Deburring Aircraft Parts | CRATEX Abrasives

As you might know, building an airplane is not an easy task. The first thing you need to learn when starting to build kit planes is to deburr. Many say it is the most monotone, daunting and time-consuming process, but you can’t avoid it.

At the same time, deburring is an extremely important stage in an airplane building process. Anytime you cut an edge or a hole or you drill a hole on the aircraft metal part, you'll need to deburr it. In other words, you'll need to knock the sharp edges off – remove punch marks, polish edges and remove burrs caused by cut-off wheels or drills, as smooth edges will reduce the risk of stress cracking. The surface should be smooth, so you don’t cut your finger when pressing and running it along the metal edges.

There are three types of construction when it comes to metal kit planes: sheet aluminum, tube aluminum and steel tube, that is covered in aircraft fabric. The most prevalent aircraft construction material by all measures is sheet metal aircraft. The metal used is some sort of aluminum-alloy, as such construction is stronger, very durable, and yet lighter.

Important thing to consider when deburring aluminum are its properties and properties of burrs. As mentioned, aluminum has a high strength to density ratio, but its flexibility causes it to create burrs quite easily, and therefore, deburring is a crucial step in the process. Burrs differ depending on the location where they occur, they can be of different size, height and length, so the type of burr will dictate the deburring method and deburring tools.

Different surfaces that you'll have to deburr during the kit aircraft building process are flat edge, large hole, small drill hole and there are different tools that work best for each surface, because finishing and deburring straight edges is much easier than working on hard-to-reach corners, holes, gaps or nooks.

How to Deburr Aircraft Parts

The five common deburring methods are: manual deburring, robotic deburring, brush deburring, bonded-abrasive deburring and abrasive jet machining. Each method has its pros and cons: some methods are cheaper, but time consuming and prone to errors, some are very precise and fast, but also very expensive. For deburring aluminum sheets, manual or bonded-abrasive deburring methods are used.

#1 Manual Deburring

Manual deburring is the most widely used deburring method. It is also the cheapest method when considering the tool expenses. Deburring with a file, sandpaper or a hand deburring tool is a fast way of removing sharp edges but is also the method most prone to errors. Both sides of the sheet need to be treated.

#2 Bonded-Abrasive Deburring

This is an efficient method of removing burrs, especially if we're talking about mounted bits. Mounted points deburr both the top and the bottom edge at the same time. The downside is the abrasive dust that requires certain safety gear, and depending on the type of abrasive and bond, possibly shorter lifetime. Secondary burrs are also possible if not handled properly.

#3 Brush Deburring

This is a fast, effective and safe way to deburr, but it comes with serious health and environmental concerns due to the dust and particle emissions created by the brush. There are many different types of brushes, such as miniature brushes, tube brushes, power brushes, wheel brushes, cup brushes, mandrel mounted brushes, etc.

#4 Robotic Deburring

This is an extremely precise, accurate and fast deburring method. However, it is also very expensive, and it takes a lot of time to set up.

#Abrasive Jet Machining

Also called abrasive micro-blasting or pencil blasting. This method uses a high-speed stream of abrasive particle propelled by gas through a nozzle to remove burrs from the work parts. The main advantage is flexibility, ability to machine hard and brittle materials and low heat production. The main disadvantage is the slow material removal rate and the fact that a dust collection chamber is required.