Grinding Equipment
Grinding is a skilled art that has
become less used in recent years due to improved machining techniques, particularly
hard turning. However, many parts must still be made by grinding because of the
extreme accuracies and surface finishes that can be produced by this process.
This section covers several types
of grinding equipment such as: Surface grinders, rotary surface or Blanchard type
grinders, Cylindrical grinders (OD, ID and Universal Grinders) Centerless
grinders, Tool & Cutter grinders, Jig grinders, plus there are many more
not listed but lumped into Misc. grinders.
Surface Grinders: This type of Horizontal Spindle machine is used primarily
to grind a work piece flat to the table by using a round grinding wheel, but there
are many other uses for a surface grinder such as: tool sharpening, form
grinding and many more.
Rotary Surface or Blanchard type
Grinding: This type of Vertical Spindle grinder is used mainly on larger
work pieces to grind a piece flat to the table, it removes material at high
rates and uses segments instead of a wheel.
Cylindrical Grinders: (CNC or Manual) These machines are primarily used to
grind the outer diameter of shaft between centers using either a plunge wheel
or an angular approach wheel. They may also have an Internal Diameter grinding
head used to grind the inside of a hollow shaft or part.
Universal Grinders: (CNC or
Manual) A variation of the cylindrical
grinder is the Universal grinder. This machine has a combination of OD (Plunge
and/or angle wheels) and ID wheels so that complex parts can be done in one set
up.
Centerless Grinders: These machines are used to grind the outer diameter of a
shaft in order to hold a precise tolerance or true a long work piece to size.
They run the work piece between two round grinding wheels in order to fixture
the part. These machines are still popular today for specialized grinding
applications and in the so called “feed-through” variation, can produce high
volumes of accurate, round components such as copier rolls, drills, mills, pins
and rotary shafts.
Tool & Cutter Grinders: (CNC or Manual) These tool grinding machines are very
flexible and can be used for many types of grinding applications. They are used
primarily to sharpen tooling for other machinery thus the name tool &
cutter grinders. They have many accessories and attachments that can be used to
fixture the part to be ground in various grinding positions, these are still
popular today.
