With little cost and preparation, centerless grinding can eliminate errors in workpieces, thus leaving your bars perfectly finished – an important operation for most operators!
To most metalworkers, it’s not news that centerless grinding really has the edge in eliminating errors and bringing surface perfection to every bar. The ability of centerless grinding machines to grind both soft and brittle bars is yet another undeniable virtue of the technology, to which there is no competition.
Centerless grinding also requires significantly less hassle and eliminates the risk of faults in the process often caused by fixing. Thus, with the use of automation, the processes of loading and unloading the workpiece are simple and flow smoothly. All of this is done through a single pass in which a process is running of loading the bars into the machine and sending them out of the opposite side, fully finished and polished.
For both variations of the grinding process, there are a lot of advantages when it comes to finishing:
Through feed grinding/ thru-feed
The issue of grinding long round bars would be made significantly easier; with the help of automation, the long bar pieces will be pulled through by the regulating wheel and the grinding wheel would perform the abrasive part-cutting. Therefore, correcting surface errors in long bars is a surefire part of the process, eliminating unwanted parts and cutting away rust.
In-feed grinding
When it comes to grinding complex parts, centerless grinding also performs its in-feed or ‘plunge’ grinding. It is inevitable that workpieces can have a lot of outer diameters over the length. In line with this, only one possible part can be ground in most cases over the length. However, with the use of infeed type grinding, the operator is given the option of grinding only one small part of the total workpiece.
Advantages of Centerless Grinding
- The use of continuous thru-feed grinding allows no time loss in the changing of the workpiece
- Even long workpieces with small machines can be handled effectively
- It can also achieve very high grinding wheel rotation speed
How grinding eliminates errors
The error of centering is eliminated in the course, hence the name “centerless”. Because of this, there exists a “floating” condition along the course of grinding. This unique process that centerless grinding has allows less stock needed and provides for a longer wheel life. Additionally, through the use of certainly attachments or a gravity chute, the process itself can also grind large quantities of an even smaller sized work.
Although there is an apparent lack of holding in the process, centerless grinding provides sure, rigid support for the bar under the grinding cut, allowing for an optimal surface polish and finish. Because of this, it is likely to defy one’s first impression regarding the metal cutting process.
With the fine surface polish and finish provided by centerless grinding, one can also revive the original appearance of an old bar. This technology allows for extensive cleaning, getting rid of rust and perfecting deformed parts.
One of the most major improvements provided by centerless grinding is that the degree of error is reduced by half. This is because part removal is done and measured by the diameter rather than the radius. It is considered a mature process due to the presence of fewer wear surfaces in the machine and the use of automatic lubrication. This is why maintenance is such a small part of the process and not significant to the total cost; In other words, it is a much more cost-effective operation!
Grinding parts in an efficient and cost-effective way is simple! Fill out free quote now! Or give us a call at 708-442-7100.