Carbide burrs are very strong and tough used on wood surfaces and ideal on soft metal surfaces like aluminium, silver, platinum, and steel. Carbide burrs are used in the workshop majorly for grinding, cutting, sharp edges removal, shaping of workpieces, and deburring. They are also very useful in the dental hospital as dental drills. The burrs are of 3 cuts; double, non-ferrous, and single. It also consists of different end shapes like; ball, tree, tapered, cylindrical, cone, flame, and egg/oval ends.
Uses Of Carbide Burrs
Carbide burrs are used for grinding soft metal materials.
Carbide burrs are used for making jewellery.
They are used for making symmetrical sloping edges (chamfering).
They are used for wood carving.
They are used for sculpting.
Carbide burrs are very useful in the automotive and aerospace industries.
Carbide burrs are also used in the dental hospital.
Why Do You Need To Clean Carbide Burrs
Using carbide burrs in the workshop for cutting, carving, and grinding wood, plastic or metallic materials. By doing this the particles tend to weld in the cutting teeth of the carbide burr which makes it very less effective.
Cleaning the carbide burrs with the appropriate cleaning equipment, which makes it very effective and reduces the pressure exerted.
How To Extend The Tool Life Of Carbide Burrs
It is important to obey the rules below, to extend the tool life of carbide burrs;
For hardened materials, new carbide burrs are not advisable for use.
An adequate speed should be used, to prevent the cutting teeth from being blunt.
Carbide burrs should be far away from oil, dirty matters, and water.
Carbide burrs are not meant to place on each other.
Carbide burrs are not advisable on quenched metals.
Always clean the carbide burrs with a wire brush when grinding for effective and long-lasting use.
Do not apply too much pressure when using the carbide burrs.
Ways To Clean Carbide Burrs
Cleaning the carbide burrs are very important and make it very effective when working in the workshop. They are different ways of cleaning carbide burrs, but we will list a few and explain the ways to clean carbide burrs below;
Caustic Soda Cleaning
Manual Method Using Brass Brush
Muriatic Acid
Potassium Sodium Tartrate Tetrahydrate
Thermal Method
Caustic Soda Cleaning
This method of cleaning carbide burrs is very effective, but it is time-consuming. This process requires caustic soda, water, a spoon, and a glass cup.
This method is very easy, you first put little caustic soda in a cup, add water getting to the half level of the cup and stir properly with a spoon. After preparing the solution, you then insert the carbide burrs and the aluminium welded in the cutting teeth would start to bubble out gradually.
As I said earlier, this method would take time for the aluminium to bubble out. This process can take 20 to 30 minutes to remove the aluminium covering the carbide burrs.
After 30 minutes the aluminium will bubble out and the carbide burrs will be back to normal. Remove the carbide burrs and properly dry the liquid with a towel, preferably a clean towel.
Manual Method Using Brass Wire Brush
Carbide burrs are often covered with wood particles, aluminium, and other metal materials, which makes the carbide burrs less effective. It could be cleaned manually by using a brass wire brush.
The brass wire brush does not spark when rubbed on metallic surfaces and especially carbide burrs. Brass wire is a perfect conductor of electrical energy. Brass wire is not corrosive and is suitable for environments with a continuous temperature of 300°F.
This manual method with a brass wire brush is very effective and takes a lot of time. When working in the workshop the carbide burr gets less effective due to the plastic, aluminium, and other metallic materials build-up in the cutting teeth. The particles can easily be brushed out and make the cutting teeth very sharp and very effective.
Muriatic Acid
Muriatic acid is a strong corrosive acid. The hydrochloric acid can also be called Muriatic acid, which means pertaining to salt or brine. The colourless muriatic acid is an inorganic chemical compound that has a pungent smell.
It is very important to wear safety kits when using muriatic acid to clean carbide burrs. Safety kits such as goggles and gloves.
Get a glass jar that contains muriatic acid and put the carbide burrs that have aluminium welded at the cutting teeth. The muriatic acid reacts with the aluminium particles and bubbles away the aluminium welded at the cutting teeth.
Potassium Sodium Tartrate Tetrahydrate
Potassium Sodium Tartrate Tetrahydrate can also be called Rochelle salt. The salt has an electromechanical coupling coefficient and a high piezoelectric effect. Water is mixed with potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate on a ratio of 300:1.
This mixture should be done using a glass jar, then the affected carbide burrs will be soaked in the fluid for 7 to 12 minutes; the aluminium stocked in the cutting teeth will leave the carbide burrs.
Afterwards, we dry the carbide burrs carefully with a clean dry towel or a shrink wrap gun.
Thermal Method
When using carbide burrs at the workshop, the aluminium and other metallic particles get welded to the cutting teeth of the carbide burrs, which makes it difficult to grind, carve, or to sharpen metal edges. A good way to clean the carbide burr is using a brass brush to dig out all the aluminium welded but it will take a while to dig it out.
However, carbide burrs are perfectly cleaned by heating with MAPP gas for 30 to 40 seconds melting the aluminium or plastic stocked in the cutting teeth and the rotation of 30,000RPM will allow the aluminium or the plastic particles to fly out from the carbide burr and cleaning the tool using the brass brush.
This thermal method is just using heat from the MAPP gas to melt the aluminium or plastic stocked in the carbide burrs.
Tips On Cleaning Carbide Burrs
Safety tools are very important when cleaning carbide burrs at the workshop. These are tips on cleaning carbide burrs;
Wear Safety Gloves
Wearing gloves is very essential as part of safety precautions in cleaning carbide burrs at the workshop. Gloves are worn to protect the hands from industrial hazards that can occur accidentally.
Safety gloves as the name implies, are worn when cleaning the carbide burrs to protect the hands from metallic, plastic, wood particles, and heat from the carbide burrs.
Wear Safety Goggles
Wearing of safety goggles is very important in the workshop basically for protecting the eyes region, which is very important in the engineering field.
When cleaning the carbide burrs at the workshop, face goggles are essential to protect the eyes from metallic particles and wood particles flying out from the carbide burrs.
Choose The Appropriate Cleaning Types of Equipment
When using the carbide burrs to grind or to carve wood and other metallic materials, the carbide burrs becomes less effective later on due to the covering of wood, aluminium, and other metallic particles.
They are different ways of cleaning carbide burrs due to their potentials, using the appropriate cleaning equipment is important in cleaning carbide burrs to prevent wasting of time when trying to clean.
Dry The Carbide Burrs Apart
After a thorough cleaning of the carbide burrs with caustic soda or muriatic acid, it is advisable to dry the carbide burrs with a dry towel. Carbide burrs are meant to be dried apart from each other to avoid the cutting teeth from contacting.
Conclusion
Carbide burrs are very effective for cutting, carving, sharpening edges, and grinding. The regular use of carbide burrs will make metallic particles get welded in the cutting teeth.
With the different ways listed in this article, you can clean your carbide burrs to prevent it from getting blunt as well as improve the effectiveness.
