Dictionary of Abrasive Terms

A

Abrasive Finishing Systems – That’s us. We have 30+ years of specialist abrasive experience here to provide premium abrasive products. Check us out here.

Aggression – The rate at which stock is removed from a substrate.

Air Laying – A method of manufacture of nonwoven abrasives whereby the fibre is air blown, creating a random fleece structure.

Airway Bias Mop –  A type of polishing mop constructed by cutting long lengths of material which are then wound around a central clinch ring such that multiple strip edges are shown to the workpiece.  It ensures a very consistent mop wear and reduces the ability of fibres to leave micro scratches in the surface of the workpiece.

Aluminium Oxide – An abrasive grit manufactured from refined bauxite ore. The hardness is 9.4 on the MOH’s hardness scale.

Alumino Silicate – A naturally occurring refractory material. The hardness is in the range 7 – 9 on the MOH’s hardness scale.

Alumino Zirconia – A man made grit created from the fusion of Aluminium Oxide and Zirconium. It is approximately 10% harder than the hardest aluminium oxide abrasives.

Angle Grinder – A sanding disc machine with a m.o.s. above 50 m/s.  Designed to be used for aggressive grinding operations with bonded abrasives, flap discs and coarse sanding pads.  They can now also be supplied with a variable speed control unit which will increase the grinding and finishing performance on stainless steels and non-ferrous metals e.g. the Cibo Finipower.

Anode – The positively charged electron. It is the electrode in electrolysis at which negatively charged ions,(anions) are discharged or positive charged ions are formed.

Anodising – (Anionic Oxidation) It is the reverse process of electrolysis in which oxygen released at the anode results in the formation of a coherent oxide film which is adhered to the base metal, providing a degree of corrosion protection.

Aqueous Manufacturing – The process of manufacturing nonwoven abrasives where the resin and grit is applied to the base fleece in a water based liquid.

B

Backstand – An abrasive belt machine where the belt is mounted between a contact wheel on the motor spindle and an idler pulley. See belts here.

Bauxite – A naturally hydrated form of aluminium oxide abrasives, it normally contains silica, iron oxide, titania and other impurities.

Beartex – Norton / ST Gobain brand name for nonwoven abrasives.

Belt Sander – Designed to sand and file awkward spots.

Bias Mop – see airway bias mop.

Binder – The adhesive used to bond together a product.

Body + White – In automotive manufacturing it is a common term used to describe that part of the manufacturing process where the car panels are assembled together.

Bonded Abrasives –  A general term used to describe grinding wheels and cutting discs and wheels.  Products are manufactured using a blend of abrasive grains, a binder system and various grinding aids which are bonded together under heat and pressure.

Briterite – Standard Abrasives brand name for nonwoven abrasives.

Build Up Method – A method of manufacturing PCBs by laying epoxy resin and copper tracks on top of each other.

Buffing – The smoothing of a surface by the use of a rotary flexible wheel (mop).

Burr – A small piece of material left attached to the surface of a substrate as a result of any cutting action on the substrate surface.

Burst Speed – The speed at which a wheel or brush will break. Normally 1.5 x m.o.s.

C

Carbide Burrs – For cutting away material that is unwanted.

Carding – The process of separating out individual fibres prior to the manufacture of nonwoven abrasives.

Cathode – The negatively charged electrode. The electrode in electrolysis at which the positive ions (cations) are discharged or negative ions are formed.

Centreless Polisher – A machine used for finishing tube in which the tube is passed between a polishing head, wheel or belt and a feed roller. The feed roller is set at a slight angle to the axis of the material being finished so as to impart a forward motion to the tube.

Cibo – A manufacturer of abrasive materials with expertise in finishing stainless steel. Take a look at their website here.

Cutting Disc – Ideal for construction work, cutting granite, stone and brick.

Corundum – see Aluminium oxide.

Coated Abrasives – Any abrasive product where a cloth, paper, film or vulcanised fibre has an abrasive grain bonded to the surface.  Typically this is by an electrostatic process.

Combi Unitised – New Cibo range. Designed to reduce the polishing process.

Cross- laying – A method of manufacture for nonwoven abrasives whereby the fibre is laid along the main production line at 90° to the direction of the finished product.

Convolute Wheel – An abrasive wheel made by winding nonwoven abrasive fleece around a solid core and impregnating it with an additional strengthening resin system.

Curing – The process of hardening resin using heat.D

De-burring – The process of removing burrs from a particular substrate.

De-fuzzing – The process of removing fine hairs from the surface of wood or mdf.

De-nibbing – The process of removing fine nibs off the surface of a painted/ coated surface.

Drum Sander – A polishing tool that uses both wheels and belts with an inflatable tyre.

E

Electrolyte – A conducting medium, for use in electrolysis in which the flow of current is often accompanied by the movement of matter. It is most often an aqueous solution of acids, bases or salts.

Emery – Naturally occurring abrasives containing aluminium oxide and various other compounds including silica and iron oxide. Hardness varies between 7.8 and 9 on MOH’s scale.

F

Fillet Weld – A weld across a triangular cross section. Discs for fillet weld can be found here.

Finishing Discs – Ideal for blending, refining, polishing and finishing your workpiece.

Finimaster – A drum sander ideal for creating satin finishes .

Finiteasy – For rapid finishing and polishing of fillet welds and tig welds.

Finitube – Made by Cibo it is the most ergonomic tube polisher on the market.

Finipower – A variable speed angle grinder and polisher.

Finipower in Line – An in-line linear sander which can remove weld discolouration, remove scratches and damage and restore and blend metals.

Flap Discs – For grinding and finishing stainless steel, steel and aluminium.

Friability – The ability of an abrasive grain to breakdown and provide fresh cutting surfaces.

G

Grind Ratio – The ratio of wear of a product to the quantity of a substrate in a given time.

Grind Spray – For extending the life of abrasive discs and to increase the cut speed. Grinding aids in a can.

Grinding Discs – The main use of these discs is the removal of materials suitable for metal and stone applications.

H

Hair Line – A term used in Japan for a straight line grain finishing or satin finishing of metal with abrasives.  Most commonly refers to stainless steel satin finishing.

I

InOx – Stainless steel – a term used in continental Europe.

Inoxiclean – Satin finish restoration spray. Spray on your metal surface to brighten and de-grease satin finished surfaces.

Inoxitape – An adhesive backed stainless steel shim. Useful for sanding and finishing stainless steel surfaces to protect areas.

J

K

Keying – The process of providing a finely scratched surface on a substrate such that a surface coating will adhere effectively.

L

Lacquer – Originally this word was used to describe a coating material which dried primarily by evaporation to form a film and originally consisted of shellac or copal dissolved in alcohol. Nowadays it refers to many synthetic materials, which dry by solvent evaporation and would include many vinyl and acrylic coatings.

Lap Mop – A series of discs of material stapled together such that the edge of the discs can then be presented to a workpiece.

Lapping – A polishing process in which there is a relative motion between a soft surface in which the abrasives are bedded and the surface to be polished.

Linisher – A common term for an abrasive belt machine.  Most commonly linishers tend to be either smaller table belt linishers (abrasive belts are normally 100 or 150mm wide) or vertical abrasive belt linishers (belt width normally 25 or 50mm wide).

Loose leaf polishing mop – fixed at the centre and give a much finer finish when used with a polishing compound.  Excellent for getting into complex shapes.

Lost Wax Casting – The process of manufacturing a precision casting where a model of the finished product is made in wax then the wax model is then melted away to be replaced by the required metal.

M

Make Coat – The first layer of adhesive on coated abrasive cloth upon which the grit is laid.

M.O.S. –  Maximum Operating Speed- The fastest speed at which a product can be run safely.  n.b.  this is very different to recommended operating speed which is often significantly lower than the mos.

N

Nonwoven Abrasives – Flexible abrasives made from an open fleece nylon structure impregnated with abrasive grain.

O

Open Coated – When the grain density of coated abrasives is reduced to increase the grain spacing and thus reduce clogging.  Often an  advantage when working with soft metals and woods.

Orange Peel – In surface technology it relates to a mottled uneven appearance on the surface of a coating, resembling the surface of an orange. It is most commonly caused by either excessive atomising air pressure in the spray gun or by the spray gun being held too far from the substrate.

P

Pad / Stroke Sander – A long abrasive belt machine with an overhead abrasive belt.  The abrasive belt grinding process is applied to a workpiece with a pad applied to the rear of the belt. See belts here.

Passivation – The process of protecting a metal surface from corrosion.

PCB – Printed Circuit Board, also referred to as a Printed Wiring Board in Japan.

Peening – A steel shot or glass bead blasting treatment applied to a metal surface to improve it’s metallurgical properties.

Pickling – The process of cleaning metal in acid, usually for the purpose of removing scale or oxide.

Pig Tail – A commonly used colloquial term for a tapered spindle.

Plating – See Electroplating.

Polishing compound – material applied to a surface which removes minor imperfections with minimal cutting action.

Positive Lock Discs – A generic term for abrasives, discs attached to a mandrel by means of a locking screw thread.

Powerfile Belts – Belts made to fit on a Belt Sander.

PSA – Pressure Sensitive Adhesive.

PWB – Printed Wiring Board, also referred to as a Printed Circuit Board in Europe.

Q

R

Ra – Arithmetic mean roughness value.

Random Web – See Air Laying.

Random Web Abrasives – An alternative term for nonwoven abrasives. Often used by 3M™.

Rapid Combi Discs – Also known as RCD. Abrasive cloth with grinding aids layered with surface conditioning flaps allowing you to grind down weld seams and provide a flawless finish. Check out our range here.

Rmax – Maximum individual peak to valley height.

Rt – Maximum peak to valley height.

Rz – Mean peak to valley height.

ROS – Recommended Operating Speed- The best speed at which to operate abrasive products.  n.b.  most abrasive products only display the MOS or maximum operating speed.  As a general guide the ROS is often between 50 and 75% of MOS.

Resinoid Products – Solid abrasive products. This term usually refers to grinding discs and cut off discs.

S

Sander Polisher Machine – A disc sanding machine with a m.o.s. below 50m/s.

Sateen – a gritted abrasive compound.

Satin Finish – A term used for the straight line finishing of metals.

Scotchbrite – 3M™ brand name for nonwovens.

Section – Used in connection with bias mops and defines one length of material used in the manufacture of bias mops.

Segmented Belts – Abrasive belts manufactured with more than one joint.

Siavlies – Sia brand name for nonwoven abrasives.

Silicon Carbide – An abrasive grit manufactured by the reduction of silica by excess carbon in an electric arc furnace. Hardness is 9.6 on MOH’s scale.

Sisal – A natural fibre used for the manufacture of traditional abrasive cutting mops.

Size Coat – The second layer of adhesive on coated abrasives cloth. It is used to increase the stability of the grains and vary the cutting properties of abrasives.

Slack of Belt – A method of using abrasives where contact between a workpiece and the abrasive belt is made in an area where the belt has no support behind it.

Sleeves – A belt type ideal for Drum Sanders.

Smearing – Marks left on the surface of a substrate. It is normally caused by excessive heat build up.

Solvent Manufacturing – The process of manufacturing nonwoven abrasives where the resin and grit is applied to the base fleece in a solvent based liquid.

SPC – Statistical Process Control. A method of analysing in a simple chart format changes in a process.

Stitched Cotton Mop – the most common polishing mop used for returning a lightly damaged surface back to a bright, mirror polished finish.

Stock Removal – The action of removing material from a workpiece by an abrasive process.

Substrate – Any workpiece upon which an abrasive action is carried out.

Super Abrasives – The common term used for diamond coated abrasive products.

T

Tack Rag – A rag for the removal of extraneous dust from surfaces being prepared for a coating.

Time Saving Kits – Created by Cibo Time Saving Kits contain all the products and information you need for satin finishing to mirror polishing. Take a look at our kits here or read about them here.

Titanium – A very hard and tough metal, it is chemically and electrochemically resistant.

Toughness – The ability of an abrasive grain to continue cutting and withstanding shear and frictional forces.

Tube Polisher – Machines designed to work around corners and curves.

U

Unified Wheels – Norton abrasives term for unitised products.

Unitised (Unitized) Products – Nonwoven abrasives made by compressing sheets of abrasive fleece.

Uniweb – EAC term for nonwoven abrasives.

V

Vienna Chalk – Polishing residue remover. Used to wipe away polishing compounds.

Vibratory Finishing – A method of improving the surface finish and also deburring components in bulk by applying vibration energy to the mass of work and media.

Vitrified Wheel – A bonded abrasives grinding wheel.

W

Weld Bluing – The discolouration marks around a welded area of metal, caused by high temperature.

Weld Spatter – Small pieces of solder found around the area of a weld but not attached to the weld itself.

X / Y / Z

Zirconium Abrasives – See alumina zirconia.