Casting flash and metal fines do not sit on one edge but spread out — and later they come loose by themselves.
Deburring and cleaning components with heavy burrs
1 · The challenge
Why heavy burrs are difficult to remove
Casting flash and metal fines do not sit on one edge but spread out. They do not form in machining on a defined edge, but at the parting line and at transitions — and they occur as metal fines, in the form of loose burr remnants that come loose later. Where they fall is not decided by the design engineering.
A metal fine that stays in the channel is no longer a form deviation, but residual contamination. A component with heavy burrs is thus a cleanliness case at the same time: the detached burr is a cleanliness problem, deburring and residual contamination belong together.
There is no fixed standard burr type on components with heavy burrs. Drilling burrs, cross-drilled hole burrs, intersecting-bore burrs, exit burrs, milling burrs, casting flash and metal fines occur; four of the seven sit at or in bores. What governs is the part geometry, not the designation of the burr.
The actual difficulty on a heavily burred component is not the size of the burr, but the burr root and the accessibility: where the burr starts, how firmly it sits — and whether a jet reaches it. Whether the deburring location can be reached is decided by the geometry, not by the size of the burr.
And there is a limit that belongs before the inquiry: very firmly adhering or massive burrs cannot be removed economically with the water jet — they have to be eliminated differently, by design or by production technology. We say so before the quotation, not at acceptance.
2 · Engineering considerations
What we base the system design on
- 01
Part geometry
What governs on a heavily burred component is the part geometry, not the designation of the burr. Predominantly it is about aluminum die casting; the material is rarely the decisive thing — aluminum, steel, stainless steel, brass, copper, zinc die casting and plastic can all be processed. Size and weight of the component go into the same consideration. - 02
Internal geometry
On components with heavy burrs, burr root and accessibility of the deburring location decide the concept: internal channels with cross-drilled holes and bore intersections are exactly the places where the burr forms and which cannot be reached from outside. Whether a jet can reach the place is the actual limit of the method, not the material. - 03
Workpiece fixture
On a heavily burred component, the workpiece fixture is a design component of the process: in deburring, a jet works against the component, and the clamping fixture has to absorb this force and at the same time leave every deburring location freely accessible. If the nozzles are fixed, the component has to sit exactly and repeatably in the same position; if two robots work in one cell, the fixture has to give both access at the same time. - 04
Type of contamination
In this case, burr itself is the contamination: oil, emulsion, dust, chips or burr behave differently in the process — and the amount counts as much as the type. With casting flash, it is amount and distribution that determine the task, not a single edge. - 05
Residual contamination requirement
What has to be verified on the component stands at the beginning of the system design, not at its end: the required residual contamination values act on the method, the filtration, the drying and the workpiece fixture at the same time. With heavy burrs, it is added that the detached burr itself goes into the residual contamination verification. - 06
Deburring requirement
Where a burr is involved on a component, water jet deburring is usually the better solution — the burr root lies where no tool reaches mechanically. For removing metal fines we use the term metal fines deburring; it runs via integrated robot systems, also with complicated geometry and high residual contamination requirements. - 07
Production volume
Deburred by hand, every result on a heavily burred component is a different one — what works on a test part does not carry a production run. Conversely, the same consideration applies from its other end: water jet deburring pays off at high production volumes and not at very small ones. Where a simpler deburring method is enough, we say so. - 08
Cycle time
On a component with many distributed deburring locations, the cycle time decides how the work is divided: if the sum of the locations exceeds the required cycle, that speaks for parallel processing. If, on the other hand, the time is not lost in deburring but in clamping, releasing, loading and unloading, neither a faster robot nor a second one helps.
3 · The system concepts
Which system concepts and methods come into question
Robot cell with a single robot
If the range of parts changes and the burrs sit distributed in the component, the single-robot cell can make sense: a fixture designed for one component no longer fits the next one — a movable jet guidance does. Casting flash and metal fines are among the burr types it removes.
Robot cell with two robots
If a component has many distributed deburring locations and their sum exceeds the required cycle, the dual-robot cell comes into question in particular: very short cycle times, high production output, parallel processing. The workpiece fixture then has to give both robots access at the same time.
Stationary deburring system
If always the same component runs in a fixed clamping position and fixed nozzle systems are enough, the stationary deburring machine can be the more cost-effective solution: the task is then not complexity, but repetition — the same part, the same clamping position, the same deburring locations, every time.
Rotary indexing water jet deburring system
If the deburring operation on a heavily burred component is short and the time is lost in clamping, releasing, loading and unloading, the rotary indexing water jet deburring system can come into question: loading and unloading run parallel to processing, the auxiliary time drops out of the cycle. It remains a special solution and does not belong to the three standard concepts.
Industrial Parts Cleaning
If the required technical cleanliness goes beyond what the deburring process delivers on the component, a parts cleaning system can be added downstream — designed for the same component, by the same design engineers. We develop both technologies ourselves.
The principle
Why several solutions are possible for components with heavy burrs
None of these assignments is a rule. Depending on part size, production volume and cycle time, the same burr type can demand a different machine concept — the selection is never made on the basis of a single characteristic. The three standard concepts carry three arguments that do not overlap: cost-effectiveness with identical parts, flexibility, processing performance. That is exactly why the choice is rarely unambiguous — what you see here is the consideration, not its result.
4 · What else to consider
What else has to be clarified for components with heavy burrs beyond deburring and cleaning
- 01
The water jet removes the burr, it does not shape the edge
Where a defined chamfer or radius is required on a component, another method is the right one: water jet deburring removes burrs, it does not replace machining. We say so before the quotation, not at acceptance. - 02
Too much pressure removes the burr and damages the component
On a heavily burred component, the pressure is designed according to the task, not upwards. We design the process medium as well — as a rule water, depending on the requirement with corrosion protection, cleaner or additives. All other values arise in the quotation: for special-purpose systems there are no data sheets. - 03
It is two verifications, not one
The component is inspected twice: residual burr — is the burr gone? — and residual contamination — is the part clean? Both verifications run through one contact person, but not both through the same hands: the residual contamination analysis is carried out by an independent, accredited test laboratory, not by us. - 04
Deburring and cleaning are considered together
The same jet removes the burr at the root and flushes it out of the channel; residual contamination is removed in the same process depending on the system design. Whether a component with heavy burrs is processed in one step or in two therefore changes what is decided on at all — one process step or two.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked questions about components with heavy burrs
What distinguishes casting flash and metal fines from a drilling burr?
Does the size of the burr decide the difficulty?
Are there burrs the water jet cannot remove?
Why is a component with heavy burrs a cleanliness case as well?
Do you work with the highest possible pressure?
Direct contact
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93186 Pettendorf
Pettendorf bei Regensburg
Fax +49 (0) 9409-777 3607
Technically responsible for this page: Günther Zippel — International Sales & Technical Consulting