Category Archives: Deburring

Accuracy is critical in many industries but in the pharmaceutical industry, accuracy or lack thereof can easily be a matter of life or death. As a result, manufacturers in the industry must have machines and parts that are accurate and dependable. Anything that’s produced on these lines must be predictable and repeatable. Those in the industry know that even the smallest alteration being off spec has the potential to produce disastrous results. As the scale of the operation grows, these tenets become even more important.

The resulting margin for error is often small. A change in calibration or quantity, a small burr or an irregularity in a part, gasket or fitting could all spell trouble. Any one of these things might be the cause of a leak, mismeasurement or an even larger problem that could completely stop production on the line. While a production stop is not good in any industry, it’s downright dangerous when experienced in the pharmaceutical industry.

Many of the pharmaceutical products produced are time-sensitive and an unexpected delay could mean an entire batch needs to be thrown away, an unfortunate waste of time and money. Not to mention how a leak or mix that’s not kept sterile could endanger workers in the process. Therefore, quality deburring machinery is an important asset to all manufacturing processes. Having reliable deburring equipment in place can add an additional layer of safety for the pharmaceutical manufacturers as more and more take on the work of medical-grade components.

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Mechanical hazards are always present within the manufacturing environment and in places of mechanical operation. These hazards pop up in any place where bits, blades and presses are in use. With so many potential dangers within the production environment, there are few things as important to a manufacturer as coming up with and maintaining continuous and repeatable safety measures. Better processes used correctly safeguard employees and the machinery they operate.

Avoid Work Stoppages

Despite instituting a host of safety precautions, including the use of safety guards, there can be still be regular safety concerns in manufacturing. These concerns come in the form of burrs on metal and some plastic products. Burrs show up as a thin ridge or area of roughness that occur through the act of cutting and/or shaping during the production process. Although small in nature, burrs can be the cause of stoppages in the production line and safety hazard to employees in the form of workplace injuries like, cuts, bruises, both minor and major.

As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that is certainly true when it comes to the practice of deburring. Any accident or injury can result in lost time and money. In the bigger picture, accidents add costs in the form of increases in company health benefits costs, product recalls and a need for redesign in some cases. One simple way companies can avoid these issues is a consistent investment in deburring processes. Throughout the manufacturing process, deburring can be a way to keep employees safe through the production of consistent, smooth, clean edges on machinery and parts.

Deburring for Safety

Deburring’s effectiveness relates to the strength of metal, making a consistent finishing process necessary. Soft and easily moldable metals have a higher tendency to burr while hard metals like cast iron are less likely to burr. Because burring projections can be difficult to see with the naked eye, it’s always a good policy to deburr whether the piece looks like it needs it or not. Even the smallest burr can carry the potential to hurt an employee through a cut or damage machinery through jamming, electrical short circuiting or burn out, cut wires and/or fractured edges.

Burrs that are not eliminated through deburring can also cause an increase in friction. Friction occurs when small pieces break off and end up inside of machinery, causing an additional safety issue and a potentially costly fix. If small pieces go unnoticed, there’s a related possibility of the machine in question could overheat without notice.

Deburring provides manufacturers with a safe, flexible and efficient system that keeps workers and equipment safe. Considered the so-called last step of the manufacturing process, deburring can also increase productivity and make the maintenance of parts and machinery easier while eliminating downtime from injuries and slowdowns on the line.

Cost-Effective Deburring

The Cleveland Deburring Machine Company (CDMC) offers reliable, consistent and repeatable deburring processes in a range of cost-effective deburring solutions. Our deburring offerings suit high-volume, repeatable processes for flexible, easy solutions. Learn why CDMC is the last word on the last step in the manufacturing process.

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We live in an age of global manufacturing. While this offers an opportunity to work with a broader range of people across the world, it also means that manufacturing standards of those products are reliant on the manufacturer doing the work. Standards of work often vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and country to country. One example of this is the determination of what’s considered “burr free.” Depending on the manufacturer and the product(s) being deburred, this could mean anything from the removal of burrs that can be seen by the human eye to stricter standards employing total product quality inspections.

What’s not always understood is that shifting definitions tend to produce very different outcomes that don’t always meet the quality and safety concerns of customers. As a trusted designer and manufacturer of deburring solutions, we at CDMC believe deburring standards should meet a stricter standard. This is not only because of the potential for burrs and sharp edges to create safety issues on the manufacturing floor, it’s because deburring is the final step in manufacturing. A step that can extend the life of machines in the plant. Safety hazards, environmental concerns and unexpected downtime in the form of broken machines do not bode well for the company, its employees or the bottom line.

Deburring Maintenance

Standardization of deburring as it pertains to the appearance of the finished product is extremely important. Thankfully, there are a range of processes such as those offered by CDMC that are designed to minimize burrs through tool and process design. Determining the right manufacturing process can help eliminate burr properties such as roughness, shape, thickness and location, in addition to eliminating the troublesome build-up of burrs on gears and sprockets.

Eliminating burrs through these various proven processes can improve edge fitting interference in product assembly, eliminate jamming of mechanisms along the assembly line, decrease wear on parts, improve seals where seams join and minimize unnecessary cuts and bruising for workers on the line. Deburring using a range of surfaces including silicon carbide and diamond brushes is a reliable way to remove troublesome burrs.

CDMC Deburring Options

Model 5000 – deburrs parallel-axis gears with consistent, repeatable results

Model 1220 – uses a large diameter nylon radial brush for ring gears up to 15” in diameter

Model 3000 – perfect for standard bevel gears up to 48” in diameter

Deburring is a critical aspect of quality manufacturing processes and one that should not ever be overlooked. Cleveland Deburring Machine Company (CDMC) offers customers around the world reliable, consistent and repeatable deburring processes.

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