CNC surface grinders – find manufacturers and suppliers

The surface grinding machine is an indispensable aid not only in toolmaking

The surface grinding machine was already dead at the beginning of the 19th century. Its advantage is the possibility of machining hardened materials. In the past this was not possible by milling. The machine grinds flat or plane surfaces, which is how it got its name. Today these grinding machines are mostly CNC machines. Almost every manufacturer offers this grinding technology. These machines work with very high precision, so they can realize the grinding height with an accuracy of up to 1/1.000 millimeters. The use of grinding wheels with different hardness and bonding allows a wide range of materials to be machined to the highest quality.

A distinction is made between peripheral grinding and face grinding on these grinding machines. These two types of surface grinding machines differ in the way the grinding wheel is used. Another variant is the profile grinding machine.

This is how a surface grinding machine is constructed

The core of the surface grinding machine is the machine body, which is usually made of robust cast iron. In the rear part of the machine there is a stand which carries the adjustable grinding head. In the front is the machine table with clamping grooves. This table is horizontally movable in two axes. On conventional surface grinding machines, the grinding wheel is moved vertically to the workpiece by means of a hand crank. The machine table is also adjusted by a hand crank. With CNC machines, these movements are carried out automatically, as defined by the programming. If the wheel is dressed accordingly, profiles can also be ground with the surface grinding machine. If the clamping device on the machine table is tilted accordingly, angle grinding is also possible.

How does peripheral grinding work?

With peripheral grinding, the periphery of the grinding wheel is used to process the material. The workpiece is usually clamped on a magnetic clamping table, more rarely with T-bolts. The grinding machine has either a stretching table or a rotary table. The grinding spindle is guided horizontally. This results in straight grinding tracks on the surface of the workpiece. This grinding technology is divided into full cut and pendulum grinding.

This is how a machine for face grinding works

In this type of surface grinding, the face of the grinding wheel is used for grinding. The grinding spindle is positioned vertically on the workpiece to be machined. The workpiece executes the feed movement, the grinding wheel takes over the infeed and cutting movement. On the surface of the workpiece circular grinding grooves can be seen. Due to the large contact area between the material and the grinding wheel and because of the high forces and moments that are generated, this type of grinding machine must have a high static rigidity. For this reason, the machines are often designed in portal construction.

Machines for profile grinding

With profile grinding machines, a distinction is made between machines for actual profile grinding and those for form grinding.

The actual profile grinding process is also called insert grinding. In this case the profile to be produced is located as a negative on the grinding wheel. During grinding, the profile is then transferred to the workpiece.
Form grinding is also known as fully automatic profile grinding. CNC grinding machines are used for this. The profile to be produced is created by the movement of the grinding head, which is programmed.

Where are surface grinding machines used?

Surface grinding machines are mainly used in jig and fixture construction, mould making and cutting tool making as well as in general tool making, mechanical engineering and the automotive industry. There, for example, they are used to grind :

• Cylinder feet
• Cylinder heads
• Housing
• Cover
• Guide rails

edited. In addition, these grinding machines are also used for machining hardened materials.

How does honing differ from grinding?

Some suppliers of surface grinding machines also offer honing machines. Honing is also called draw grinding. As the second name implies, honing is related to grinding. In contrast to grinding, however, two movements take place simultaneously in honing. The cutting movement from top to bottom is overlaid by a rotating cutting movement and results in a crossed cut. While grinding produces parallel processing tracks, honing produces a dull cross cut of the best quality. Honing produces very fine surfaces with a high degree of shape and dimensional accuracy. You will find the right manufacturer for Surface grinding machine on Exportpages.