Anyone have opinions on Cratex products?

[John Hasler]

http://www.cratex.com/cratex-round-sticks/

 

[kd4gij]

I have used the smaller disk and cones in a drimmel thay work great for poishing and deburing.

 

[SG51Buss]

Oh, yeah. Love that stuff. Been using their dremel points and wheels for almost 40 years.
Important: Keep a color/abrasive chart with the points/wheels.

 

[Holescreek]

Depends on what you want to use them for. For some things, like de-burring and smoothing, there are better products that don't have the advertising advantage of being included in Dremel sets.

Gesswein has a lot of options, including Craytex. http://www.gesswein.com/c-48-abrasives.aspx For deburring I like the G-flex and GMX line f rotary abrasives. http://www.gesswein.com/c-55-g-flex-and-gmx.aspx One is harder than the other, I can't remember which. They can be shaped with a piece of carburundum if necessary.

 

[John Hasler]

Oh, yeah. Love that stuff. Been using their dremel points and wheels for almost 40 years.
Important: Keep a color/abrasive chart with the points/wheels.

They just list "coarse", "medium", "fine", and "extra fine". Any idea what grit those are? I'm after something to debur and polish internal 2-10 acme threads.

 

[John Hasler]

Depends on what you want to use them for. For some things, like de-burring and smoothing, there are better products that don't have the advertising advantage of being included in Dremel sets.

Could you name some? I didn't even know about the Dremel connection. I'm just looking for a way to get a good finish on acme threads and this stuff looked suitable.

 

[Holescreek]

Could you name some? I didn't even know about the Dremel connection. I'm just looking for a way to get a good finish on acme threads and this stuff looked suitable.

I added links to my post while you were typing. There are tons of alternatives, the trick is to find what works best for your application. I keep a fiber wheel permanently set up in a Dremel.

Are you talking about cleaning up an old Acme screw? I'd use a scotchbrite pad for that.

 

[John Hasler]

I added links to my post while you were typing. There are tons of alternatives, the trick is to find what works best for your application. I keep a fiber wheel permanently set up in a Dremel.

Are you talking about cleaning up an old Acme screw? I'd use a scotchbrite pad for that.

A new 2-10 nut. It will be part of an improved drawbar/chuck mechanism for my mill. I originally used a 2" pipe coupling but now that I have decent lathe I plan to do it right: the v-threads work but have too much drag.

Of course first I have to scrounge a suitable piece of steel...

 

[John Hasler]

Depends on what you want to use them for. For some things, like de-burring and smoothing, there are better products that don't have the advertising advantage of being included in Dremel sets.

Gesswein has a lot of options, including Craytex. http://www.gesswein.com/c-48-abrasives.aspx For deburring I like the G-flex and GMX line f rotary abrasives. http://www.gesswein.com/c-55-g-flex-and-gmx.aspx One is harder than the other, I can't remember which. They can be shaped with a piece of carburundum if necessary.

Thank you.

 

[SG51Buss]

A new 2-10 nut. It will be part of an improved drawbar/chuck mechanism for my mill. I originally used a 2" pipe coupling but now that I have decent lathe I plan to do it right: the v-threads work but have too much drag.

Of course first I have to scrounge a suitable piece of steel...

If this were my project, then, after cutting the acme threads, and using this pic as an example, I'd probably setup my mini toolpost grinder like this, and make 'thread cutting' polishing passes inside the nut, concentrating on the thrust side of the threads. Could use a V-edged wheel, or trim/dress a cylindrical wheel, and/or tilt the grinder to match the pitch angle of the acme thread. Or, look into the softer, more-compliant G-flex wheels mentioned by holescreek above.

As far as the colors and grit sizes go, I'm not quite sure how to answer that. Yes, these wheels have a grit of particular sizes, but the results don't really match what you'd get with sandpapers and such. Almost like a world of its own. Takes a bit of playtime to get the feel of the various grades, and how they work on different materials. This pic shows my results with the Craytex 'medium' grit on an ER32 collet. It's not a mirror finish, intentionally, because I wanted it that way.