b'This high-precision CNC centerless grinding machine is set up to work an automotive part.Learn the ins and outs of centerless grinding.By Christopher Tate bonding enhances the efficiency of centerless grinding and produces a more resilient wheel.A nyone who earns a living at a machine shopLike a grinding wheel, a regulating wheel is probably has heard about centerless grind- made of an abrasive material but usually is bonded ing, but it is an obscure process often only famil- with rubber or some other similar substance. As iar in name. the name implies, a regulating wheel regulates the The three basic types of centerless grinding arespeed of a part as it is rotated against a grinding through-feed, in-feed and end-feed. In each case,wheel. A regulating wheel may be more critical to the fundamental configuration of a machine isthe process than a grinding wheel because a reg-identical. The three primary components of a cen- ulating wheel controls the material removal rate, terless grinder are the grinding wheel, regulatingsurface finish and geometry.wheel and work rest, or blade. Like a regulating wheel, a work rest might be more important than a grinding wheel. A work rest Components of Centerless Grinding supports a part during grinding. It is easy to see in Grinding wheels do the work as they would onthe diagram on Page 56 how the whole process other grinders. Abrasive materials are the samewould be impossible without a work rest. It most as with other grinding wheels, but the size andoften is made of a hard material that resists the shape of centerless wheels differ from other kindstendency of a part to pick up material from a rest. of grinding wheels. Centerless wheels most fre- A rest commonly is capped with a carbide strip. quently are bonded with resin materials, unlikeThe geometry of a rest is crucial as uneven sur-other sorts of wheels, which are vitrified. Resinfaces can allow a part to flex, resulting in chatter,ctemag.com/cteguide.com55CenterlessGrinding.indd 55 6/16/20 2:30 PM'