Manufacturing: Surface Finishing

Deburring

One of the more difficult aspects of dealing with machined parts is the task of deburring or removing the burrs left by the machining processes. Burrs are simply small pieces of material, still clinging to the edges of a newly machined part. They are often very sharp and can cause problems with handling and finishing the part so they must be removed.

There are literally thousands of methods of deburring since there are so many different variations of machining processes, part size, and part geometry. Most deburring includes somes sort of abrasive process - brushes, tumbling etc. - to remove the burrs. One of the most common methods for small parts is barrel tumbling.

Deburring is often accomplished tumbling parts in a barrel or a vibratory bowl, along with finishing media. Ceramic media is often used for steels. For softer materials, plastic media, walnut shells and other materials can be used. This type of deburring is usually confined to unfinished materials.

For materials that are already finished, such as pre-plated or pre-painted materials bulk deburring operations are not suitable, because the deburring will remove the finish along with the burrs. For these materials, other forms of deburring such as belt sanding or hand filing will have to be done with the associated higher costs.