b'\x1b\x1a\x19 \x1f\x18\x1d\x17\x16Machine TechnologyGRIND A SKYLINEBy William LeventonG ood news for component man-ufacturers looking for more shape options from the grinding process: The skyline is the limit for a grinder featuring unique technol-ogy for turning out nonround parts.DevelopedbyLeLanderon, Switzerland-basedmachinetoolRollomaticmanufacturer Rollomatic SA, theing wheels run on separate spin- so you cant do long and thin parts.ShapeSmart model NP50 is a five- dles and are positioned by indepen- Common nonround shapes that axis pinch/peel grinding machine.dently controlled CNC linear slides. can be made by the NP50s pinch/The NP50 can grind carbide, high- In addition to cylindrical grinding,peel process include ovals, squares speed steel and stainless steel tothe NP50 offers a nonround pinch/ and rectangles. He said the process produce cylindrical componentspeel grinding process designed toalso can produce weird shapes. with excellent surface finish and con- ensure form accuracy, tight toler- For example, one of Rollomatics centricity, according to the company. ances and low runout. magazine ads shows a group of car-Rollomatic invented pinch/peelYou have no deflection becausebide parts that look like the build-grinding, a process that simultane- you are applying the wheels to twoings along the New York City sky-ously applies both a roughing andsides of the part, said Eric Schwar- line. These parts all were made in finishing wheel to a part. As a re- zenbach, president of Mundelein,one chucking by the NP50, he said.sult, roughing and finishing are com- Illinois-based Rollomatic Inc., theThe key to grinding nonround pleted in one pass, eliminating thecompanys North American head- parts is software that positions the need for two separate processes andquarters. If you only use one wheel,grinding wheels in relation to the reducing cycle time. The two grind- you are deflecting (the workpiece),clamped workpiece.To make a square part, for exam-ple, the wheels move in and out four times and the software tells the wheels exactly where to be, Schwar-zenbach said, so the finished part looks like a square in the end.Rollomatic also touts new tech-nology in the NP50 aimed at mak-ing the nonround grinding process faster and more accurate. For ex-ample, the belt-driven workhead in older Rollomatic grinders has been replaced by a workhead with a di-The ShapeSmartrect-drive spindle.model NP50 pinch/ Thoughwehadaverypre-peel grindingcise system before, Schwarzen-machine can grindbach said, with direct drive and both round and nonround parts. an encoder on the workhead, we Rollomatic can interpolate very accurately for 8JULY 2021 MachineTech.indd 8 6/17/21 10:22 AM'