Friction polishing device for polymer filament

1 . A polishing system for polishing bristles having tips, the polishing system comprising: a polishing device provided by a rotatable, conical surface and a polishing surface provided by a friction material on the rotatable, conical surface configured for polishing the tips of the bristles to partially or fully radius the tips of the bristles with a radius in the range of from about 0.0015 to 0.0090 inches, the friction material consisting essentially of aramid fibers or pulp bonded with a polyimide resin, and having a coefficient of friction of about 0.36 mu, and a static to dynamic friction ratio of about 1.05.

2 . The polishing system of claim 1 , wherein the friction material is provided as a sheet material having a thickness of from about 0.060 to about 0.080 inches adhesively secured to the rotatable surface.

3 . A method for polishing and finishing plastic brush bristles having tips, comprising the steps of: (1) providing a polishing device having a polishing surface consisting essentially of an aramid containing material; and (2) rotating the polishing device against the tips of the brush bristles to partially or fully radius the tips of the brush bristles with a radius in the range of from about 0.0015 to 0.0090 inches, wherein the polished and finished tips of the brush bristles are substantially devoid of shreds of ground plastic remaining attached to the bristles.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the brush bristles are made of extruded polyamide or polyester filament in the size range of from about 0.003 to about 0.018 inches.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the step of rotating the polishing device against the tips of the bristles comprises oscillating the polishing device around the tips of the bristles with the polishing device tilted relative to the bristles such that a portion of the friction material remains substantially tangent to a plane corresponding to a plane of the tips of the bristles.