Grinding Wheel Applications

Nobler Glass has a wide range of uses in a variety of sectors. Diamond and CBN wheels can offer more precision, longer wheel life, and smoother finishes than most conventional wheels for a variety of applications, including saw and tool cutting and electrochemical grinding. Using the appropriate wheel for the task at hand is crucial for achieving success. The workpiece material, bond, and abrasive type all affect the final formula. Below is a summary of typical uses for grinding wheels to help you decide which wheel will work best for your business.

Grinding wheels made of diamond and CBN can be used for a variety of tasks, including grinding steel and creating round tools, as well as cutting tough, brittle materials like glass and ceramics. Nobler Glass keeps improving in terms of quality, accuracy, and efficiency as grinding wheel technologies advance. Some of the most popular uses for grinding wheels are mentioned below.

1. Surface grinding

For flat surfaces, surface grinding wheels are used to create smooth finishes. In machining, surface grinding is a common procedure. A grinding wheel coated in abrasive particles (such as CBN, cdx, or diamond) is usually used in this operation to remove chips of metallic or nonmetallic material from a workpiece, leaving the face smooth and flat. Our surface grinding wheels are available with numerous bonding options and a range of abrasive grains. They may also be made from six different core materials. Diamond or CBN surface grinding wheels are incredibly durable and can effectively grind materials like carbides and ceramics.

2. ECG, or electrochemical grinding

Only workpieces composed of conductive materials can be used for ECG. High-temperature alloys, chrome-nickel alloys, tool steels, and stainless steels are among the alloys with many applications. The material needs to be both electrochemically reactive and conductive. For instance, platinum is conductive but not electrochemically reactive enough for electrocardiograms. The ECG has several advantages, such as:

The most crucial aspect of eCG wheels is their burr-free cutting capability, which allows them to cut tough-to-machine materials with ease. They also grind at a relatively low temperature and don't need dressing, which means they can do away with secondary operations.

3. Centerless grinding

A centerless grinding wheel can produce incredibly smooth edges on your workpiece. The workpiece sits between a spinning grinding wheel and a regulating wheel that rotates it, supported by a work rest blade. Ceramics, magnetic materials, steel, PCD, PCBN, composites, and tungsten carbide are among the materials that are commonly ground using centerless grinding. With our six distinct bonds and selection of various cores, Nobler Glass can create centerless wheels that are specifically tailored to your requirements.

4. Periphery grinding

Periphery grinding creates a smooth surface by contacting the workpiece with the flat edge of the wheel. When performing high-precision work on tapers, straightforward flat surfaces, inclined surfaces, slots, recessed surfaces, and profiles, peripheral grinding is utilized. For peripheral grinding, diamond and CBN wheels must be able to remove a sizable amount of material with a high degree of geometrical accuracy. Eagle's peripheral grinding wheels outperform those made by our competitors in terms of q-prime rate and provide cutting tools with a superior edge.

5. Cut-off

The structures and uses of cut-off wheels, often referred to as cutting wheels, differ from those of grinding wheels. Cut-off wheels are utilized to make cuts on the workpiece's periphery. Smaller workpieces are cut at 90-degree angles by these wheels, while large workpieces are ground at a low angle by grinding wheels. As a result, cut-off wheels are much thinner than grinding wheels, allowing for more precision and cleaner cuts.

6. HVOF and hardface grinding

Hardfacing is a method of hardening the surface of metal objects to reduce wear. Metal parts often fail due to wear rather than fracture, resulting in dimension and functionality loss. Hard facing, also known as "hard surfacing," works by putting build-up or wear-resistant coatings or materials on the surface of a part. Low-alloy steels with carbon levels of less than 1% can be hardened. Stainless steels, steels, manganese, cast irons, nickel, and copper-based alloys are only a few examples.

To achieve optimum results, procedures using hoof coatings necessitate outstanding grinding wheel performance. High-velocity oxy-fuel coating is a thermal spraying process that involves spraying melted or heated materials onto a surface. If thick coatings are required, thermal spraying materials can deliver them. With such a high density and additional thickness, hoof-coated surfaces require high-performance grinding wheels for maintenance and grinding.

7. Tool and saw grinding

Eagle provides solutions for businesses that require a variety of grinding wheel applications. From service shops to filing rooms, our mission is to help you continuously enhance production. Band saws, knife sharpening, specific steel tools, and carbide tools are examples of these. Discover the advantages of using Eagle's wheels in your saw and tool operations, as well as in the woodworking sector. Click here for Grinding and Polishing Wheels.

8. Grinding with a circular tool

Drills, end mills, reamers, stepped tools, and other special-purpose tools of various geometries and designs may be used in round tool grinding. Grinding in sequential production phases produces round tool geometries. A typical sequence begins with blank preparation, followed by flute grinding, gashing, and clearance angle grinding.

The helical or straight grooves in the tool's body are referred to as flute-grinding flutes. This creates a route for chips to be removed and coolants to reach the cutting surface. The procedure of flute grinding tests the limits of what a nobler glass can do. The wheel is completely in touch with a revolving tool blank, cutting the typical flutes of an end mill or drill. Fluting necessitates the use of an aggressive wheel that can withstand the strong heat and forces created by the deep grinding zone while still keeping its profile and providing an acceptable finish.

8.1 Thrashing

Gashing is the process of grinding a slot or notch along the cutting face to allow chip flow. Gashing is a difficult technique that requires the nobler glass to keep its accurate profile while eliminating a substantial amount of material. To ensure that the tool you make is balanced, strong, and precisely suited for its duty, the right combination of bond, grit, and abrasive quality is required.

8.2 Grinding for clearing

Grinding a small clearance, or relief angle, on the face (tip) of the tool is what clearance grinding entails. In any round tool manufacturing process, clearance grinding is a vital activity. It guarantees that the tool feeds and cuts easily. To obtain the required cutter geometry, a nobler glass used for clearance grinding must keep its shape while leaving an ideal surface finish and precisely eliminating material.

9. Profiling grinding

Profile grinding can be done in both reciprocating and creep feed modes. The grinding wheel is dressed with the profile to be created throughout the procedure. The goal is to achieve the desired workpiece form and geometry tolerances. Our diamond wheels, which are available in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, are designed exclusively for the demands of profile grinders. The wheel will be designed to cut effectively while maintaining excellent edge retention, whether it has a full radius or a square edge.

10. Burr grinding

Diamond grinding wheels can be used to make carbide rotary burrs (also known as rotary files), which are used for shaping, cutting, and grinding, as well as the removal of sharp edges and superfluous material (deburring). When selecting a diamond wheel for deburring processes, it is critical to ensure that the wheel retains its shape. When a burr spins quickly, it produces a chip that slices off the material. That substance and chip enter the flute's bottom (gullet) and eject on the opposite side. The shape of the gullet is determined by the shape of the diamond wheel. If the gullet becomes rounded rather than pointed, the chip will not evacuate, resulting in a less forceful cut. Burrs are employed in a variety of industries, including medicine, ceramics, and foundry work. Burrs are an effective instrument for quickly removing debris.