Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering's Grinding Doc Video Series, offers a checklist for shops contemplating a switch from aluminum oxide to CBN wheels.
About the Grinding Doc Video Series: Thanks to his work as an independent grinding consultant and the author of the "Ask the Grinding Doc" column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, Dr. Jeffrey Badger routinely receives questions about grinding from shops all over the world. Through the magazine column and this video series, he provides shops with the insight and guidance they seek.
For more information about the Grinding Doc, visit his website here.
Related Glossary Terms
- aluminum oxide
aluminum oxide
Aluminum oxide, also known as corundum, is used in grinding wheels. The chemical formula is Al2O3. Aluminum oxide is the base for ceramics, which are used in cutting tools for high-speed machining with light chip removal. Aluminum oxide is widely used as coating material applied to carbide substrates by chemical vapor deposition. Coated carbide inserts with Al2O3 layers withstand high cutting speeds, as well as abrasive and crater wear.
- cubic boron nitride ( CBN)
cubic boron nitride ( CBN)
Crystal manufactured from boron nitride under high pressure and temperature. Used to cut hard-to-machine ferrous and nickel-base materials up to 70 HRC. Second hardest material after diamond. See superabrasive tools.
- grinding
grinding
Machining operation in which material is removed from the workpiece by a powered abrasive wheel, stone, belt, paste, sheet, compound, slurry, etc. Takes various forms: surface grinding (creates flat and/or squared surfaces); cylindrical grinding (for external cylindrical and tapered shapes, fillets, undercuts, etc.); centerless grinding; chamfering; thread and form grinding; tool and cutter grinding; offhand grinding; lapping and polishing (grinding with extremely fine grits to create ultrasmooth surfaces); honing; and disc grinding.
