cut 1-inch Scotch-Brite wheels into quarters to create abrasives shaped as cones, so that they could use them with their Dremel. Result? Not so good. First, you'd need to spent time cutting and shaping the wheel, but most importantly, you'd use the new tool on about two or three ribs. After that, the “cone” will fall apart.

CRATEX: True Scotch- Brite Alternative

The good news is, that with CRATEX, you won't need to improvise anymore! Two types of abrasives are used for deburring and polishing of aircraft parts: rubber-bond silicon carbide abrasives (cutting or putting and edge break on parts; best suitable for aluminum) and laminate-bond brown aluminum oxide MX abrasives (blending in tooling marks and removing smeared material; best suitable for stainless steel and titanium).

The rubber-bonded abrasives come all different shapes and size, but the shapes used the most for kit plane deburring and polishing operations are: points, cones and small wheels. They are all made in four standard grit textures (coarse, medium, fine and extra fine) and two bonds: standard (cuts smoothly, freely and softly and has a unique cushioned action) and hard bond (removes burrs on hard metals but can also be used for light grinding operations).

All CRATEX abrasive bits can be mounted on conventional portable motor tools, such as Dremel to provide amazing results – precise and quick deburring and material removal. Suitable mandrels for the wheels, points and cones come in the packs of 10 and can also be ordered through our website.

CRATEX Mounted Points

Today's work required "some" #cratex bullets! They work well for blending and polishing aluminum
Double tap if you like our page!
Follow @precisiondeburringllc for more!
*
All rights and credits reserved to the respective owner(s)
#9to5 #deburring #entrepreneur
@cratexsandiego

CRATEX research and development team joined forces with industry experts to create rubber abrasive points in several dimensions and grit sizes. As a result, you now have a perfect weapon for:

• rib edge finishing,
• finishing rib tight angles,
• deburring nooks and crannies,
• hole deburring,
• deburring inside notches in flanges,
• deburring edges in lightening holes and much more.

CRATEX points are made in three shapes: bullet point, cylinder and tapered. They are available in boxes of 100 pieces or in combination with other CRATEX bits as the part of the CRATEX kits. Check out available diameters and arbor holes below!

CRATEX Mounted Cones

I used to use these to polish the edges of turbine parts to prevent cracks from forming, they worked great and gave a top notch finish. After each hydro form stage we would polish the edges of the parts with the CRATEX cones to keep them cracking on the next stage.

CRATEX cones are the perfect tools for difficult deburring, smoothing and polishing operations and easily reaching normally hard-to-reach work areas. One of the beneficial characteristics of CRATEX cones is that they can be shaped quite easily, either while being used or by using the CRATEX dressing stick.

CRATEX cones are available in four shapes: bullet point, cylinder, pointed and tapered. They are available for individual purchaser or in combination with other abrasive bits included in one of the various available CRATEX kits.

CRATEX Small Mounted Wheels

CRATEX small wheels come with two types of edges: tapered and straight edge. While the shaped edge is more suitable for fine work on small delicate parts, straight edge wheels are more suitable for a broad range of deburring, smoothing and polishing operations. They are perfect tools for all operations that require absolute control of metal removal, such as micro-deburring, polishing away fatigue lines and scratches, and relieving stress concentration areas.

The small rubber wheels can be purchased in boxes of 100 pieces or in combination with other abrasive bits included in one of the various available CRATEX kits. The available diameters range from 3/8", 5/8", 7/8" to 1". Learn more about the available arbor hole and thickness below!

CRATEX MX Abrasives

If you find that your wings need advance deburring, you can use MX abrasives. Rubber impregnated abrasives wear off faster when they are used on ticker metal surfaces. MX wheels and cones can be a perfect fit when working with harder metals, such as stainless steel and titanium. They easily remove smeared material and blend mismatch.

MX abrasives are made of brown aluminum oxide and they come in two bonds: latex and resin bond. They also come in 8 grit sizes, and can be purchased as individual unmounted wheels, mounted bits, or as a box of 24 mounted pieces

Large Grinding Wheels

For large flat wing surface, you can always use CRATEX large wheels for bench and hand grinders. 3-inch wheels are ideal for finishing and soothing wings of most RV kit planes.

CRATEX Kits

Aircraft enthusiasts and professionals across US started using CRATEX 777  and 767 KITS as Scotch-Brite alternative. Kit 767 contains 40 points (cylinder, bullet-point and tapered) in 4 grit textures: coarse (green), medium (dark brown), fine (reddish brown) and extra fine (grey green) and 4 mandrels.

Kit 777 contains 80 wheels and points assorted in standard CRATEX grit textures plus 4 mandrels for easy mounting on Dremel or CRATEX handpiece.