Nylon Cylinder Brushes
Nylon filled cylinder brushes are commonly used in many applications for scrubbing, dusting, and cleaning conveyed objects or conveyor belts. Some common applications include bakery and food conveyors, plating processes, lumber mills, block and brick manufacturing, and other conveyor cleaning applications. Cylindrical nylon brushes offer the following characteristics in most applications: excellent fatigue life, good abrasion resistance, low to moderate absorption of water (3% to 9%), an excellent bend recovery rate, resistance to most common solvents, and suitability for use in weak acids.
Nylon Cylinder Brush Applications and Physical Properties
Nylon 6-12 is approved for use in cylinder brush applications with direct food-contact, while Nylon 6.6 is a medium grade of filament suitable for most dry industrial applications. Spiral Brushes Inc. uses nylon 6.6 as our regular duty filament for most industrial cylinder brush applications. Compared to nylon 6.12, nylon 6.6 has a higher moisture absorption rate at 9%. It therefore loses approximately half its stiffness when exposed to wet environments. Nylon 6.6 also has limited resistance to many common chemicals.
Nylon 6.12 is a higher performance grade for industrial and food grade cylinder brush applications with the following attributes: a significantly greater wet stiffness modulus than 6.6 nylon, resistance to petroleum distillates, benzene aromatic hydrocarbons, ethyl acetate esters, and trichloroethylene hydrocarbons. Nylon 6.12 is FDA approved for direct food contact.
Heat stabilized nylon has been post-extrusion treated to raise the temperature where the loss of physical properties becomes evident.
Conductive nylon is available for static reduction applications in both a 100% load and a lower 20% load for cost reduction. Conductive nylon can be mixed with other brush fill materials to provide static reduction along with other brushing functionality at a more economical cost.
Abrasive nylon is a hard working filament choice used extensively in powered brushes for deburring, surface finishing, edge blending, and radiusing after machining. Abrasive nylon power brush formats include: wheel brush, cup brush, end brush and powered cylindrical brush applications.
| Material Properties | 6-6 Nylon | 6-12 Nylon | Polyester | Polypropylene |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stiffness Modulus Dry | 512 | 450 | 450 | 745 |
| Stiffness Modulus Wet | 160 | 400 | 447 | 700 |
| Water Absorption % | 9% | 3% | 0.33% | 0.03% |
| Bend Recovery % | 90% | 90% | 90% | 75% |
| Softening Point (°F) | 250° | 250° | 250° | 240° |
| Melting Point (°F) | 495° | 410° | 482° | 330° |
Nylon cylinder brushes are available in both black and natural (milky clear), and on special order in a variety of colors to meet customer requirements. Both crimped and level material formats are available, but not all diameters are stocked in both formats. Crimped nylon brush fill is preferred in power brush applications to extend fatigue life, while level (non-crimped) may be preferred for brush seal applications to increase brush density. A range of filament diameters are available from 0.003″ (very fine) to 0.060″ (stiff) to suit specific applications and a variety of trim length requirements.
To learn more about nylon cylinder brushes, view our 
PDF catalog or contact us.
Mounting Options for Nylon Cylinder Brushes
- Shaft: We can manufacture a solid or tubular shaft to your drawings or specifications, or you can supply your own shaft. Shafts may include keyways as required for drive purposes. Nylon cylindrical brushes can be welded directly to the shaft or secured by means of metal clips attached to the shaft. Brushes mounted on a shaft are typically refillable as long as the shaft remains in good condition.
- Throw-Away Core: For the convenience of easy replacement, we can assemble the cylinder brush on an economical thin wall tube with end-bushings to be mounted onto the customer’s driven shaft. Rather than maintaining a spare brush on hand and returning the entire worn brush for refill, simply order a new brush and install it in the place of the old brush.
- Refillable Core: For a more economical long term solution, the core can be made from heavier wall tube and can be returned for refill multiple times. The shaft or journals may be an integral part of the core design or may be removable for ease of replacement. Refilling saves the cost of remaking the shaft or core.
- Unmounted Brush Refill: Customers may choose to buy the loose wound brush coil to mount on their own shaft or cores.
- Dynamic Balancing: For cylinder brushes operating at higher speeds, in excess of 350 to 500 revolutions per minute and depending on other considerations such as size and weight, dynamic balancing may be recommended to reduce vibration and improve the consistency of brushing action.
- Crating: Due to weight, size, and other shipping considerations, cylinder brushes over a certain size will be considered for packaging in a wooden crate which may be reused for future refill transportation purposes. This determination is made at the time of brush design, and the cost of the crate is quoted separately.
To learn more about cylinder brush mounting options, contact us.
Contact Spiral Brush for Your Cylindrical Nylon Brush Needs
Our engineers and experienced customer service associates work with you to understand the application, the material to be brushed, the desired finish, the operating environment, and the equipment on which your nylon cylinder brush will be installed. We will help you to determine the appropriate core, shaft, channel size and brush materials, establish power requirements, a recommended range of operating speed, and determine the need for dynamically balancing the cylinder brush. To learn more about nylon cylinder brushes, or to request a quote, contact Spiral Brushes today.