The overall precision surface grinder is a very effective machine tool that is completely capable of very well working to a fine tolerance of plus or minus 0.002 millimetres, or to around plus or minus one ten thousandth part of an inch in the traditional imperial measurement scale. This is indeed an extremely highest degree of the precision and naturally requires a very skilled operator in order to achieve it. Of course, much depends on the type of the material which is the being worked with, as well as the type of grinding wheel being completely used.
The surface grinder is equipment which usually consists of a table where the work piece is very well attached with the characteristic grinding wheel which is positioned above it. The particular work piece requires the grinding that can be very well traversed in two major horizontal directions, either across the face of the grinding wheel, or sometimes longitudinally. By using the two major direction operating wheels in the tandem, the work piece can be very well positioned precisely where it is actually needed.
Process of surface grinding
Grinding of a metallic surface very specifically requires the fine work piece to be very firmly attached to the table of the equipment. This is indeed and usually achieved by the means of a characteristic magnetic chuck that can very tightly hold a piece of the metal firmly in position while it is being grinded. The particular magnetic chuck can be either electromagnetic or a completely permanent magnet type and should be necessarily be very powerful to serve the purpose. Naturally, this particular type of chuck can only very well work with the various metals that are being attracted to a magnet, which primarily includes all the major types of the steel, the most commonly the ground metal.
Materials used for surface grinding
The characteristic material used for the surface face of the particular grinding wheel is indeed very crucial for surface grinding. These particularly range from the diamond at the top of the range, through the cubic boron nitride and the silicon carbide to the aluminium oxide. The most commonly used is the aluminium oxide because of its complete efficiency and it has indeed relatively low cost of replacement. Because of the diamond and cubic boron nitride are quite expensive to produce, the wheels normally have a characteristic core which comprises of an absolutely hard, but less expensive material with only the outer surface of the wheel being either of diamond or the cubic boron nitride.
The very high degree of the precision which is achievable with a surface grinder for the purpose of surface grinding depends largely on the condition of the grinding wheel. For this particular reason, the dressers are being used to dress the grinding wheels back into the absolute peak condition. It is also very necessary to use the suitable coolant lubrication on the respective work piece while the process of the grinding operation is in progress. This specifically has a dual purpose: the lubricate for the grinded surface and keep the temperatures in control.
