Products > Twisted Brushes > Construction & Design Info

Twisted Brush Construction & Design Info

• Detailed Information about Twisted-in-Wire Brushes
• Standard Nomenclature

Detailed Information about Twisted-in-Wire Brushes

Twisted-in-Wire brushes are commonly referred by our customer’s as tube, bottle, pipe, spiral, power or internal cleaning brushes. The diversification of twisted-in-wire brush construction makes them suitable for use by hand or used in power tools including drills, drill presses and CNC machining centers. Tanis Incorporated offers a full range of fill materials including synthetics, abrasive nylon, natural bristle and wire. We offer a vast array of stock twisted-in-wire brushes in addition to virtually any made-to-order specification.

Tailor-made to order twisted brushes offer virtually endless possibilities. There are two main materials used in making a twisted-in-wire brush: fill material and stem wire material. The next process is to specify the dimensions of the twisted brush. Specifications required are the stem construction, brush diameter, length of brush part, overall length, filament diameter, type of fill material, type of stem wire and stem wire gauge diameter and size of eye or loop end if required.

Although many twisted brushes are made with an eye or loop end they are not required. This eye or loop end is on the opposite end from the brush part. The purpose of an eye or loop end is to make the brush more user friendly to hang onto during the brushing application. Extra options include: making the brush part with a special brush tip style and/or attaching a plastic tube, steel tube, threaded coupling, hex-shank and wood or plastic handle to the stem wire.

Tanis Incorporated technical sales and engineering staff is available to assist you with your selections. Please call, fax or e-mail our staff about your twisted-in-wire brush requirements. Standard nomenclature and applications are highlighted below for your convenience. Please use our experience to design and manufacture a made-to-order twisted-in-wire brush for your application.

Back To Top

Standard Nomenclature for Twisted Brush Construction

Stem Constructions
Stem wire is twisted together to hold the filament. There are three twisted brush stem constructions to select from as illustrated:

	Single-Stem Single-Spiral - Filaments are twisted between two stem wires with a single layer of filament.
	Double-Stem Single-Spiral - Filaments are twisted between four stem wires with two stem wires on each side for additional strength and higher density fill.
	Double-Stem Double-Spiral - Filaments are twisted between four stem wires with two layers of bristles. Each layer is perpendicular to the other with a single stem wire in each quadrant. The highest brush-density and highest-strength twisted wire brush available.

Brush Diameter
The brush diameter will depend on the stem wire construction selected. Brush diameters can vary from .020” up to 8” diameter. Shorten the trim length or use a larger bristle diameter to stiffen a brush. Soften a brush and extend the life of the brush using the smallest bristle diameter appropriate for your application.

• Miniature Brushes – brush diameter is .250” or smaller and generally made with a finer stem wire. Micro-miniature brushes are available in metric from 1.0mm to 6.5mm brush diameters and standard inch sizes from .020” to .250” diameters.
• Power Brushes – brush diameter is .250” or larger and generally made with a bigger stem wire and made more rigid to be power driven in a drill, drill press or CNC machining center.
• Hand Brushes – brush diameter is .125” or larger and made with larger stem wire than the miniature brushes for manual cleaning. Some hand brushes can be power driven by cutting off the loop for more aggressive applications.

Fill Material and Length of Twisted Brush Part
The fill material selection is determined by your application. The brush part is the working function of a twisted-in-wire brush. Generally the brush part is at one end of the brush. You can elect to have the brush part centered in the brush with stem wire on either side. Another choice depending on the stem construction is having a brush part on both ends of the brush. Your made-to-order brush can have a brush part varying from 1/4” on up.

Click Brush Design Resource Center for additional information on fill materials.

Stem Material, Stem Gauge and Overall Length of Twisted Brush
Most common stem wire materials used in twisted-in wire brushes are galvanized steel and stainless steel. Another option is brass stem wire. Stem gauge is the diameter of the stem wire construction twisted together. Stem wire after the brush part is often referred to as the handle length. Overall length is measured from the tip of the brush part length to the end of the brush. An overall length can range from 3/4” on up for twisted-in-wire brushes. A plastic tube, steel tube, hex-shank, threaded coupling and wood or plastic handle can be attached to the stem wire.

End Type/Attachments for Twisted Brushes

Plastic Handle	Loop End
Wood Handle	Pipe Nipple
Steel (Metal) Handle	Cut-Off End
Plastic Tubing

Twisted Brush Tip Styles
A twisted brush offers an array of brush tip styles. The brush tip selected depends on the stem construction and fill material selected for your made-to-order brush. A twisted-in-wire brush with wire fill material is not best suited for a turned tuft brush tip. Illustrated below are the most common brush tip styles:

Continuous End

Broken End

Turned Tuft

Coated Tip

Tied Tuft

Common Applications of Twisted Brushes
General applications include cleaning, deburring, polishing, reaming, finishing or removing debris or burrs from internal non-metallic and metallic surfaces. Specific applications for twisted-in-wire brushes include:

• Cleaning internal tubing and piping
• Deburring machined and threaded holes in castings, tanks, machined parts
• Cleaning medical devices and equipment
• Cleaning laboratory equipment and beakers
• Cleaning hydraulic fittings and nozzles
• Clean electronic and computer components
• Used to dissipate lightning
• Remove gases during vacuum distillation process
• Used in removing water bubbles in air fluid control
• Clean refrigerator coils
• Clean valve guides
• Clean automotive and aircraft parts