A lot has been written lately about creep feed grinding. As someone relatively new to the milling vs. grinding debate, I wanted to learn more about it. Here’s what I found.
For deep cuts, grinding might be better than milling.
With the recent introduction of harder materials, the speed advantage of milling and turning has been minimized. The properties that allow these materials to last in extreme environments also make them difficult to machine. Issues like burrs, consistent quality of parts and the frequent replacement of tooling have emerged.
Today’s machine technology has made giant leaps in addressing some of these issues. Surface and profile grinding machines are now able to mill, drill, grind and deburr in the same setup.
According to United Grinding North America, Inc., “In the milling vs. griding debate, a truth has emerged: creep feed grinding is a more efficient approach for deep cuts than using a CNC milling machine.”
The greatest benefit of continuous dress creep feed grinding may be in combining the process of milling, heat treatment, deburring and finishing into one operation. United Grinding has identified these five benefits of creep feed grinding:
- Familiarity: Milling has a lot in common with grinding. If your operators are comfortable with CNC milling, they will be for grinding too.
- Control: Creep feed grinding’s low feed rate grants more control, which means tighter tolerances, reduced scrap and more complex geometric forms—even with hard materials.
- Performance: The improved grains and bonds present in grinding wheels bring higher performance and better surface finishes.
- Efficiency: The continuous dressing of grinding wheels keeps temperatures in check and the wheel sharp. Lengthier cuts, shorter cycle times and more efficiency follow.
- Durability: Continuous dressing also reduces machine wear and extends wheel life. The cost of tooling is slashed when compared to tooling for CNC milling.