BRM Reflects on 55 Years of Innovation in Surface Finishing

Over a half a century after its founding, Brush Research Manufacturing is still providing manufacturers and distributors with new and innovative ways to improve surface finishing and ensure supply chain strength.

Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM) (Los Angeles, CA) is unveiling new products, strengthening supply chains, and helping manufacturers save time and money.

Founded in 1958, this American-owned ISO 9001:2008 company is best known for inventing the Flex-Hone Tool and building it into a global brand. This year BRM will be celebrating 55 years of solving surface finishing challenges with innovative brushing technologies.

As company founder Steve Rands once said, “Keep an open mind. Experiment. Nothing improves until someone stops and questions an accepted assumption.” Today, BRM remains true to Rands’ vision by offering innovations such as new generations of Flex-Hones and other specialty abrasive brushes.

The Flex-Hone tool, BRM’s signature product, is the standard against which all other finishing tools are compared. Built with a stiff metal stem and flexible nylon abrasive filaments, the Flex-Hone removes cut, torn, or folded metal while leaving the base metal undisturbed.

Versatile and easy-to-use, this flexible hone can be used for edge blending, plateau honing, polishing and chamfer operations and can be used with manual or automated production equipment, or even a handheld electric drill.

Today, the Flex-Hone tool is sold through a worldwide network of distributors for surface finishing of everything from big diesel engines to small brass tubes in musical instruments, as well as honing the barrels and chambers of firearms and chamfering holes in critical parts used in jet engines.

BRM surface finishing solutions are also helping customers in industries such as aluminum extrusion, fluid and power, hydraulics, oil and gas, and earth moving equipment.

“All of those developments came from listening carefully to the marketplace”, says Jonathan Borden, BRM’s national accounts manager. “That means working directly with customers to provide customized solutions to their application requirements.”

Over the years, one of the biggest changes for the company has been in manufacturing processes, many of which are proprietary. Since the days almost 50 years ago when the first Flex-Hone tools were made by hand, the company has continued to invest heavily in automation and quality control systems to improve its manufacturing accuracy and efficiency.

“With advanced technologies and quality management systems you can really control the manufacturing process and that is where many of our advancements have taken place: smaller hones, tighter tolerances, and continuously improved product quality,” explains Borden. He adds, “Whatever the parameters, we’ll design a brush tool to meet the specific application in the most affordable manner”.

Today, the company is building upon a 55-year history of surface finishing success by introducing the NamPower family of disc brushes. These abrasive nylon brushes contain a combination of ceramic and silicon carbide filaments that deliver maximum burr removal rates and ideal surface finish in a single operation. The abrasive filaments work like flexible files, conforming to part contours, wiping and filing across part edges and surfaces.

The disc brushes are designed with a new tool holder that allows coolant to flow through its center for better lubricant dispersion. This permits the brush to run at greater cut depths while reducing heat generation to eliminate filament smearing, improve surface finish and promote longer tool life.

By automating their deburring operations with NamPower technology, parts manufacturers can reduce labor costs and speed high-volume parts finishing. Industries that will benefit include aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical and robotics applications.

“Innovation will always remain an important ‘pillar’ to us,” Borden says. “We are continually developing specialty abrasives that are tailored to specific applications to help optimize those applications.”

www.brushresearch.com