Mach-B is proud to announce that we now offer Radius Dressing!
Mach-B can dress for the following radii 1/32″, 1/16″, 5/64″, 3/32″, 7/64″, 1/8″, 9/64″ and 5/32″. 26″ to 42″ diameter wheels only. Max thickness is 2 1/4″ with no minimum. Corner radii only.
Dressing your wheel:
• Will reduce start up time
• Reduces diamond wear
Any Question please don’t hesitate to contact us either by phone or email.
If you’ve been around grinding wheels for any time, you certainly know what they look like and what they do. But have you ever wondered about what goes into a grinding wheel? Well I have so that’s what we’re going to talk about today.
Here’s the short version:
Now we’re going to look at each of these components individually, starting with Abrasive.
Abrasive is the material from which the wheel is made. This is what does the work. Most common abrasives include, Aluminum Oxide, Silicon-Carbide, Zirconia Aluminum Oxide, Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) and Synthetic Diamond. Each has it’s characteristics and applications which we won’t talk about here. We’ll save that for another time.
Next is Grit. This is the size of the abrasive grain in the wheel. As you probably know, the lower the number, the coarser the grit. Coarse grits are used for soft, pliable, stringy materials when you want fast material removal, have a large contact area and high pressure. Finer grits are used to produce smooth finishes and when you’re grinding hard, brittle materials and have a small contact area.
Grade refers to the strength of the bond (we’ll get to bond in a bit) that holds the abrasive grains together. This can range from very soft to very hard and is represented A to Z in grinding wheel specs.
Softer grade wheels cut faster with less chatter. They require lower amps or power to drive them, have shorter wheel life and produce a worse finish. Harder grades cut slower with more chatter. The produce a better finish and have a longer life, but require more power/amps to operate.
Structure denotes the spacing of the abrasive grains in the wheel. The lower the structure number, the denser the wheel. Structure numbers range from 0 to 14.
The final component we’ll look at is the Bond. As the name implies, this the material that holds the abrasive grains together in the wheel. There are several common types of bond – Vitrified, Resinoid, Epoxy and Rubber. Each of these bonds has it’s own characteristics and applications. We’ll touch on those in another post so that we can go into more detail.
Has your grinding wheel diameter changed? Use the Mach-B RPM Calculator to determine the correct RPM to maintain your SFPM. Simply enter the Wheel Diameter and SFPM below.
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Have the RPM and need to calculate the SFPM? Try the Mach-B SFPM Calculator.
Need to know your grinding wheel’s SFPM? Enter the Wheel Diameter and RPM below.
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Do you have the SFPM and need to calculate the RPM? Check out our RPM Calculator.
In the world of grinding, there are two measures for speed that you need to know and understand how they affect one another.
RPM and SFPM.
RPM = Revolutions Per Minute; defined as the number of complete axis turns per minute
SFPM = Surface Feet Per Minute; defined as the distance any one abrasive grain on the cutting surface travels per minute.
Grinding wheel speeds are generally given in SFPM while machine speeds are usually noted in RPM. Since these numbers are measured at different locations on the grinding wheel, you must know how to convert one to the other.
The basic equation is:
SFPM = Wheel Diameter in inches x RPM x 0.262
Why is this important?
As your grinding wheel wears, the SFPM will decrease. To maintain the same grinding characteristics, you’ll want to maintain the SFPM. In order to maintain the SFPM you need to increase the RPM.
Okay, that sounded like a lot of gibberish, didn’t it? Here’s an example that should clear things up:
Grinding Wheel Diameter = 24″, Machine Speed = 600 RPM; SFPM = 3772.8. As the wheel wears to, say, 21″, SFPM will slow to 3144 if RPM stays at 600. To maintain 3772.8 SFPM the RPM will need to be increased to 720.
Now, you can get these calculations using pen and paper (or your trusty calculator) but we’ve made it easy for you but creating a couple of online calculators. All you need to do is plug in the appropriate figures and you’ll get your RPM or SFPM.