Polishing Equipment

Polishing Equipment

Polishing Equipment - Polishing is done on abrasive belt machines i.e. on bench or floor stand type machines equipped with a polishing wheel. Because most abrasive belts and polishing wheels are flexible, they will readily conform to the shape of the work piece.

Polishing wheels are made up of disks of cotton cloth, canvas, leather, felt etc., glued or selled together to provide the required face width and are often reinforced with metal side plates. These wheels are coated with glue or a cold cement and immediately rolled in a through containing abrasive grains.

After drying, a second application of glue and abrasive may be given. When the wheel is dry, the hard abrasive coated surface is cracked by striking diagonally across the wheel face with an iron bar.

This action breaks up the layer of glue and abrasive into small areas that provide flexibility and good polishing action to the wheel. Aluminium oxide and silicon carbide of various grit sizes are used as abrasives. Polishing wheels operate at a speed between 1000 and 1500 m per minute.

In some cases belt is preferred over wheels, because a belt may have from 34 times the abrasive surface of a setup wheel. Moreover due to its long length, the belt cuts cooler. Setup wheels, however, will continue to be used for complex shapes that belts cannot handlenarrow grooves are an example.