A rotary burr is a great tool used mostly by engineers and metal fabricators. This tool rotates very fast at high speed, allowing it to cut or shape the material. Tungsten carbide rotary burrs can serve you various purposes, which includes shaping, deburring, or expanding holes.
Moreover, these burrs can work perfectly with many materials such as aluminium, steel, and stainless steel.
However, it is essential to get your hands on the right burrs to execute the tasks more efficiently.
What Are the Applications
of Tungsten Carbide Rotary Burr?
Whether you deal with small cutting, welding, or shaping tasks or carry out large model engineering projects, the use of tungsten carbide rotary burr is inevitable to you. Even more, you can use carbide rotary burrs for the deburring purposes, which include removing the burrs or extra materials and sharp edges.
Here are some of the most common applications of tungsten carbide rotary burr.
- Tool making
- Chamferring
- Model engineering
- Wood carving
- Jewelry making
- Welding
- Deburring
- Grinding
- Sculpting
Talking about the industries; well, the use of tungsten carbide rotary burr is mostly seen in automotive, aerospace, and metal forging industries.
Benefits of Tungsten Carbide Rotary Burr
Tungsten carbide rotary burrs can be suitable for all types of jobs, especially more demanding tasks. Thanks to their extreme hardness! This hardness protects these burrs from wearing out.
Furthermore, if you compare, you will notice that tungsten carbide has the edge over that high strength steel (HSS). Apart from this, tungsten carbide burrs can work better at higher temperatures, too.
Here are some of the notable benefits of tungsten carbide rotary burrs.
- It is a multipurpose burr; suitable for enlarging holes, shaping, finishing, carving, etc.
- The burr is highly durable that can last longer.
- It can give smooth performance even at high temperatures.
Choosing the Right Cut Type
The single cut and double cut are the most common cut types. However, you can also find many different cut types that can suit other metals such as brass, copper, cast iron, steel, etc.
Thus, you must first identify what kind of material you are going to work with. Once you do that, you can choose from the following cut types.
1. Single Cut
It is suitable for general tasks. It works very well on hardened steel, stainless steel, and cast iron. You can also use it for other purposes, such as deburring, milling, or stock removal.
If you perform stock removal tasks more often, especially on aluminium, then clogging is more like trouble. Well, single cut burrs ensure very less to no clogging during stock removal tasks. However, if you want smooth finishing, the double cut burrs are worth considering.
2. Double Cut
If you deal with materials like soft steels or cast iron welds that create long chips, go for this one. These carbide burrs are suitable for both non-ferrous and ferrous metals and aluminium.
Double cut burrs can ensure stable performance even if you work on non-metal materials like plastic or wood. These burrs have sharp cutting edges and are suitable for stock removal tasks.
3. Diamond Cut
This cut can provide quick metal removal and quiet cutting performance. It comes with sharp cutting edges due to its staggered and uneven tooth geometry. As a result, it is suitable for tough alloy steels.
4. Ripper Cut
If you work with non-ferrous materials such as reinforced plastics, soft steels, or aluminium, you can choose ripper cut. It can provide not only good finishing but also fast cutting operation.
5. Aluma Cut
Aluma cut (aluminum cut) carbide burrs have a unique design that allows them to perform various tasks, especially stock removal, on different materials. You can use these burrs on both soft and hard materials, including aluminum, non-ferrous metals, wood, and even reinforced plastics.
Factors to Consider When Choosing Tungsten Carbide Rotary Burr
After you finalize the type of cut that best suits your needs, you should go ahead and consider the below crucial factors.
1. Shapes
Deciding the right burr shape should be your first preference. After all, different shapes can fit different cracks and holes.
Ball Burrs: This shape is ideal for making concave cuts in the material. The ball burrs can be as small as 0.5 mm in the diameter. Thus, they are suitable for complex carving projects.
Tree Burrs: Similar to ball burrs, a tree shape burr can help you achieve concave cuts. You can use it for rounding off the corners. It comes with a pointed head that allows you to cut into complex areas more quickly.
Inverted Cone Burrs: Do you work on tasks such as backside chamfering more often? Inverted cone burrs can help you do it. These burrs are also useful for creating v-cuts.
Pointed Cone Burrs: Metal fabricators often need to work on jobs that have narrow or short angles. Pointed cone burrs can tackle with such tight contours. These burrs are suitable for outside finishing and rough edges.
Flame Shape Burrs: Flame shape burrs usually have a cross-cut, making them useful for general tasks. These burrs can perform well on almost all metals, including steel, titanium, cast iron, etc.
Cylindrical End Cut Burrs: Unlike round or ball nose burrs, cylindrical end cut burrs don’t have a flat end. Rather, they have a sharp cutting edge. You can use this burr for both cutting and finishing purposes.
Oval Burrs: As the name suggests, oval burrs have a flat, smooth top. The fluted sides and round edges make these burrs ideal for shaping tasks.
Countersink Burrs: The final shape in our list is countersink. These burrs are available in 60 and 90-degree angles. Countersink burrs can be useful in complex tasks, such as chamfering, counter-boring, or beveling.
2. Size
Tungsten carbide burrs are available in various sizes that can range from 2.4 mm to 25 mm, depending on the application. If you want to use them on smaller applications to perform more precise, smooth work, you can choose small burrs. Likewise, large burrs can help you accomplish bigger tasks, such as heavy stock removal.
You should also consider the shank size that goes into the main equipment. The shank size can range from 1.6 mm to 6 mm. So, make sure to choose the right shank and burr size.
3. Speed
Check the manufacturer’s suggestions to determine the speed at which you will use the burr. That is the correct way to get suitable RPM for each burr. It mostly depends on various factors, such as the type and size of the burr, type of material, etc.
Usually, all fabricators start at a slow speed and gradually increase it. Nevertheless, if you keep the pace too slow, chances are you will undergo burr chipping issues. Depending on the burr type and its diameter, the RPM can range from thousands or tens of thousands revolutions per minute (RPM). You can check the maximum speed in the product manual, and make sure not to exceed the given speed limit.
4. Pressure
Many engineers and fabricators get confused with how much pressure to apply while using tungsten carbide rotary burr. Well, if you expect the best results and also want to use the burr for a longer time, make sure you don’t apply excessive pressure during operation.
Excessive pressure results in burr chipping, making it smooth untimely. Moreover, it also affects the durability of the burr. Therefore, make sure you keep the pressure light.
Final Thoughts!
That’s all about choosing the right tungsten carbide rotary burr. First of all, you need to select the correct cut type of burr. After that, you can move to secondary considerations, such as shape, size, speed, and pressure.
Once you find the right tungsten carbide rotary burr, make sure you keep the burr busy in operation. In other words, don’t let it run idle for long as it can result in clogging and may also prevent the burr from jabbing into the material.