A flap wheel is made from abrasive strips or flaps radiating from a center hub. The most common way the abrasive is held onto the hub is a glue/adhesive that bonds the flaps together as well as to the hub. There are two parts to a flap wheel: the hub and the abrasive. Flap wheels come in many different sizes and shapes. The diameter of a flap wheel can range form 1" to 20" and sometimes larger.

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What are the hubs of a flap wheel made of?

Metal - This type of hub construction for a flap wheel can be used with many different type of flaps: coated abrasive, cloth, and non-woven abrasive or felt. This hub has become an industrial standard because the high structural integrity lends itself to a wide variety of applications.

Cardboard - This is sometimes used in manufacturing flap wheels using non-woven abrasives, but rarely used for abrasive cloth due to the lower dynamic integrity with "heavier" flaps.

Re-Usable Core - This type of flap wheel construction mechanically attaches a group of flaps to the hub. It has the advantage of re-using the hubs by exchanging used abrasive loadings with new ones. It can often add noise to the operation as well as increase the windscreen effect.

What are the common materials the flaps of a flap wheel made of?

Flap wheel Material:

• Felt
• Neoprene
• Woven abrasive (most popular)
• Non-woven abrasive (most popular)
• Buff cloth

What are the two most popular abrasives used on flap wheels?

Silicon Carbide - A fused, hard synthetic crystalline abrasive for flap wheels often gray to black in color. Silicon Carbide is fast cutting and well suited to many ferrous metals. Aluminum Oxide - This is also a fused, hard synthetic crystalline abrasive for flap wheels often tan to red in color. This hard crystal structure has a tendency to slowly dull or round and is hard to fracture.

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