Empire Abrasives Hand Held Wire Brushes
What is a Wire Scratch Brush?
This is a handheld tool that is often used by welders, mechanics, painters, and metalworkers. They are most commonly made of a wooden handle with even-length wire bristles on one end of the abrasive brush that make consistent brushing easier to perform.
A hand held wooden handle wire brush is a great alternative to a wire brush for grinders or a wire brush wheel when you don’t need the full strength of a power tool or when you are working on a small area that those cannot reach.
Welder’s Toothbrushes
A subset of these handheld abrasive brushes is the welders’ toothbrush. There are less bristles on a welder’s brush, often found in a 3 column and 7 row arrangement of grouped metal wires.
The benefit of this brush is it’s smaller size that allows the operator to work on smaller jobs and get into more confined areas like tubing, engine parts, and tools.
Empire Abrasives has welders toothbrushes available in brass, carbon steel, and stainless steel.
What are Wire Brushes Used for?
There are a variety of cleaning applications for a wire hand brush ranging from industrial uses to jobs around the house. Some of the most common uses are:
- Paint Removal
- Removing light to medium rust stains
- Removing small burrs
- Eliminating Dirt
- Weld preparation
- Scratching Off Scale
- Maintenance cleaning of metal surfaces
- Removing Weld Slag
Can you use a Wire Brush on Aluminum?
Depending on the application needed, wire brushes can be used on aluminum. Welders, for example, should clean aluminum surfaces of aluminum oxide that can build up on the aluminum surface. Brass and stainless steel scratch brush can help with this.
Stainless steel is the best option since it is strong enough to clean off the aluminum oxide, but almost more importantly, doesn’t leave behind shards of metal that could cause after-rust. Brass can also be used, but isn’t always recommended since it isn’t as strong as stainless steel and can cause damage if salt water ends up on the aluminum at some point.
Brass vs Steel Brush
The three most used metals for wire brushes are brass, carbon steel, and stainless steel. Each of these has their own pros and cons that you should consider before starting your job.
Brass Scratch Brushes
Brass is the softest metal of these three choices which means it won’t work on harder surfaces, but is gentle enough to work on softer metals without causing damage. A brass brush is rust resistant meaning your tool can last longer and you won’t have to worry about flakes of the brass left behind to create a rusted surface in the future (after-rust).
An important feature of handheld brass wire brushes is that it does not generate sparks when scratching against another metal surface. This should be the choice for those working in environments where sparks can become a hazard.
Brass brushes are recommended for use with:
- Aluminum (though stainless steel is preferred)
- Brass
- Copper
- Iron
- Plastic
- Carbon steel
- Stainless steel
- High tensile alloys
- Wood
- Brick
- Stone
- Cement
- Rubber
- Fiberglass
- Paint
Carbon Steel Scratch Brushes
Carbon steel is a much stronger metal than brass and can be used to scratch/clean harder metal surfaces. It’s an extremely durable material that is more wear-resistant and more affordable than stainless steel.
Carbon steel brushes are prone to rusting, both the metal bristles and pieces of the metal that can get stuck in the scratches and divots created with the abrasive. This often leads to after-rust in non-ferrous metals like aluminum, copper, and alloys like brass. Carbon steel can also cause sparks, which should be avoided where that can become hazardous.
Carbon steel brushes are recommended for use with:
- Brass
- Copper
- Iron
- Carbon steel
- Stainless steel
- High tensile alloys
- Wood
- Cement
- Plastic
- Rubber
- Fiberglass
- Paint
Stainless Steel Scratch Brushes
Stainless steel is another strong metal abrasive brush that is perfect for working on harder metals like high tensile alloys and iron. Unlike carbon steel, stainless steel brushes do not rust and prevent contamination that causes anti-rust. It is the recommended stainless steel wire brush for welding when working with aluminum. Like carbon steel, stainless steel can cause sparks against some metals and is not recommended when that can become an issue.
Stainless steel brushes are recommended for use with:
- Aluminum
- Brass
- Copper
- Iron
- Plastic
- Carbon steel
- Stainless steel
- High tensile alloys
- Wood
- Plastic
- Rubber
- Fiberglass
- Paint
- Brick
- Stone
- Cement
What Wire Brush Removes Rust?
Technically, all metal wire brushes from Empire Abrasives are capable of removing rust from different metal surfaces. As mentioned previously, carbon steel can cause after-rust. To prevent this from happening, rust removal is often better done with brass or stainless steel handheld wire brushes.
What is After-Rust?
After-rust is a side effect of using an abrasive like carbon steel to finish, deburr, or clean non-ferrous metal surfaces. Tiny pieces of the carbon steel can get left behind in the metal surface and can oxidize over time, causing a brown or dull color to the surface you worked so hard to finish. After-rust can be avoided by using a wire brush that does not rust like brass or stainless steel.