Rubber deflashing is the process of removing excess material called flash, or flashing, from the surfaces of molded rubber parts. The causes of flash are numerous and include parting line mismatches, improper venting, inadequate clamping pressure, poor sprue bushing support, and excessively low viscosity. No matter what the cause, old or worn tooling is often to blame. Rubber molders can remove flash by hand, but Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deflashing offers advantages in terms of quality, consistency, versatility, and costs. The following sections answer some key questions about the benefits of our technology.
How does rubber deflashing work – and what about surface quality?
Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deflashing uses gaseous nitrogen to freeze your parts so that the flash becomes brittle and easy-to-remove. Your parts are then blasted with non-abrasive polycarbonate media that comes in different lengths and diameters to allow processing without impacting critical tolerances or surface finishes. Our deflashing process is especially efficient at removing flash from cross holes, blind holes, and other challenging geometries that are hard-to-reach with hand tools. By contrast, manual deflashing can miss flash altogether. It can also remove too much material or mar part surface finishes.
Is the quality of cryogenic deflashing consistent from part to part?
Unlike hand trimming, cryogenic rubber deflashing is computer-controlled. An operator loads a parts basket into a machine, but the deflashing process itself is automated. This ensures the consistent removal of flash from part to part. With hand trimming, rubber molders may get different results across workers, shifts, and days of the week. Because Nitrofreeze® defines and stores the optimal recipe for removing flash from your molded rubber parts, we can also provide repeatable results with each order that you send us. Through sampling, we also measure the dimensions of your parts before and after deflashing.
Which rubber materials and parts can be deflashed?
The Nitrofreeze® rubber deflashing process can be used with many different types of elastomers. Examples include butyl, EPDM, gum rubber, neoprene, nitrile (NBR, Buna-N), polyurethane, silicone, and urethane. In addition, our cryogenic deflashing technology can be used with blocks, bumper stops, eye cups, distal handles, housings, O-rings, overmolded springs, and rubber gaskets in various shapes and sizes. The bulled list below contains links to proof-of-concept case studies where you can learn more.
- Black rubber eye cups
- Molded rubber grommets
- Polyurethane gaskets
- Round silicone gaskets
- Silicone blocks
- Silicone bumper stops
- Silicone distal handles
- Silicone housings
- Silicone O-rings
- Silicone overmolded springs
How do cryogenic deflashing costs compare to hand trimming costs?
The advantages of Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deflashing include a savings on labor costs. With hand trimming, rubber molders need significant labor hours to handle high volumes of parts or remove flash from challenging geometries. Plus, even the fastest and most skilled workers can only deflash one part a time. By contrast, Nitrofreeze® rubber deflashing is a batch process that can handle tens or hundreds of parts all at the same time. At a time when good workers are hard time find, your business will also benefit from the ability to use skilled labor on activities that add greater value to your operations.
What’s the best way to get started with rubber deflashing?
Do you mold high volumes of rubber parts? Do you need to remove flash from cross holes, blind holes, or other hard-to-reach part features? Watch this YouTube video to see how the Nitrofreeze® cyrogenic deflashing works. Then contact the experts at Nitrofreeze® to review your rubber deflashing requirements. If your part is a viable candidate for our process, we can perform sampling and share the results with you. The consultation is free of charge, so contact us at the phone number and email below to get started.
(508) 459-7447 x 109 | info@nitrofreeze.com