Flap wheel vs Flap Disc

In the metal fabrication industry, flap discs and flap wheels are utilized for cleaning, shaping, deburring, polishing, and finishing jobs.

What are Flap Discs?

Flap discs are designed with dense overlapping abrasive material called flaps, these flaps not only shape any metal but also provide good finishing. Coated abrasive flap discs are mainly utilized in metal fabrication, machining, agriculture, welding, and food industries.

What is a Flap Disc Used For?

A flap disc offers a similar metal removal rate as standard cutting wheels, but they might have a slow cut rate and wear out quickly. Flap discs can grind and finish metal parallelly, which means you don't need to switch between two types of discs. Effective grinding and finishing depend on the pressure you apply. For aggressive grinding, you need to apply much pressure, whereas fine finishing requires low pressure.

Flap discs with higher density last longer, but a normal density disc wear out with aggressive grinding. A quality flap disc offers longer life and avoids changing discs frequently.

Also Read: Flap Disc vs Sanding Disc

What are Flap Wheels?

Flap wheels are also one of the most useful tools for metal fabrication. Coated abrasive flap wheels are utilized for a wide range of jobs, from grinding to polishing. Flap wheels are used to grind and finish hard-to-reach areas of metal or plastic pipes and tubes. 

Coated abrasive wheels are made up of multiple abrasive sheets connected to a core. Flap wheels are used for different metalworking applications including fabrication, deburring, cleaning, polishing, and finishing.

What are Flap Wheels Used For?

Flap wheels are basically similar to flap discs (in applications), they shape metal and finish, but flap wheels are mainly designed to grind and finish hard-to-reach and corner areas where other tools can not perform. Flap wheels are available in different grits, diameters, and sizes.

Coated abrasive flap wheels are made from alumina abrasive materials, that provide consistent grinding and finishing for different metalworking processes including metal polishing, deburring, edge grinding, cleaning, and finishing for painting and rusting.

Also Read: Flap Disc vs Grinding Wheel

Advantages of Using Flap Disc and Flap Wheels

Flap discs and flap wheels are able enough to provide better polishing and finishing than grinding wheels, also both tools can perform on hard and rough surfaces. There are several other benefits of using flap disc and flap wheels:

• Ability to change the pressure as required to provide a coarser or smoother finish.
• The flap disc and flap wheel have a cooling tendency so grinding produces less heat.
• Better finish with minor gouging to enhance the luster and polished impression.
• Less vibration and less fatigue for more productive jobs.
• No extra pieces to scatter or fly off, so safe to use.
• No extra attachments.