Tungsten carbide burrs had no coatings in the early days. It takes us somewhere around the 1970s. As a result, manufacturers discerned that their burrs could last longer if they put in an extra layer. What’s more, the coating can also resist cratering. Thus, manufacturers started adding a small quantity of titanium carbide (TiC) while making burrs.
This innovation gave the desired effect. But, the more amount of TiC made the burr brittle and more delicate. Thus, they started applying a small layer of TiC on the burr’s surface. It worked like magic. That’s a story of carbide burrs and their progression.
Now, the carbide burr industry is different than what it looked like in the past. Several innovations are making the burrs much more robust. And the role of advanced technology is making these burrs comfortable to use. In short, a thin layer of coating around the burrs is giving more benefits than you would expect.
Why Is Coating Essential in Carbide Burrs?
Raincoats play an essential role during the rain. Likewise, trench coats give you the appearance of a detective. In the same manner, the coating provides so many benefits to carbide burrs. You can better understand it if processing corrosive materials are your everyday tasks.
What’s more, there come materials like chrome, tungsten, and stainless steel. So, your coating choice creates a significant impact on your rotary burr’s performance. Moreover, it determines how often you need to clean, repair, or replace the burr. In short, the right coating is quite effective in saving your money and time.
It doesn’t matter how thin the layer is on the burr. It still makes a considerable difference in burr’s performance and lifespan. This post will highlight five significant advantages of carbide burr’s coating. Let’s start!
What Are the Characteristics of Coating?
The correct surface treatment is crucial on small round tools. It improves the lifespan of a device, reduces the cycle time, and promotes desirable surface finishing. Here are the five characteristics of the coating.
Hardness:
Coating provides hardness, which results in the increment of the burr life. In other words, the harder the surface of your burr, the longer it will last. The coating of Titanium Nitride or even Titanium Carbo-Nitride is ideal. But, you can expect more surface hardness in TiCN. This coating works best on non-ferrous materials. It has greater hardness and also the ability to run at higher speeds than that of uncoated burrs.
Oxidation Temperature:
Oxidation temperature plays a crucial role in applications that work under high heat. Here, Titanium Aluminum Nitride (TiAlN) coating can prove beneficial. It can keep its hardness at greater temperatures. That’s because it has an aluminum oxide layer between the burr and the cutting chip. As we know, carbide burrs usually run at a higher speed than that of HSS. TiAlN is a perfect coating for carbide burrs that work on heavy-duty applications.
Anti-Seizure:
There are chances of chemical reactions between the burr and the cutting material. The anti-seizure property can prevent the material from dropping on the burr. A coating that contains enhanced anti-seizure properties is beneficial.
Surface Lubricity:
Several factors can cause heat during the process. As a result, coating life may decrease. But, the burr life can improve if the coating comes with a lower coefficient of friction.
Wear Resistance:
It is an important characteristic that we get to see in most carbide burr coatings. The coating must come with wear resistance ability to protect the burr against abrasion.
All of these characteristics describe the use of the high-quality coating in carbide burrs. So, let’s find out the common types of coatings.
Common Types of Coatings
Many times, you need a surface coating for many reasons. It can lessen material build-up and also reduce abrasion. What benefits you get from a coating depends on the type of coating. Thus, let’s check out some of the common types of coatings found in carbide burrs.
Titanium Nitride (TiN)
It is a general-purpose, durable PVD coating. What’s more, it has enough oxidation temperature. Besides, the enhanced hardness is another excellent aspect of this coating. This coating is quite useful if you perform cutting operations more often.
Titanium Aluminum Nitride (TiAlN)
As said earlier, TiAlN coating is much preferred if you perform high heat operations quite often. It provides enough surface hardness than other coatings.
Titanium Carbo-Nitride (TiCN)
We usually find this coating in HSS tools. But, it offers similar results in carbide rotary tools, too. It consists of carbon, which provides more hardness. What’s more, this coating offers excellent surface lubricity.
Diamond
Coatings can vary depending on applications, such as tapping, hard milling, or drilling. This coating is helpful if you work on non-ferrous materials. But, one can avoid using diamond coating while processing steel material. That’s because steel can generate more heat while cutting, which can lead to chemical reactions.
Chromium Nitride (CrN)
This coating is beneficial. At the same time, it is invisible, too. The coating comes with high anti-seizure properties. It makes this coating perfect during heavy-duty applications that generate more heat.
5 Advantages of Carbide Burr's Coating
Many manufacturers apply coatings in one of the two ways. The first way is PVD, which means physical vapor deposition. Likewise, another method is CVD, which represents chemical vapor deposition. Even so, all forms of coatings provide some expected benefits.
1. Improves Anti-Adhesion Characteristics
Surface coatings must exhibit excellent anti-adhesion properties. It helps prevent adhesions, deposits, and contaminants. Adhesion is nothing but the bonding between the two materials. There could be possible interactions between the burr and material. Thus, it is necessary to circumvent their contact to help avoid chemical reactions. The right type of coating can improve the anti-adhesion properties of the burr.
2. Allows Effective Chip Discharge
Chip discharge is a common factor while processing metals. In all machining tasks, the material releases chips during the operation. Carbide burrs with perfect coatings can allow effective chip discharge. On the other hand, it also provides smooth finishing by supporting an even chip discharge. Uncoated burrs may not be as effective in chip discharge as coated carbide burrs.
3. Lowers Thermal Loads
Thermal loads are very common during cutting operations. There generates heat due to increased temperatures during the deformation of the material. Besides, the pressure and heat can together allow a chemical reaction between the burr and material. Thus, to avoid it from happening, the carbide burrs must contain the right coating to lower thermal loads.
4. Increases Service Life
Of course, coatings are like a shield of the burr. They can improve the overall service life of carbide burrs. A protective shield often reduces the chances of break down or other damages. What’s more, a good coating can also improve the performance of burr. An uncoated burr may not last long. Otherwise, it can also lead to breaking or get damaged for various reasons.
5. Works Efficiently as Compared to Uncoated Burrs
Burrs get in contact with the material while performing different operations. In coated burrs, the coating gets in touch with the material. But, in uncoated burrs, the burr itself deals with the material, thereby decreasing the burr life. What’s more, coated burrs have a lower coefficient of friction. Thus, it generates a significantly less amount of heat during operations.
So, coated burrs seem highly beneficial if we consider factors like surface hardness, burr lifespan, durability, and performance.
Final Thoughts!
You may choose uncoated carbide burrs for many reasons. But, it might turn into an unsuitable investment. That’s because uncoated tools are prone to many failures.
Thus, you should consider buying coated carbide burrs. These burrs can stay with you for years to come. What’s more, coating characteristics can offer many other benefits that we studied in the above post. At FitCarbide, we can help you choose the right carbide burr according to your needs. You can contact us anytime!