Silicon Carbide Abrasive Wheel

Silicon carbide abrasive wheels are the ideal solution for handling harder materials like wood finishes, stone, metal and paint, while their soft surfaces include glass, rubber and plastic. Their closed coat provides optimal grain coverage with various densities to meet different application needs.

Grading describes the strength of bond that holds abrasive grains into a wheel, with harder grades holding on tighter. Removing them requires significant force.

Hardness

A grinding wheel’s hardness is determined by the strength of its bonds that connect abrasive grains together, with higher hardness grades being designated when these bonds securely grip all abrasive grains against forces that threaten to pry them loose from one another; lower hardness grades indicate looser connections where particles become easily dislodged from their perch on the wheel.

Likewise, the grit size of an abrasive wheel determines both its aggressiveness in grinding materials and how finely they finish surfaces. A lower grit number removes larger chips from metals while higher grit sizes provide finer surface finishes. Abrasive grains themselves are divided by their respective grit sizes for use on soft metals while finer grains work on harder alloys.

Aluminum oxide, a popular variety of abrasive grains, works effectively on metals such as steel and iron; however, its effectiveness quickly dulls compared with some other abrasive grains.

Silicon carbide is a sharper and brittler abrasive grain than aluminum oxide, ideal for use on nonmetallic materials with lower tensile strength such as glass, plastic and medium density fiberboard. Additionally, silicon carbide can even penetrate cast iron or soft bronze castings with ease! Some woodworking applications utilize both of these abrasives together: starting off with aluminum oxide for rough sanding before switching over to silicon carbide for the finishing stages of work.

Heat Resistance

Abrasives generate heat when grinding, which can damage workpieces. Therefore, selecting an abrasive wheel with effective heat resistance and dissipation capabilities is vital. Silicon carbide wheels offer great thermal conductivity for this purpose and quickly disperse heat quickly to lower risk and extend abrasive particle lifespan. Silicon carbide wheels make an excellent choice.

Material and grain size also play an integral part in heat resistance of an abrasive wheel. Narrower grains tend to cut metal more easily while they wear down faster than wider ones; aluminum oxide abrasives tend to be less heat sensitive than their silicon carbide counterparts and should therefore be preferred when grinding softer materials such as wood and metal.

Bonds that adhere the abrasive grains to wheels play a significant role in heat resistance, and can be made of materials like shellac, resinoids, rubber or glass-ceramic. Furthermore, this choice of bond may affect its lifespan: harder vitrified bonds tend to last longer but can limit how often new grit surfaces. Softer bonds, on the other hand, tend to break down more quickly exposing new sharp particles more often which may help maintain an even cut rate while improving precision applications.

Wear Resistance

Silicon carbide is one of the hardest materials available, rivaled only in terms of hardness by diamond and cubic boron nitride. Furthermore, this ceramic material is both relatively cheap to produce and versatile enough for many uses – particularly wheels which must endure constant cutting action over extended periods to cut materials such as steel and aluminum.

Silicon carbide wheels tend to last longer, resulting in substantial cost savings for users. Their longer lifespan means fewer wheel changes are necessary and consequently reduced consumable and maintenance expenses; additionally, their high toughness and impact resistance help maintain durability over time.

Silicon carbide abrasive wheels come in various forms depending on your specific application. Green silicon carbide for non-ferrous metals, tungsten carbide for sharpening tools in tool rooms and straight vitrified wheels are used for rough grinding applications. Zirconia alumina offers more durability than standard silicon carbide solutions when cutting soft metals like aluminum and iron.

Other types of abrasives include the CS-5 felt wheel for testing the abrasion resistance of resilient materials. This wheel features densely compacted wool felt at its core while its periphery has helical teeth which combine cutting and tear action. Adhesive sandpaper strips may also be attached to its edges in order to evaluate how CS-5 performs against different materials and coatings.

Cost

Silicon carbide abrasive materials are among the toughest available; only diamond and boron carbide surpass it in hardness. Although less costly, wheels made of this material still tend to be quite pricey to purchase.

However, they offer long life and high cutting speeds which makes them suitable for grinding metals such as cast iron, ductile iron and steel; stone and concrete; as well as other masonry materials like brick and sandstone.

Blends of silicon carbide and aluminum oxide provide optimal grinding solutions for aluminum alloys and soft alloys, offering extended lifespan and consistent performance.

Silicon carbide abrasives differ from aluminum oxide in that their grains are sharper and harder, though not as resilient due to being more fragile and having narrower shapes that wear down over time.

Our comprehensive selection of abrasive wheels features wheels crafted with various grades and densities of silicon carbide, from soft 2 density for applications that require conformability all the way up to an aggressive 8 density designed to deliver maximum cut and durability. Shop now to make the most of your abrasive wheels and ensure you use one suited to your project!