Grinding (Surface, Cylindrical, Tool & Cutter)

New developments in superabrasive grinding wheels help eliminate the need for dressing them.

How many times have tool manufacturers wished they could grind the slot for coolant holes, the chamfer on the end of the shank, and the pre-shaped point on drill blanks in one quick, easy automated process that is both precise and cost-effective? Rollomatic has made this a possibility by offering a new feature on the ShapeSmart NP5: an integrated CCD camera.

Meister has introduced a new series of hDD and cDD stationary dressing tools that provide comparable benefits for aluminum oxide and other conventional wheels on grinding machines that are not equipped with a rotary dresser.

The Mägerle MFP 50 5-axis CD (continuous dressing) grinding center from United Grinding Technologies Inc. has an automatic grinding wheel and tool changer. The ATC can switch the wheel or tool in 8 seconds using a swing-arm configuration.

A wheel supplier urged a shop to use a 150 mesh grit wheel to put a 0.005" radius into a part, but when the shop went from its 80 mesh grit to the smaller grit the result was horrific chatter. In fact, the shop always gets chatter from small grit wheels. For some explanation, the shop wrote to Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering's Grinding Doc Video Series, for the 36th episode of the video series.

Similar to a multitask machine, a machine tool that combines ID and OD grinding enables producing a part in one chucking.

Dear Doc: I grind fine threads into hardened stainless steel with a fine-mesh aluminum-oxide wheel. The threads are 0.8mm deep in a 5mm-dia. ID. There are three threads per part. This operation just chews through the wheel, and I get only one part before I have to dress a 0.2mm depth in my 4mm-dia. wheel. What am I doing wrong?

Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine's Grinding Doc Video Series, takes a closer look at a string of photos he has taken at extreme magnifications to better understand what's happening to the wheel surface in a variety of grinding applications. He shares a number of those photos in the 35th episode of the video series.

A shop that grinds tungsten carbide with resin-bonded diamond wheels sought help to settle a disagreement over how hard to stick the wheel. Now that there are machines with auto-stickers, shop staffers are even more confused. Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine's Grinding Doc Video Series, offers some suggestions in the 34th episode of the video series.

A metalworking products review, as published in the October 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

This Look Ahead item features a CNC gear honing machine that uses a honing wheel with external teeth and reduces the number of process stages.

CGW-Camel Grinding Wheels introduces Green Grind, a high-performance, depressed-center grinding wheel.