Resin media are also called plastic media, polyester media. It is a resin abrasive media specially used for deburring, descaling, deflashing, derusting, charmfering, finishing for product parts and workpieces made of soft metal or non-metallic materials.
Parts made of aluminum, copper, zinc, plastic, acrylic and other materials have a soft surface texture. If they are finished with high-hardness tumbling media such as ceramic deburring media, they will leave scratches, pitting, etc. on the surface of the product. However, resin media It contains a large amount of resin, and its texture is soft and elastic, which can avoid such problems, so it is suitable for processing such products. This is also the advantage of plastic media.
The hardness of resin media is much smaller than that of brown corundum, silicon carbide, white corundum and other ceramic media, and the cutting force will be smaller accordingly. It is also easier to control the cutting force for deburring some precision parts, and it is also a very good choice for such products.
2. What are the main components of ShineTec’s resin media?
Resin media are made by mixing abrasive sand and resin in a certain proportion. Microsilica powder is the most commonly used abrasive sand for resin media, and there are also formulas that add zirconia, corundum sand, alumina powder, etc. Among them, the type, particle size and content percentage of abrasive sand are the key factors affecting the finishing and polishing effect. The larger the particle size and the higher the content of the abrasive sand powder, the greater the deburring strength of the polyester media, but it cannot be higher, because the larger the particle size and the higher the content of the sand powder, the lower the wear resistance and the service life. Therefore, it is best not to use resin media for heavy cutting for a long time.
3. What can resin media be used for?
Plastic media, with their elastomer abrasive material properties, can be used in various surface treatment processes to create a low roughness on the surface of the part. It is an excellent process choice for surface pretreatment, finishing and polishing of product parts such as anodizing, coating, painting, and electroplating. The main functions are as follows:
3.1 Deburring. The surface of product parts is finished to remove defects such as burrs, flash, edges, quick-cutting, pouring gates, etc.
3.2 Descaling. When metal materials are exposed to the air for a long time, an oxide film will form on the surface. For example, iron will rust, aluminum will turn black, copper will develop patina, etc. Plastic media can be used to remove rust and scale from these products and restore the original luster of the metal.
3.3 Turning tool marks removing. Machined parts can easily leave turning marks on the surface of the product due to wear of the turning tool or position adjustment. These marks can be easily and quickly removed using plastic media, but it will not affect the product’s appearance accuracy and dimensions.
3.4 Degreasing. During the processing of parts, sludge, dirt and other dirt will adhere to the surface of the product. Manual cleaning is difficult to remove and inefficient. Using plastic media, water and finishing liquid to tumbling in a finishing machine can remove oil stains and quickly clean product parts.
3.5 Fine finishing. Parts finished with plastic media can achieve very low surface roughness. On this basis, using stainless steel media, high alumina porcelain media, zirconia media or biological abrasive media, combined with the barrel polishing process, a very bright surface effect can be obtained, even close to a mirror polishing effect.
4. How is resin media used for tumbling deburring and finishing?
Like the finishing method of other tumbling media, the vibration of the machine, high-speed centrifugal motion, eddy current rotation, barrel rotation, etc. are used to drive the plastic media to tumble and rotate together with the parts. The media rub on the surface of the product parts to remove the burrs and flash on the surface. Flash, oxide layer, rust spots, etc. are cut away to achieve polishing.
Since the texture of plastic media is softer and more elastic than ceramic media, it will not cause damage to parts made of soft materials. It is especially suitable for deburring and finishing workpieces made of aluminum alloys, copper, zinc and other products.
Plastic media finishing experience and problem solving is a process that requires long-term experience accumulation. If you don’t know how to quickly deburr and finish copper, aluminum, brass, handicrafts and other product parts to achieve the best results, what is the best brand of resin media you are looking for? Please contact us and ShineTec will provide you with professional consulting services.
5. What are the different shapes of resin media?
ShineTec’s plastic media come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The main shapes are cone, tri-star, pyramid, tetrahedron, cannonball, triangle, etc.
You need to choose the appropriate plastic media shape based on the shape of your product parts. Cones and tetrahedrons are suitable for finish general product parts and are more commonly used shapes. Cone and cannon-shaped (bullet-shaped) shapes are relatively smooth in appearance. Generally, the grooves, seams, holes, and holes of the parts will not get stuck during the finishing process. Other shapes have sharp corners. If the size is not selected properly, jamming will occur. If it gets stuck, it will take a lot of time to clean the blocked part.
Plastic media such as tetrahedrons, triangles, and tri-star shapes can finish complex-shaped product parts. The sharp corners and edges of this type of abrasive media can reach hard-to-reach parts, and this is also the reason why plastic media are not wear-resistant (compared to for ceramic media). Sharp corners are easily damaged and broken during high-speed movement. In addition, the production process of plastic media is relatively simple. They are hardened by the curing reaction of resin and abrasive sand powder, and are sintered with ceramic media at a high temperature of 1,000 degrees. The difference is several times, and the wear resistance of plastic media is definitely not as good as ceramic media.
The size of the plastic media is also a key factor affecting finishing quality. The contact area between small-sized media and parts is definitely smaller than the contact area between large-sized media and parts, and the surface treatment will be more delicate. Therefore, the finishing and polishing effect of small-sized media is better than that of large-sized media. Choose a larger size plastic media if you need to cut the part aggressively. Sometimes, you can also mix plastic media of different shapes and sizes together for use. This can be determined according to the actual condition of the part.
6. Which finishing machine is resin media suitable for?
Polyester media have the characteristics of medium and low strength cutting performance, light and soft elastic impact force, and no pollution to the surface color of the workpiece. They are widely used in machining, precision molds, auto parts, aerospace, medical equipment, mechanical parts, plastic products, 3C digital, metal casting, electronic devices, hardware parts, kitchen supplies, 3D printing, textile workpieces, powder metallurgy, electrical components, minting, jewelry, instrumentation, handicraft accessories and other industries. With professional tumbling finishing machines, large quantities of product parts and workpieces can be efficiently removed from burrs, flash, sharp edges, rust spots, flattening, rounding and other surface treatments.
8. Which parts are suitable for deburring with resin media?
The material with cutting force in polyester is abrasive sand powder such as silica powder and brown corundum, and the other main component is resin. Compared with ceramic media such as brown corundum deburring media and white corundum precision finishing media, the content of abrasive sand is lower, so polyester media are tumbling media with medium and low cutting force. It is most suitable for parts requiring medium to low cutting forces. It can be used very well to polish soft and fragile product parts. For example, workpieces made of copper, aluminum, zinc, brass and other materials.
Polyester media can also be used to deburr hard product parts such as iron, stainless steel, and alloys. However, compared with brown corundum ceramic deburring media, the finishing efficiency will be lower, it will take more time to finish, and the media wear will be higher.
For some small and medium-sized precision parts, fine finishing polyester media is the suitable finishing and polishing material. The cutting force generated by fine finishing polyester media is small, the impact on dimensional accuracy is subtle, and over-grinding will not occur.
9. What is the difference between resin media and other tumbling media?
Polyester media, like other ceramic media such as brown corundum deburring media, silicon carbide deburring media, chrome corundum finishing media, and white corundum finishing media, can be commonly used in tumbling finishing machines such as vibrating, centrifugal barrel, disc, barrel finishing and smoothing. The main differences from other abrasive media are as follows:
9.1 Differences in raw materials. In addition to corundum sand, ceramic media also include alumina powder, alumina, clay and other micro-powders. Except for corundum sand, all micro-powders naturally have a small amount of cutting force, so brown corundum deburring media can be made into heavy cutting forces. The main components of polyester media are silica powder, quartz powder, and polyester. The cutting force of these powdery sand powders is not as good as that of corundum sand, so the overall cutting force of the media is medium or light.
9.2 Differences in production processes. Ceramic media are made from various micro-powders through processes such as mixing, vacuum mud refining, shaping, cutting, and sintering. The temperature of high-temperature sintering can reach about 1300 degrees, and the hardness of the finished product is close to that of natural stone. The production process of polyester media is to mix resin, silica powder, quartz sand and other raw materials, and then make them through batching, stirring, vacuum, gelling, curing molding, demoulding and other processes. The curing temperature is about 180~190 degrees. After the finished product It has certain elasticity and low hardness. How to make the polyester media wear-resistant is to test the production process quality control level of the polyester media manufacturer.
9.3 Differences in minimum sizes. Spherical ceramic media, due to the rounding process, can have a minimum diameter of 1 mm, and for a triangular shape, with manual cutting technology, the side length can also be 2 mm. The polyester media is formed by mold casting, so the current smallest specification can be 6mm.
10. How long is the service life of resin media?
The service life of resin media depends on your usage scenario, and there is no standard wear time. Factors such as the shape and size of the parts and the shape and size of the resin media will affect the wear resistance of the media.
Resin media with sharp corners or edges will definitely have a shorter service life than media with smooth surfaces. Large-sized resin media are more wear-resistant than small-sized resin media and have a longer service life.
If you find that the finishing time is much longer than usual, or the worn media often gets stuck or blocked, you need to replace it with new resin media.
In short, compared with ceramic media, the wear resistance of resin media is much smaller, and the corresponding service life is also shorter. If you want to know where to find the best resin media or plastic media or polyester media, you might as well pay attention to our ShineTec’s resin tumbling media.
11. What is the cost of using resin media?
11.1 The price of resin media is generally more than five dollars per kilogram. As for the resin media themselves, the smaller the media, the more expensive they are. At present, domestic resin media all use manual molding, demoulding and other processes. The smaller the specifications, the lower the output, and the more expensive the price.
11.2 The more complex the appearance, the more expensive the price. Of all shapes, the cone is the easiest to demold and therefore the cheapest resin media. Pyramid shape, using a lot of materials, low demoulding efficiency, and the highest price.
11.3 Compared with brown corundum ceramic deburring media, because they have lower wear resistance, greater wear and tear, and are more expensive, the cost of use will be much higher.
12. How to choose the appropriate resin media?
There are some factors to consider when choosing the right resin media:
12.1 Determine the shape and size of the resin media. Make sure that the media does not get stuck or block the inner hole, and ensure that all parts of the internal and external surfaces of the part can be finished.
12.2 If you want to use a small-gauge resin media, you may also consider adding some larger-gauge resin media. This mixing method speeds up the finishing process. The mixing ratio of large and small media can be a 2:1 ratio.
12.3 Determine what your main needs are? If you use a large resin media, the finishing will be faster but the surface of the part will be rougher. If you are concerned about surface roughness and want a finer, smoother surface, use smaller media.
12.4 Also consider that the size of the resin media can easily separate from the finishing and polishing parts. In other words, the size of the media must be significantly different from the size of the parts, otherwise the two will be mixed together and it will be difficult to separate them.
13. What is the size of ShineTec’s resin media?
ShineTec can provide cone and tetrahedral resin media up to 100mm. Minimum size is 6mm pyramid and cannonball shaped resin media.
We can customize special sizes according to the shape and size of your product parts.
