Grinding Machines Key Terms

Learn about grinding machines terminology to help you in your business

By Howard Robertson

Grinding machines (also called grinders) are important components in manufacturing. These machines are useful for improving the surface finish of various industrial components.

Whether you want to buy a grinding machine or use industrial grinding services, you will need to understand various technical terms relating to the types, components and specifications of these machines. This guide aims at acquainting you with useful grinding machine terminology, such as surface grinding machines, centerless grinding machines, grinding wheels and abrasives.

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