Selecting the correct grinding wheel

A grinding wheel consists of three basic elements: abrasive (grains), bond and pores. The type and combination
of these three elements result in very different grinding wheels.

Grain

Pores

Bond

Figure 1: Structure of a grinding wheel

These three categories are explained in more detail in the following.

Abrasive
The grains should be as hard and tough as possible, to ensure stock removal from the workpiece. There are
four categories of abrasives:

Category Material Comments Sub-categories

Hard and soft steel, Most frequently used Normal corundum, semi-
unalloyed and alloyed abrasive. noble corundum, noble
Corundum steels up to 63 HRc*. corundum, single-crystal
Easily dressable.
corundum, sintered
*Hardness Rockwell C corundum.
Hardened and alloyed
Higher diamond wear
Silicon carbide steels up to 65 HRc, gray None
during dressing.
cast iron.
High-alloy, hardened Expensive abrasive,
Cubic boron nitride (CBN) None
steels, tool steels. difficult to dress.
Hard metal, glass, Very expensive abrasive,
Diamond None
ceramic. difficult to dress.

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The size of the grain can vary in any of these four categories. The following generally applies: The smaller and
finer the grain, the finer the surface of the workpiece will be (and vice versa). In addition, a rougher-grained
grinding wheel is normally used for pre-grinding and a finer grained grinding wheel is used for finish-grinding.

Bond
The bond is necessary to hold the grains together in the wheel. It determines the hardness, strength and cut-
ting ability of the grinding wheel. The following four bonds are used most frequently:

Bond Characteristics Suitable abrasive

Suitable for all four abra-
sives, CBN and diamond Corundum, silicon carbi-
Vitrified bond
only dressable under de, CBN, diamond.
rotation.
Conditionally dressable,
Resin bond must be dressed under CBN, diamond.
rotation.
Good bond for CBN and
diamond, non-dressable
Galvanic bond and therefore limited CBN, diamond.
working life of the grin-
ding wheel.
Metallic bond Difficult to dress. CBN, diamond.

Figure 2: Dressing a grinding wheel

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Pores
The pores are determined by the relationship between grains and bond. They are responsible for the removal
of chips and for transport of the cooling lubricant to the workpiece.

Pores
Large pore volume
Small pore volume
Characteristics
Porous, cool grinding, less
heat develops during grin-
ding. Consequently better
stock removal rate.
Good edge stability (e.g.
during thread grinding).

Conclusion
Soft grinding wheels should be used for hard materials and vice versa. The hardness of a grinding wheel is
primarily determined by the bond. When hard materials are ground with soft grinding wheels the grains break
out, so that new easy-cutting grains are used again. This is known as a «self-sharpening mechanism».

Tip
For quick and reliable selection of grinding wheels, please contact your grinding wheel supplier for advice.

Figure 3: Selections of grinding wheels

Notes
1) You can find further information in your instruction manual or via your HelpLine.
2) Fritz Studer AG excludes all liability arising from incorrect operation or use.
3) Our General Terms and Conditions apply. These can be downloaded from www.studer.com.
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