Why it’s important to carry out the brushing operation in the best possible way
Within the metalworking industry there are many different realities – we can in fact find the large metallurgical industry, where many of the processes are automated or performed by machinery, to the small artisan reality, where often these finishing processes are instead carried out by the skilled worker or craftsman. There are also many and varied processing phases, ranging from raw material to semi-finished products up to the finished or almost completed product. Among the most important operations that are carried out, we find that of or brushing. Also in this case maximum precision is required, because it can greatly influence the result, aesthetic but not only, of the finished product.
This type of finish has in fact many different applications. It is used to give the metal parts an opaque, homogeneous and perfectly finished look, but slightly less bright than the shiny one. It is an operation that obviously has an aesthetic function – it gives a very elegant and refined characteristic appearance, often chosen for furniture and interior design elements. But metal brushing can also have practical purposes, in all those cases in which metal tools or instruments are used that must not be too shiny, because they could disturb the eyes for example with annoying reflections.
What is brushing?
Brushing is a precision operation, very delicate, if you want to obtain a quality result. Fundamental for anyone who works metal, it is a surface finish that makes the surface of metals homogeneous, thanks to the use of variable grain abrasive brushes; it serves to bring the metals, according to the production needs, to a uniform and predefined roughness. It is a precision finish that must be performed with specific machinery and brushes; in fact, it often serves to cover any surface defects in the metal. Maximum precision is required to avoid damaging the material – stainless steel, for example, can only be brushed with stainless steel.
Brushing is generally performed after other processes, such as bending and welding. It is a finishing process, therefore one of the last to be performed, and can be used to cover the welds, or even just to leave a nice opaque effect.
What is it about?
This finish is obtained through special abrasive belts or abrasive brushes of different shapes, which have different grains and formats because the brushing levels can be of very varied intensity. For this process, waxy substances and abrasive tools are used such as specific brushes, also called wheels, with very fine grain – these are maneuvered by special machines that remove the necessary surface layer in order to eliminate any imperfection on the material.
Metals, and in general the steel to which this operation is often addressed, are very hard and resistant materials. The operation is generally performed by companies, especially the larger and more automated ones, using an automatic pallet machine, used for sheets and profiles, especially when the metal pieces are characterized by large dimensions. The type of brushing will obviously be determined by the grain of each brush, determining the characteristics of the mark obtained on the metal.
And then?
Once the brushing process is finished, you can move on to the various subsequent phases of metal processing that will lead from the raw material to the semi-finished or finished product.For example we can move on to polishing, a type of finish of even greater precision, which is used to finish the piece of metal so that it is perfectly polished, eliminating even more the roughness and obtaining a very different aesthetic effect compared to the satin / opaque.