Guide to Cylindrical Grinders

How Can You Use Cylindrical Grinders?

Do you manufacture metal parts? If your business produces metal objects with a central axis of rotation, you can use cylindrical grinding to ensure they have a smooth finish on the exterior and interior. This process is an effective way to smooth down several of the same types of objects.

Below, you’ll find more information about what cylindrical grinding is used for so you can determine whether it’s an effective process for your company’s metalworking needs.

What Is Cylindrical Grinding?

When you want to achieve a fine finish on a metallic surface, you can use cylindrical grinding. Most commonly, cylindrical grinding is used for grinding pieces with a central axis of rotation, like rods and cylinders. This process involves using a cylindrical grinder, which is a type of machinery categorized by rotation style and wheel device.

There are several kinds of cylindrical grinders, each one serving different purposes. However, all of them accomplish a similar goal — to remove tiny bits of excess metal from aluminum, steel and other metal objects as the final step in a project. As a result, you have a smooth piece of metal for your specific application.

How the Cylindrical Grinding Process Works

During the cylindrical grinding process, the machinist sets the piece of metal between two centers, called head and tail stocks. When the machinist operates the machine, the cylinder rotates in one direction. Then, the grinding wheel moves in the opposite direction at a different speed to start grinding.

While that’s happening, the wheelhead, which is attached to the grinding wheel, moves the wheel in varying motions toward and away from the metal piece to achieve the smoothest finish. Sometimes, the table beneath the object shifts back and forth laterally at the same time. As each part works, they’ll move along the surface of the object to create a perfect finish free of any crevices or scrapes.

Keep in mind that because various types of cylindrical grinding exist, the above process may look slightly different based on what style you use to smooth your metal products.

Most Common Types of Cylindrical Grinding

Depending on the nature of your application, you may need to use different kinds of cylindrical grinding machines. This equipment can accomplish numerous styles of grinding — outside diameter (OD) grinding, inside diameter (ID) grinding, plunge grinding, centerless grinding and creep feed grinding.

Here’s a closer look at each cylindrical grinding type to help you narrow down which one suits your business’s needs best:

• OD grinding: An OD grinding machine uses centers to rotate the object as it moves through the grinding wheel. As previously described, OD grinding involves the metal piece moving in the opposite direction of the grinding wheel. This type of grinding is strictly for exterior grinding purposes.
• ID grinding: ID grinding is the opposite of OD grinding, as it aims to finish an object’s interior. Therefore, the grinding wheel goes inside of the object. A collet, a kind of chuck, keeps the metal piece in place while simultaneously rotating it in the opposite direction to perform the grinding.
• Plunge grinding: A plunge grinding machine is used for a subset of OD grinding. Plunge cylindrical grinding concentrates on one part of the metal piece, as the grinding wheel continuously makes contact with a single area, rather than moving back and forth or up and down.
• Centerless grinding: When performing centerless grinding, machinists don’t need to secure the metal piece with a pair of centers or a collet. A centerless grinding machine uses a regulating wheel across from the grinding wheel. The object is set at an angle against the regulating wheel.
• Creep feed grinding: Instead of creating a seamless finish across the entire object, creep feed grinding removes a piece of the metal in one pass. This style uses a grinding wheel below a diamond dressing roller, which both operate in different directions. A creep feed grinding machine is best to use when you need to cut down your manufacturing time.

As you can see, choosing the appropriate cylindrical grinding style will depend on your application.
Typically, OD grinding is the guide style for cylindrical grinding, which you can use with other types when necessary. If you need to smooth the interior of a rod, you’ll likely need to use ID grinding in combination with OD grinding to get a completely smooth object inside and out. However, other uses may call for centerless grinding only.

With the knowledge of the basics of each grinding process, you’re better equipped to make the correct decision for your metalworking needs.

Common Industrial Uses for Cylindrical Grinders

While cylindrical grinding can work wonders for cylindrical objects, you can also use it to grind metal pieces in other shapes. So long as the object has a central axis of rotation, you can use cylindrical grinding to achieve a flawless finish. The main goal of cylindrical grinders is to create a surface with little to no roughness.

There’s a broad range of industrial applications for cylindrical grinding. Whether you need a smooth finish on rods, pistons, shafts, bearings or other kinds of objects, you can likely use cylindrical grinding to accomplish your goals. The most common industries that use cylindrical grinders are aircraft, plumbing, electrical and automotive.

Mainly, numerous industries use cylindrical grinder machines because they’re accurate, work 24/7 and allow for repeatability. In other words, you can create large batches of metal objects with smooth finishes around the clock. If you produce many of the same kinds of objects, you can ensure each one is as alike as possible when you use cylindrical grinding. This ease of production explains why cylindrical grinding is so popular.

Contact Hard Chrome Specialists for Reliable Outside Diameter Grinding Today

At Hard Chrome Specialists, we have decades of experience in the metalwork industry. From welding services to custom fabrication to cylindrical grinding services, we can help you achieve your metal manufacturing needs. Let us help you tackle your company’s metalworking needs with our quality services.

When it comes to cylindrical grinding, we exclusively use OD grinding to ensure the most precise finishes for various applications. Currently, we use an OD grinder that can accommodate shafts up to 25 inches in diameter and 159 inches long. The machine’s weight capacity is 8,000 pounds, so we can create a seamless finish for nearly any kind of metal you need us to process.

To learn more about our OD grinding process, contact us through our online contact form and our team will reach out as soon as possible.