A mechanical machining technique used to improve the surface state or the accuracy of a flat or cylindrical,
grinding is realized using a specific machine tool, called grinding machine. The goal of grinding work is to obtain a result the closest possible to a surface of a perfect form. This type of process, which is primarily based on the principle of abrasive machining, is used when trying to achieve a high dimensional accuracy in order to have very high quality adjustments. There are different types of grinding machines available on the second-hand market. The
surface grinding machines are dedicated to grinding operations on flat workpieces. Manufacturers such as
Blohm, Knight, Favretto,
Jakobsen,
Jones & Shipman,
Okamoto, and Vojus offer reference models. With this machine tool, the position of the workpiece placed on the table or on the magnetic plate is adjusted via the movement of the table on the X, Y, and Z axes. The rotating grinding wheel is then brought into contact with the workpiece and the grinding is done through a longitudinal back and forth movement. The
double face grinding machine, such as those manufactured by
Diskus, allow the grinding on both sides of a workpiece at the same time. If the workpiece is circular, a
cylindrical grinding machine is used. Its chuck is fixed to a rotating spindle to host the workpiece. The rotating grinding wheel and the workpiece are then brought into contact. The digital control version, called
CNC cylindrical grinding machine, allows the automation of the machining process. This type of machine is available in manufacturers such as Cetos,
Danobat,
Kellenberger, or
Studer. There are also
centerless grinding machines, with which the workpiece does not need to be fixed, because no external device is required to hold and drive it during the grinding process.
Agathon,
Ghiringhelli,
Schaublin, and
Tschudin are among the main manufacturers of this type of machines. The coordinate grinding machines, including those designed by
Hauser and
Moore tools are used in high precision and high speed grinding on complex shapes. In addition to these three families of grinding machines, the category includes many other types of machines:
center grinding machines (REM Technica), nets, gear, profile (Wickman), superfinish (Thielenhaus),
internal grinding machines and
CNC internal grinding machines (
Tripet,
Voumard,
Overbeck...).
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