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In the world of abrasives, there are three major categories:
- coated abrasives
- bonded abrasives
- superabrasives.
But what is the first kind coated with, what is the second kind bonded to, and what makes the third kind “super”?
Coated abrasives consist of grains of aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide, ceramic or silicon carbide bonded to paper, fabric (cotton or polyester) or fiber backing. They come in belts, discs, rolls and sheets. There are more than 30,000 kinds of coated abrasives.
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Before being transformed, coated abrasives come in the form of huge rolls
(called "jumbos"). |
Bonded abrasives (grinding, machining and polishing wheels), too, are made up of grains of aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide, ceramic or silicon carbide; however, rather than being deposited on a medium, they are laminated with a vitrified or phenolic resin bonding material. They are always in the form of grinding wheels (of which 250,000 types or sizes exist).
Finally, superabrasives involve very high-quality grains of diamond or CBN (cubic boron nitride), which are laminated with a vitrified, metal, phenolic resin bonding agent and applied to a metallic structure.
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