CRATEX®

Rubber-Bonded Abrasives Product and Application Info

What is CRATEX®?

CRATEX® rubber-bonded abrasives are made of premium quality silicon carbide evenly distributed throughout a premium grade oil-resistant rubber bond. In contrast to hard grinding wheels, the CRATEX® bond offers a unique cushioned action. It resists loading and cuts smoothly without gouging into the work surface and is ideal for a broad range of applications where metallic or non-metallic surfaces must be smoothed or polished without loss of dimensional tolerances or control. CRATEX® can be used with water or typical shop coolants and will not harden or soften with age or in actual use. It is formed in high precision compression molds.

CRATEX® is used for a broad range of light deburring, smoothing, cleaning and polishing applications on ferrous and non-ferrous alloys, as well as many non-metallic objects, such as glass.

The demand for rubber-bonded abrasives is on the rise from industries like metal, steel, electrical and electronic, medical, and transportation. It’s used on production and assembly lines, in finishing operations, in tool and machine shops, in production of basic tools, instruments, components parts and for maintenance and repairs.

CRATEX® products are made in four standard grit textures or compositions which differ in accordance with the mesh size of the abrasive grain used:

• C – COARSE (Green)
• M – MEDIUM (Dark Brown)   
• F – FINE (Reddish Brown)
• XF – EXTRA FINE (Grey Green)

• LIGHT DEBURRING and smoothing to relieve stress concentrations and to remove visible and microscopic burrs without impacting surrounding areas.

• SMOOTHING and to improve wearing qualities and to reduce the dangers of progressive fracture and fatigue failure.

• CLEANING and polishing to remove undesirable surface deposits.

• POLISHING and smoothing to improve performance, appearance, cleanliness and to lessen the dangers of surface contamination.

CRATEX® products are used in various industries, and the application list is a long one: breaking edges, radiusing and polishing out high spots, removing rust, cleaning threads, smoothing the edges of punched or sheared metal, deflashing, smoothing and polishing molds, dies and other production tools, sharpening and honing of cutting dies, blades and edged tools, removing corrosion, excess solder, heat marks, cleaning and polishing contact points, jacks and electrodes, removing tool marks, scratches, light burrs, and fins, blending in welded seams after rough grinding, engine turning, damaskeening, polishing engine ports, shafts, turbine blades, smoothing glass edges, jewelry finishing, gemstone sanding and many others.

Because of endless ways to use them, CRATEX® products found their way to workshops and shelves of all kinds of craftsmen and on a diversified list of industries.  

CRATEX® Small Wheels  are available in straight edge and knife edge styles and sizes ranging from 3/8" to 1" diameter. They can be mounted on conventional portable motor tools and used on a broad list of deburring, smoothing and polishing applications. Small wheels can be used for countless operations requiring absolute control of metal removal such as in micro-deburring, relieving stress concentration areas and polishing away fatigue lines, scratches and other surface defects.

Ideal for work on dies, molds, instruments, control mechanisms, electronic parts, jewelry polishing, aerospace components, plastic articles, light castings, models, and super sensitive scientific devices. Also used by professional jewelers, gunsmiths, dental technicians, knifemakers, lapidaries, bladesmiths, silversmiths etc.

CRATEX® Large Wheels are excellent for many grinding, deburring, smoothing and polishing operations such as:

• Removing rust, heat marks, tarnish, excess solder, scratches, corrosion, removing burrs and breaking edges

• Polishing welded seams after rough grinding, polishing bearing surfaces and raceways

• Smoothing and sanding castings and punched or sheared pieces, smoothing glass edges, wet sanding of gemstones, trimming plastic articles

• Cleaning before welding or soldering; fast way to clean all unwanted surface deposits. 

Large Wheels are available in diameters ranging from 1-1/2" to 8". 

CRATEX® Shapes are the best answer to many difficult deburring, smoothing and polishing problems.

Cones are easily shaped to contour while being used or by using a Cratex conventional dressing tool and are ideal for cleaning and polishing grooves, ball corners, flares, angles and other hard to reach surfaces as well as for use on molds, dies, castings, combustion chambers and ports, stainless steel tanks, shafts, turbine blades, and many others.

Points are made in both cylinder and bullet shapes for grooves, ball corners, holes, clasps, spirals, flutes, and edges. They are widely used for polishing molds, dies, patterns and light castings, for cleaning contact points, solder spots and for relieving stress, micro-deburring, and damaskeening.

CRATEX® Blocks & Sticks are excellent hand tools for cleaning and polishing metal surfaces, for breaking edges, smoothing away high spots, removing rust, heat marks, tarnish and stains. Designed for either manual or mechanical operation, they can be mounted in tool holding fixtures, chucks, or cradles.

Available in Square, Oblong and Round options; the round sticks are the prime choice for the majority of craftsmen when it comes to engine turning.

Use them for polishing shafts, damaskeening, cleaning and dressing diamond wheels, polishing rotating cylindrical parts, cleaning calibrations and reference points, and for removing feather edges and touching up cutting tools, dies, chisels and other sharp edged tools. 

CRATEX® Kits are also available in kits each including a unique variety of items and grit textures.