Brushed

A brushed finish is a surface treatment process that uses mechanical equipment to create a specific texture and appearance on a metal surface. The process mainly involves using abrasive materials such as abrasive belts or emery to grind the metal surface, creating a uniform brushed texture.
As one of the commonly used CNC machining finishes, a brushed finish can be applied after machining to improve the appearance and surface feel of metal parts.

2.1. The main characteristics of a brushed finish include:

• The surface has a matte appearance with fine linear textures. The texture is visible on close inspection but is generally smooth to the touch. Compared with a polished surface, a brushed surface is more resistant to visible wear.
• The brushing process removes a small amount of material from the metal surface. For stainless steel plates, the material loss is generally around 0.1–0.2 mm. Fingerprints can also be more visible on frequently touched brushed surfaces, so regular cleaning may be required.
• Hot-rolled No.1 surfaces typically have a rough, silver-white industrial appearance and may retain rolling marks. For visible surfaces in outdoor architectural applications, a brushed finish may be applied. Cold-rolled 2B surfaces are relatively smooth and flat and may not require brushing. If electroplating is required, brushing before plating can also be used when specified.

3.1. Wide Abrasive Belt Brushing

Wide abrasive belt brushing is mainly used for flat surfaces and is particularly suitable for sheet metal. It is one of the traditional methods for producing a brushed metal finish.

3.2. Flat-Press Abrasive Belt Brushing

The workpiece is fixed on a fixture while an abrasive belt runs at high speed. A pneumatically controlled pressing block moves up and down on the back of the belt. When pressed down, the belt conforms to the workpiece surface and produces the brushed texture. This is a commonly used brushing method.

3.3. Non-Woven Roller Brushing

The workpiece is conveyed through non-woven roller brushes. The rollers rotate at high speed to create the surface texture. During brushing, the roller can operate with or without vibration, while different processing speeds can be used to produce textures of different lengths.
This method is suitable for large-area brushing and surfaces with a certain degree of curvature, such as small raised areas or lettering. It can also produce different brushed texture effects.

3.4. Centerless Grinding and Brushing

Centerless grinding can be used for brushing with non-woven abrasive wheels or abrasive belts. This method is suitable for tubular workpieces. The resulting texture is usually a short-brushed pattern, with the texture length affected by the rotation speed of the workpiece and the characteristics of the abrasive product.

3.5. Polishing Machine Brushing

A polishing machine drives a nylon wheel at a specific speed while the operator manually finishes the product surface. This method is suitable for irregular electroplated parts.

Straight Brushed Texture

A straight brushed texture is produced by mechanically rubbing the metal surface to create linear patterns. The process can help reduce the appearance of scratches on the original material surface while providing a decorative effect.
Straight brushed textures can be either long or short. Abrasive pads or metal brushes can be used to create straight or short linear patterns, while changing the brush diameter can produce different texture widths.