Abrasive

== Description ==
Hard, fine particles used to polish metals, stone, wood, glass, and other materials. Naturally occurring materials used as abrasives include diamond, emery, corundum, sand, garnet, quartz, pumice, diatomite, kaolin, fuller's earth, talc, chalk, and cuttlefish bone. Manufactured materials used as abrasives include silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium dioxide, green rouge (chromic oxide), stannic oxide, cerium oxide, glass, boron carbide, boron nitride, and synthetic diamond. Abrasives are sold as powders, slurries, and as abrasive cloths, papers, and wheels. They are characterized by hardness and particle size. Their hardness can be measured on the Mohs' scale in which the diamond is rated as a 10. Mild abrasives, such as chalk and talc, have a hardness of 1-3 Mohs. Diamond and silicon carbide are hard abrasives. Particle size depends on the mesh of the sieves used for separation, i.e. a 600 grit abrasive contains particles 8 micrometers and smaller.
== Synonyms and Related Terms ==
diamond; emery; corundum; sand; garnet; quartz; pumice; diatomite; kaolin; fuller's earth; talc; chalk; cuttlefish bone; silicon carbide; aluminum oxide; zirconium oxide; titanium dioxide; green rouge; chromic oxide; tin oxide; cerium oxide; glass; boron carbide; boron nitride; steel wool; abrasive paper; lubrisil, micromesh; abrasive powder; crocus powder; jewelers rouge; rottenstone; tripoli powder; whiting; Schleifmittel (Deut.); abrasif (Fr.);
== Comparisons ==
Compound 	Names 	Chemical classification 	Source 	Color 	Hardness 	Density 	Commercial product names
NATURAL 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Diamond 	balla, bort, carbonado 	carbon 	Naturally occurring primarily in Africa, southeast Asia, South America and Australia; Synthetic-made in 1955	transparent to black 	10 	3.51-3.53	
aluminum oxide 	alumina, corundum, sapphire, ruby 	oxide 	Mineral (corundum); Synthetic-first made in 1888 	white 	9 	3.9-4.1 	Alundum®, Aloxite, Bauxilite
Emery 	corundite, emery flour, jeweler's emery, black sand 	oxide 	Natural mixture of corundum (Al2O3) and magnetite; used since ancient times 	black 	8.0-9.0 	3.7-4.3 	
silicon dioxide 	sand, silica, quartz, glass, chert, flint 	oxide 	Naturally occuring world-wide 	clear to opaque 	5.5-7.0 	2.2-2.6 	Silex
Iron oxide 	hematite, colcothar, crocus powder, ferric oxide, jeweler's rouge, optical rouge, red rouge	oxide 	Naturally occuring world-wide. Used since ancient times 	red 	5.5 - 6.5	5.25 	
whetstone 	oilstone, waterstone, snakestone, honestone, rubbing stone, coticule, Ayr stone, novaculite	silicate 	Naturally occuring world-wide; general name used for stones used to sharpen tools 	white to gray or black	5.5-7.0 	2.2-2.5 	
garnet 	pyrope, almandine, carbuncle 	silicate 	Mineral 	red 	6.5-7.5 	3.52-4.32	
pumice 	potassium aluminum silicate, pumice stone, pumicite, volcanic glass 	silcate 	Natural volcanic mineral-used since ancient times 	gray 	6.0-6.5 	0.64 	
Diatomite 	diatomaceous earth, fossil flour, siliceous earth, infusorial earth, celite, kieselguhr 	silicate 	Fossilized remains of diatoms 	gray 	6.0-6.5 	1.9-2.35 	Snow Floss, Celite®, Sil-O-Cel, Super-Cel, Kenite®, Diactiv®, Primisil®
kaolin 	kaolinite, China clay, Devonshire clay, bolus alba, procelain clay, argilla, fuller's earth	silicate 	Naturally occuring world-wide 	white 	2.0 - 2.5	2.6-2.63 	
talc 	talcum, soapstone, steatite, asbestine, tailors chalk 	silicate 	Naturally occurring world-wide 	white, gray or green 	1.0 	2.5-2.8 	
staurolite 	 	silicate 	Naturally occurring mineral in Switzerland and Georgia (USA) 	reddish brown to black	7-7.5 	3.6-3.8 	
feldspar 	plagioclase, anorthoclase, orthoclase, microcline 	silicate 	Naturally occurring mineral 	whitish 	6-6.5 	2.56 	
stannic oxide 	putty powder, jeweler's putty, tin dioxide 	oxide 	Mineral (cassiterite); 	white 	6.0-7.0 	6.6-6.9 	
rottenstone 	rotten stone, tripoli 	mix of limestone and silicate	Naturally occurring mineral - extensively from South Wales. 	reddish-brown 	3.0-6.0 	2.0-3.0 	
calcium carbonate	chalk, whiting, calcite 	carbonate 	Naturally occurring in most part's of the world as marble, limestone, and sea shells 	white 	3.0 	2.71 	
Plant products 	Walnut shells, rice husk, dusting powder (cellulose) 	cellulose, lignin 	Naturally occurring 	light brown 	2.0 - 4.0	1.2-1.35 	Agra-grit, Agrashell
Animal products 	fish skin, shagreen, sharkskin, horsetail, horsehair, bone 	keratin, collagen 	Naturally occurring 	varies 	2.0 - 4.0	 	
SYNTHETIC 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
titanium dioxide 	titania 	oxide 	Mineral (rutile); Synthetic-anatase made in 1906; rutile made in 1938 	white 	6.0-6.5 	4.26 	Titanox; Unitane
zirconium oxide 	zircon, zirconia 	oxide 	Mineral (baddeleyite); synthetic 	white 	8.0-8.5 	5.85 	
chromic oxide 	chromia, green rouge 	oxide 	Synthetic-first made in 1809 	dull green 	8.0-8.5 	5.22 	
cerium oxide 	ceric oxide, ceria 	oxide 	Mineral (bastaenite and monazite); purified for use 	yellow to brown 	6.0-7.0 	7.22 	Ceriorouge
silicon carbide 	Carborundum 	carbide 	Synthetic-discovered in 1884; mass produced since 1893 as an abrasive 	green to black 	9.0-9.5 	3.21-3.23	Micromesh, Carborundum, Unirundum, Carbofrax
tungsten carbide 	carbide, Moissinite 	carbide 	Synthetic-first made in 1893; production started between 1913 and 1918 	gray to black 	9.0-9.5 	15.60 	
boron carbide 	black diamond 	carbide 	Synthetic-discovered in 19th c; first synthesized in 1899 	black 	9.75 	2.50 	
Metal wool 	steel wool, bronze wool 	metal 	 	metallic 	 	 	
Boron nitride 	Borazon, CBN 	nitride 	Synthetic-first made in 1957 	gold to brown 	9.5-10.5 	2.10 	Borazon
==Downloads/Print==
Properties of Common Abrasives (Excel)
== Resources and Citations ==
* Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "abrasive" [Accessed October 2, 2003].
* G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 4
* Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
* Robert Fournier, Illustrated Dictionary of Practical Pottery, Chilton Book Company, Radnor, PA, 1992
* Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
* The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
* Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrasive (Accessed Jan. 15, 2006)
* Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986
* Tom Rowland, Noel Riley, A-Z Guide to Cleaning, Conserving and Repairing Antiques, Constable and Co., Ltd., London, 1981
* Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000
Category:Materials databaseCategory:MWGCategory: Comparisons