Grinding Wheels

APRIL 21, 2012 LEAVE A COMMENT

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We use grinding wheels to:

Size a part accurately;

Improve the surface finish;

Generate a surface with a specific shape.

Grinding operations are often performed on very hard metals.

What are they made from?

Grinding Wheels are normally hard and brittle. They are made from one of these:

Aluminum Oxide: Used for grinding Steel

Silicon Carbide: Used for grinding cast iron, nonferrous and nonmetallic materials.
Friability: Aluminum oxide and silicon carbide are both very hard and brittle. This

Friability causes the grains to break easily. During the grinding process, each broken grain reveals a
new and very sharp cutting edge.

Diamond: Used for grinding cemented carbides, glass and ceramics.

Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) (Borazon) (ABN): Used for grinding hardened tool steels and
superalloys.

Wheel Bonds
Grinding wheel abrasive is held together with one of the following bonding materials:

Vitrified Inert and able to withstand high temperatures.

Resinoid High operating speeds or loads.

Rubber Flexible and for a high, burr free finish.

Metal Base for the electro-deposition of diamond or CBN abrasive.

Grinding Wheel Shapes

Straight Wheel (Type 1)

Cylindrical Wheel (Type 2)

Flaring Cup Wheel (Type 11)

Dish or Type 12 Wheel

Grinding Wheel Shapes

Wheel Identification
Five major factors are used to identify most grinding wheels:

1.

The type of abrasive

2.

The size of the grit

3.

The grade or hardness

4.

The Structure

5.

The Bond
ANSI Standard B74.13-1990 Markings for Identifying Grinding Wheels & Other Bonded

Abrasives

Markings for Identifying Grinding Wheels

Glazing and Loading

A glazed wheel occurs when the abrasive grains are dull. The cutting surface of the wheel appears
shiny.

Loading occurs when foreign material becomes trapped in the voids (spaces) between the abrasive grit.

Dress the wheel when it becomes loaded or glazed.

The wheel at the top is loaded. Bits of metal are embedded in its grinding face. It is poor practice to

off-hand grind soft metals like aluminum on a pedestal grinder. The same wheel, below, has been dressed to
remove the loading.
Truing & Dressing
In a perfect world, a grinding wheel will be self-sharpening. Dull grains will fracture or will be dislodged

from the wheel surface, exposing new sharp cutting edges. Unfortunately this is rarely possible.
Wheels need to be trued and dressed when mounted and must be dressed regularly thereafter.

Truing a Grinding Wheel

Truing a wheel ensures the outside cutting surface runs true with the machine spindle.

A wheel must always be trued after it has been mounted.

Truing a wheel on a precision surface grinder is normally accomplished with a single point diamond
dresser.

Dressing a Grinding Wheel

Dressing a wheel exposes new cutting edges and improves the cutting action.

Wheels must be dressed regularly as required, using one of the following:

Rotating hand dressers

Abrasive sticks or wheels

Single point or cluster diamond dressers

Crush roll dressers

Single-point Diamond Dresser.

The most important precaution when using this dresser is to turn the diamond often to avoid grinding
flats on it. Take care not to subject the diamond to Thermal Shock.

One way of mounting a single-point dresser on a surface grinder. The dresser with its diamond is
magnetically secured on a clean chuck. Note the diamond is slanted at a 15-degree angle and positioned
slightly past the vertical centerline of the wheel.

Single-Point Diamond Dressor

Mounting Grinding Wheels