Progressive miniaturization in the watch making industry, medical technology and electronics industries continue to put increased pressure on tool manufacturers: They are routinely required to produce increasingly smaller drilling and milling tools to meet the demand for high-quality machining results. But how can tools with diameters as small as 0.03mm be manufactured? The grinding wheel or other abrasive tool for the purpose of removing metal and finishing workpieces to close tolerances. Provides smooth, square, parallel and accurate workpi…" title="Powers a grinding wheel or other abrasive tool for the purpose of removing metal and finishing workpieces to close tolerances. Provides smooth, square, parallel and accurate workpi…" aria-label="Glossary: grinding machine">grinding machine experts at Rollomatic provide the answer: The GrindSmart Nano6. Since it came to market four years ago, the company's GrindSmart Nano6 has reportedly become the worldwide reference for manufacturing micro tools.

Requirements in the fields of medical technology, mold making and the processing of difficult-to-machine material provide daily challenges for machinists and tool manufacturers alike: Diameters are becoming increasingly smaller and at the same time tolerances are shrinking to zero – concentricity must be perfect and service life continuously improved. Using high-precision micro tools is the only way to successfully meet these specifications.

"Manufacturers of such drilling and milling tools know just how demanding this is," says Damien Wunderlin, Head of Marketing and Sales at Rollomatic SA in Le Landeron, Switzerland. "With our competence in grinding machine production and micro tool grinding technology, particularly with our GrindSmart Nano6, we can provide them with the ideal instrument for grinding tool diameters down to 0.03mm."

Manufacturing such small tools requires very specific parameters. Factors that often have little or no impact at all on the quality of normal-sized tools are critical when grinding a milling tool of 0.03mm diameter. For example, controlling even slight fluctuations in temperature inside the grinding machine or minimal vibrations throughout the machine base or in the grinding wheel itself are critical when addressing a tool with a diameter of 0.03mm. The slightest concentric error in the grinding wheel can put such immense pressure on a micro tool that it simply breaks.

"To avoid such errors, the grinding machine used must be a specialized model, like our GrindSmart Nano6. With its three hydrostatic axes, the 6-axis machine achieves optimum damping for example, which is a necessity in the manufacturing of micro tools," explains Wunderlin.

The hydrostatic system causes no friction in the machine guides. This provides tremendous rigidity as well as a high vibration damping effect, while simultaneously protecting the moving components against wear and allowing the machine to achieve an optimum surface finish. The fact that Rollomatic has also made the machine relatively compact is no coincidence: This keeps the travel distances short and makes it a lot easier to maintain constant internal temperature conditions at all times.

"This ensures consistently stable conditions for error-free and precise grinding processes," adds Wunderlin who goes on to say: "This allows the GrindSmart Nano6 to perform long production cycles without the operator having to intervene in a tolerance area of 0.003mm."

The PerfectArbor zero clearance flange system also permits setup of the grinding wheel flange with concentricity within 0.002mm. The patented self-centering tool guidance of the GrindSmart Nano6 produces tool concentricity of less than 0.001mm and minimizes the setup time. Changing the workpiece is also effortless: The standard automatic high-speed loading system loads and unloads the workpieces in just eight seconds. Together with its Fanuc high-performance touch screen control unit and user-friendly programming software, VirtualGrind Pro, the Rollomatic GrindSmart Nano6 is the ideal solution for the quality-conscious micro tool manufacturer.