Grinding machine

A grinding machine, often shortened to grinder, is one of power tools or machine tools used for
grinding. It is a type of machining using an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain of
abrasive on the wheel's surface cuts a small chip from the workpiece via shear deformation.

Rotating abrasive wheel on a bench grinder.

Grinding is used to finish workpieces that must show high surface quality (e.g., low surface
roughness) and high accuracy of shape and dimension. As the accuracy in dimensions in
grinding is of the order of 0.000025 mm, in most applications it tends to be a finishing operation
and removes comparatively little metal, about 0.25 to 0.50 mm depth. However, there are some
roughing applications in which grinding removes high volumes of metal quite rapidly. Thus,
grinding is a diverse field.

Overview

The grinding machine consists of a bed with a fixture to guide and hold the workpiece, and a
power-driven grinding wheel spinning at the required speed. The speed is determined by the
wheel’s diameter and manufacturer’s rating. The grinding head can travel across a fixed
workpiece, or the work piece can be moved while the grind head stays in a fixed position.

Fine control of the grinding head or table position is possible using a vernier calibrated hand
wheel, or using the features of numerical controls.

Grinding machines remove material from the workpiece by abrasion, which can generate
substantial amounts of heat. To cool the workpiece so that it does not overheat and go outside
its tolerance, grinding machines incorporate a coolant. The coolant also benefits the machinist
as the heat generated may cause burns. In high-precision grinding machines (most cylindrical
and surface grinders), the final grinding stages are usually set up so that they remove about
200 nm (less than 1/10000 in) per pass - this generates so little heat that even with no coolant,
the temperature rise is negligible.

Types

A surface grinder.

A cylindrical grinder.

These machines include the:

Belt grinder, which is usually used as a machining method to process metals and other
materials, with the aid of coated abrasives. Analogous to a belt sander (which itself is often
used for wood but sometimes metal). Belt grinding is a versatile process suitable for all kind
of applications, including finishing, deburring, and stock removal.

Bench grinder, which usually has two wheels of different grain sizes for roughing and finishing
operations and is secured to a workbench or floor stand. Its uses include shaping tool bits or
various tools that need to be made or repaired. Bench grinders are manually operated.

Cylindrical grinder, which includes both the types that use centers and the center less types. A
cylindrical grinder may have multiple grinding wheels. The work piece is rotated and fed past
the wheel(s) to form a cylinder. It is used to make precision rods, tubes, bearing races,
bushings, and many other parts.

Surface grinder, which has a head that is lowered to a work piece, which is moved back and
forth under the grinding wheel on a table that typically has a controllable permanent magnet
(magnetic chuck) for use with magnetic stock (especially ferrous stock) but can have a
vacuum chuck or other fixture means. The most common surface grinders have a grinding
wheel rotating on a horizontal axis cutting around the circumference of the grinding wheel.
Rotary surface grinders, commonly known as "Blanchard" style grinders, have a grinding head
which rotates the grinding wheel on a vertical axis cutting on the end face of the grinding
wheel, while a table rotates the work piece in the opposite direction underneath. This type of
machine removes large amounts of material and grinds flat surfaces with noted spiral grind
marks. It can also be used to make and sharpen metal stamping die sets, flat shear blades,
fixture bases or any flat and parallel surfaces. Surface grinders can be manually operated or
have CNC controls.

Tool and cutter grinder, which usually can perform the minor function of the drill bit grinder, or
other specialist toolroom grinding operations.

Jig grinder, which as the name implies, has a variety of uses when finishing jigs, dies, and
fixtures. Its primary function is in the realm of grinding holes for drill bushings and grinding
pins. It can also be used for complex surface grinding to finish work started on a mill.

Gear grinder, which is usually employed as the final machining process when manufacturing a
high-precision gear. The primary function of these machines is to remove the remaining few
thousandths of an inch of material left by other manufacturing methods (such as gashing or
hobbing).
Centre Grinding Machine

Centre grinder, which is usually employed as a machining process when manufacturing all
kinds of high-precision shafts. The primary function of these machines is to grind the centers
of a shaft very precisely. Accurate round center holes on both sides ensure a position with
high repeat accuracy on the live centers.

Die grinder, which is a high-speed hand-held rotary tool with a small diameter grinding bit.
They are typically air driven (using compressed air), but can be driven with a small electric
motor directly or via a flexible shaft.

Angle grinder, another handheld power tool, often used in fabrication and construction work.

See also

Diamond tool

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Grinder (category)

Harvey, James A. Machine Shop Trade Secrets.

Gupta, R.K. Manufacturing Engineering.

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