Cartridge Rolls are typically used on inside surfaces and inside corners where other forms of abrasive cannot reach. Due to their small diameter they have to be used on high speed air tools to achieve an appropriate surface grinding speed. Typical speeds are 20,000 RPM and above. The different shapes are available to suit the application geometry. X weight aluminum oxide is the most common material with J weight sometimes chosen for increased flexibility and less aggressive cut.
Cartridge rolls also have a multi-layer coiled construction and expose sharp new cutting abrasive as each layer wears. Their shape is ideal for finishing operations, irregular concaves, contours, dead-end holes and channels. They also help with deburring, blending tool mark removal and flash removal.
They are also designed to break down during use revealing the next layer of abrasive. The backing cloth is always cotton. Because the product is designed to break down, cartridge rolls are rarely manufactured with technical grains such as zirconia or ceramic. This is because the backing breaks down before the aluminum oxide grain is fully dulled, thus the self sharpening characteristics of the technical grains is never realized during use.
