Flap discs are manufactured from a range of different grains, each with its own properties suited to specific applications.
Alumina Oxide, red-brown in color, is the most cost-effective grain and usually reserved for light industrial or general-purpose jobs on soft metals and woods.
A more premium, high-tech grain, Zirconia, is blue-green in color and this grain self-sharpens as it wears away during application. Designed to provide high stock removal with fast cutting, this grain offers reduced heat generation with a cooler grind in the material.
Ceramic grains, offering the highest level of stock removal, and mostly red in color have precision shaped grains that self-sharpen with a unique crystalline structure, which remains sharper and more effective over a longer time period, giving the product extensive longevity. Heat generation is further reduced due to the way that the grain breaks down during usage.
Grinding Techniques manufactures the Superflex flap discs using both Zirconia, and Ceramic grains, with the Premium range featuring a flap disc containing special anti-clogging properties within the ceramic grains specifically manufactured for non-ferrous metals.
delun Abrasive flap discs come in 40, 60, 80 and 120 grit sizes and different diameters to fit standard right-angle grinders. Coarser or finer grits are available on request. A coarser grit disc is used when a quicker removal rate is essential and surface finish is less important, whereas finer grits are usually reserved for blending, smoothing and finishing operations, where surface finish is more important. They are typically used in the latter stages of the process.
Using flap discs carry a few benefits in comparison to conventional grinding discs.
As a flap disc provides a more controlled stock removal application with cooler cutting, less re-working of the piece is needed as discoloration is limited, even on heat sensitive materials where conventional grinding discs could potentially form fine hairline cracks resulting in damage on the piece, a cooler grind from the flap discs can avoid this to a great extent.
Two applications are possible with one product. An angle grinding disc has the tendency to create deep gouges due to the extremely aggressive design. A piece ground with an angle grinding disc will need to be retouched with a secondary product to improve the finish. With an abrasive flap disc, both stock removal and finishing can be done with the same product, at the same time. This reduces down time for disc changes, resulting in a reduction in overall contact time.
