Flap Wheel 1-1/2" x 1" Mounted Aluminum Oxide, Pack of 10

Castings are where this size lives: cleaning parting lines and sand texture out of aluminum and iron pockets, smoothing intake and exhaust ports, finishing the inside of housings, and taking weld color out of tubing in the 1-1/2" to 2-1/2" range. A 1-1/2" diameter with a full 1" face has enough flap length to follow a curved casting wall and enough width to leave a uniform surface instead of overlapping stripes.

Aluminum oxide cloth flaps on a steel 1/4" shank, pack of 10, one grit per pack from 40 to 320, available with a plain shank or a 1/4-20 thread shank. Engine builders, foundry finishing rooms, pump and valve rebuilders and fabricators working on a die grinder are the usual buyers.

• 1-1/2" x 1" face finishes curved casting walls and port interiors without leaving stripes
• Aluminum oxide cloth flaps cut aluminum, iron, steel and stainless and refresh as they wear
• Plain 1/4" shank for collets and chucks, or 1/4-20 threaded shank for mandrels
• 40 through 320 grit: casting cleanup, tool-mark removal, satin and pre-polish
• Balanced size for both die grinders and drills
• Pack of 10, converted in Anaheim, California; free shipping over $200

Which shank and which grit should you buy?

The shank is a fitment decision; the grit is a surface decision.

• Plain Shank: straight 1/4" steel shank for any die grinder with a 1/4" collet, a drill chuck or a flex shaft handpiece. Most buyers want this one.
• 1/4-20 Thread Shank: a threaded 1/4-20 stud for a mandrel, extension arbor or spindle with a matching tapped hole. Choose it when you work through an extension to reach the far end of a port or housing and want to swap wheels at the end of it.

For casting and port work the grits split into three jobs:

• 40 and 60 grit: removing as-cast texture, parting-line flash and core sand marks from aluminum and iron. The 40 will move metal in a port; use it deliberately.
• 80, 100 and 120 grit: blending the coarse scratch, cleaning machined surfaces, deburring cross-holes in ports and housings. 80 is the common first grit on a machined casting.
• 180, 240 and 320 grit: the finish grits. 180 is a good final surface for an intake port and for anything to be painted; 240 and 320 give a satin on stainless and aluminum and prepare a surface for compound on a buff.

Grit guide for castings, ports and housings

What tools does a 1-1/2" x 1" mounted flap wheel fit?

• Straight die grinders with a 1/4" collet, air or electric. The standard porting and casting tool; the 1-1/2" wheel is small enough to enter most ports and large enough to finish them quickly.
• Extended-shaft die grinders, for deep ports and long housings, using either the plain shank in the collet or the threaded shank on a 1/4-20 extension arbor.
• Right-angle die grinders with a 1/4" collet for the mouths of pockets and inside housings where a straight tool will not fit.
• Electric and cordless drills. Slower than a die grinder, which suits the finer grits and gives more control on soft aluminum.
• Flex shaft handpieces with a 1/4" chuck or collet.

Keep the shank chucked as short as the job allows. Run within the RPM marked on the wheel or your tool's rating, whichever is lower; a 1-1/2" wheel needs less speed than a 1" wheel to cut properly.

How to get the most out of it

1. Start coarse enough. On an as-cast surface a 40 or 60 grit wheel finishes the job faster and cooler than leaning on a 120. Light pressure on the right grit beats heavy pressure on the wrong one.
2. Keep the wheel moving in overlapping passes. Dwelling in one spot on aluminum digs a hollow in seconds. Sweep the full 1" face along the surface and overlap each pass by about half.
3. Let the flaps flex. Enough pressure to bend the flap tips, no more. Pressing harder stands the flaps up, burnishes the surface and tears cloth.
4. Keep the flaps trailing. Move the tool so the flap tips drag across the work. If it grabs or hops, reverse your direction of travel.
5. Blow the flaps clear. Aluminum packs the grain quickly, especially at 180 and finer. Clear the wheel with air and drop pressure rather than pressing harder.
6. Stay within the speed rating. Run at or below the RPM marked on the wheel or the tool. Overspeed throws flaps and glazes aluminum oxide.
7. Step grits one band at a time and use a fresh wheel for each step so the previous scratch actually comes out.

Use it for / don't use it for

Use it for

• Cleaning and smoothing aluminum and iron castings: pockets, bosses, parting lines, sand texture
• Porting and finishing intake and exhaust ports, water passages and manifold runners
• Deburring and satin finishing the inside of housings, pump bodies and valve bodies
• Removing weld color, scale and oxide from tubing and fittings around 1-1/2" to 2-1/2" ID
• Blending fillet welds and tool marks on steel and stainless fabrications
• Rust and paint removal in channels and around fittings during maintenance work

Don't use it for

• Hogging material out of a port; use carbide burrs or a coarser abrasive first, then this wheel to finish
• Grinding welds flush or heavy stock removal
• Cutting or slotting
• Bores much under 1-1/2", where the flaps are crushed and the tool bogs down
• Any tool that exceeds the RPM marked on the wheel

Specifications

Frequently asked questions

Related products and guides

• All flap wheels, mounted and unmounted
• 1-1/2" x 1/2" Mounted Aluminum Oxide Flap Wheels, pack of 10 (narrow face)
• 2" x 1" Mounted Aluminum Oxide Flap Wheels, pack of 10 (next size up)
• 1" x 1" Mounted Aluminum Oxide Flap Wheels, pack of 10 (smaller bores)
• Custom sanding belts made to order in about 3 days