Tool and Cutter Grinding Machines Key Terms

Become familiar with technical terms associated with tool and cutter grinding machines

By Howard Robertson

A tool and cutter grinder is useful for sharpening the milling cutters and tool bits, as well as a host of other cutting tools. It is an extremely versatile machine used to perform a variety of grinding operations.

While dealing with service providers in the tool and cutter grinding industry, you must be conversant with technical terms associated with tool and cutter grinding machines. This guide will familiarize you with the important tool and cutter grinding terms, such as collets, lathe machines, centerless grinding and CBN.

Collets

Colletts are holding devices that form a collar around the object to be held and exert a strong clamping force on the object when tightened via a tapered outer collar.
Try: You can learn about the different types of collets at The Glendale Woodturners (PDF), an organization providing information on lathe-turned work.

Lathe machines

Lathe machines are tools that spin a block of material to perform various operations such as cutting, drilling or grinding. The purpose of a lathe is to rotate a part against a tool whose position it controls.
Try: You can read through detailed information on lathe at MechE, a Web site by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Centerless grinding

Centerless grinding is a method of material removal through grinding, similar to centered grinding except for the absence of the spindle. It machines a large number of parts in a short time.
Try: eFunda Inc., an information resource, offers description about centerless grinding.

CBN (Cubic Boron Nitride)

CBN is a type of cutting tool material that has very high hardness; diamond is the only material that is harder than CBN. Its high degree of hardness allows high speed cutting without creating any problems with efficiency and quality of the cutting operation.
Try: To learn more about CBN cutting tools, read through information at American Machinist, a cutting tools reference center.

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.

Buffing

Buffing is the process of obtaining a very fine surface finish; having a grainless appearance on metal objects. There are stages in the buffing process - typically coarse, medium and fine - each using a certain style of buffing wheel and different types of compounds.
Try: Sydney Woodturners Guild Inc., an online association of professionals in the timber industry, provides information about buffing compounds.

Abrasives

Abrasives are materials used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing, which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away. Common abrasive minerals appear in various crystalline forms of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, zirconium oxide, diamond and cubic boron nitride.
Try: AZoM.com, a site specialized in information about industrial materials, offers detailed information on abrasives and abrasive materials.