Guide to Grinding Machines Education and Training

Get precision grinding machine training

By Denise Brown

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Understand the basic skills necessary to become a grinding machine operator

This is a job that you can start right out of high school without a lot of training. However, if you expect to advance in your career, you need advanced training on specialized machines. For that, you should consider taking courses toward an associate's degree at a community college.

I recommend: Find out the basic job requirements and training for a job as a grinding machine operator at EarnMyDegree.com. You can also find grinding machines education and training information from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. This website also gives estimates of salaries and projected number of jobs available for grinding machine operators.

Check for local grinding machine classes

Your local trade school or community college is a good place to start. If they don't offer classes, they can usually point you to a program that offers the courses you need to improve your grinding machine skills.

I recommend: Ivy Tech Community College, which as 23 campuses in Indiana, offers a course that can give you expertise with grinding equipment. In addition to an introduction to grinding machinery, you can gain experience operating a number of industrial grinding machines that can enhance your work experience. The courses at Fox Valley Tech in Appleton, Wisconsin integrate grinder machine skills as part of the course of study.

Get on-the-job grinding machine training

Many grinding machine manufacturers offer training on their grinding machines, especially the specialized equipment. Make every effort to receive this type of training, whether it's in-house or at another location. If only one person from your shop can take the training, volunteer to be the one who goes.

I recommend: Glebar Precision Grinding offers training services for its grinding machines. DCM offers a number of training brochures and videos. You can find information about glass grinding, as well as other types of industrial grinders, on from this grinding machine manufacturer.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  It's important that you know how to operate as many grinding machines as possible. This keeps your skills more viable in an occupation that is subject to the ups and downs of the economy.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find grinding machines based on the shape of your product

Grinding machines grind flat, cylindrical, tapered and irregular surfaces using different types of machines or applications. Look for grinding machines based on what shape they can do.

I recommend: DCM Inc.'s Industrial Rotary Surface Grinders line offers the IG 280 M Rotary Grinder for any flat grinding application in the tool room or production floor. Precision Abrasive Machinery, Inc. offers the Automatic Plunge Grinder for straight and angular forms on carbide blanks.

Buy grinding machines based on the material your product is made from

You may be looking specifically for concrete grinding machines, wood grinding equipment, plastic grinding machines, metal grinding machines or glass grinders. Check out types of grinders based on the materials they grind.

I recommend: MAX-TEK Superabrasive Machines offer HGC Series Horizontal Grinding Centers for materials like Inconel, Rene, stainless steel and nickel used mainly in the aerospace industry. CMS North America provides the Deltagrind 4, which grinds glass sheets of any shape.

Look into used or wholesale grinding machines

If you're on a budget, you may want to explore the possibility of finding used grinding machines or ones sold at wholesale prices. You can find great deals if you look for them.

I recommend: Westbrook Engineering has a line of used grinders from various manufacturers. You can click on the camera icon on the website to see each one. Advanced Machinery Companies offers a variety of used grinders including centerless and cylindrical.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Check out trade shows where grinding machine manufacturers and distributors will be demonstrating their products. Collect information and business cards so you can follow up.
• •  Ask colleagues who use grinding machines for the names of any companies they recommend that sell grinding machines.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Surface grinding machines

A surface grinding machine is one of the most common types of grinding machines. This grinder has a grinding wheel that machines the entire surface area of the component, giving it a smoother finish.

I recommend: To learn more about surface grinders, read through an informative article at wiseGEEK.

Centerless grinding machines

For grinding industrial components with complicated shapes, you can use a centerless grinding machine. In a centerless grinding machine, the component is held against a grinding wheel using a resting block and a regulating wheel.

I recommend: To understand the basics of the centerless grinding process, read through the description at Modern Machine Shop, a useful resource on machine tools.

Grinding wheels

All grinding machines consist of a grinding wheel that has an abrasive or cutting material and a bond. Performance of grinding wheels depends on the grit and hardness of the bonding material. Grinding wheels can be straight, cylindrical or tapered.

I recommend: If you want to find more information about grinding wheels, you can read through the information at GlobalSpec.

Grinding wheel dressing

Grinding wheel dressing is the process of sharpening a wheel by cutting away its glazed or loaded grinding surface, thereby exposing sharp new cutting grains. Dressing also removes tiny pieces of material from pores of the wheel face to prevent wheel loading.

I recommend: Grindwell Norton (PDF), a manufacturer of abrasives, offers detailed information on wheel dressing.

Abrasives

Abrasives are materials that have very high hardness and are useful for machining a component that is softer than the abrasives. Commonly used abrasive materials are aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, zirconium oxide, diamond and cubic boron nitride.

I recommend: AZoM.com, a knowledge resource for industrial materials, offers detailed information on abrasives and abrasive materials.

Tolerances

Tolerance is the permissible variation of the dimensions of the machined component from the design dimensions. Grinding operation plays an important role in achieving surface finish tolerances.

I recommend: eMachineShop.com provides detailed information about tolerances and their importance.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use wood grinding equipment

Wood grinding equipment falls under the extreme grinding machines types and styles category. These are the grinding machines that are called in to grind down tree stumps after trees have been cut down. Two styles of wood grinders are the tub and horizontal. The tub grinders have huge tubs that collect the remains of the wood after it's grinded, while the horizontal grinders have large rectangular bins that collect the remains.

I recommend: J & T Wood Grinding Equipment and Apollo Equipment are two sources of wood grinding equipment.

Look into glass grinding

Glass grinding is something that creators of stained glass windows or any glass art appreciate. They allow the artists to smooth and shape the various pieces of glass to their specifications. Glass grinders look like small platforms with a small, round grinding blade protruding out of the platform.

I recommend: Inland and Glastar have effective and accurate machines for glass grinding.

Use concrete grinding machines

A concrete grinder is another type of very effective and extreme grinder machine like the wood grinders. Concrete grinders are very useful on large concrete pours where contractors need to grind down the concrete to gain a smooth surface. These grinders can vary in size, from massive heads with six heads that rotate in a counter clockwise fashion.

I recommend: Levetec and EDCO Grinder have concrete grinders that are very effective.

Explore a metal grinding machine

Metal grinders come in various sizes. They can be used as a valve grinding machine. Some of the metal grinders can be hand-held. Others can be massive, industrial surface grinders that have rotary tables.

I recommend: Home Depot has the smaller, hand held metal grinders with replaceable grinding wheels. The store sells the replaceable cutting blades as well. DCM Industrial Surface Grinder has the larger, industrial metal grinders.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  The variety of grinding machines means that you are able to find a grinding machine that will work well for your company's specific need. Feel free to ask the grinding machine manufacturers for more information about their machines.