Flexing

"Flexing" is defined as the finishing treatment that needs to be given to freshly produced abrasive rolls before they can be processed further into abrasive belts, abrasive sheets, abrasive discs, etc.
Abrasive rolls are so-called "coated abrasives", i.e. abrasive grains are applied to a flexible backing made of paper, cotton or plastic blended fabric and fixed in place using adhesive (bond) and a special varnish (size coat / top binding). Due to the hardness and brittleness of the top binding the abrasive is brittle and fragile right after its manufacture and not suitable for immediate use.

During the subsequent flexing process, the abrasive is pulled across a so-called flex shaft several times at different angles. This process defines and breaks up the geometry of the size coat layer, thus lending the abrasive the flexibility necessary for further processing and use.

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