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 wheel’s diameter and the manufacturer’s rating determine the speed. The grinding head can travel across a fixed workpiece, or the workpiece can be moved while the grinding 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.

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.

Specification