Column Surface Grinder Guide

Introduction to Surface Grinding

For abrasive cutting in the field of metal processing, surface grinding is one of the most critical issues in the entire finishing process because after forming, cutting, and other complex machining processes, many workpieces will enter this step for further finishing. A column surface grinder is one of the machines used to perform the finishing processes. With a column grinder that performs such a process, a smooth finished surface can be produced on a flat surface or the surface with profiles. It is a widely used abrasive processing technology, through which the spinning grinding wheel is covered with rough particles that cut off fragments of metal or non-metallic substances from the workpiece, thereby smoothing the surface of the workpiece.

There are many types of grinding machines, such as cylindrical grinding machines, internal grinding machines, centerless grinding machines. Some of these models are designed with double columns. Since very early history, surface grinding has been one of the most common grinding methods in the industry, and until now it is still one of the most commonly applied finishing operations available.

CNC grinding is a finishing process, which uses a rotating grinding wheel to smooth the surface of metallic or non-metallic materials in order to deliver a refined physical situation by removing the layer and impurities on the workpiece surfaces under the control of a computer numerical control mechanism that is driven by programmed processes. Based on the column design, a CNC-based double column surface grinder can be a powerful machine for final polishing.
 

Column Structure & Better Rigidity

With the support of the CNC-controlled column structure, the abrasive cutting process will obtain the required surface to achieve the functional purpose of engineer planning and programming. Regarding the mechanical composition, the mechanical structure of the surface grinder is composed of the grinding wheel, the workpiece holding device, and the reciprocating worktable. During CNC processing, the work holding device will fix the material in place by means of clamping.

The clamping mechanism can be completed in two ways: one is to fix the ferromagnetic sheet in place by a magnetic chuck, and the non-ferromagnetic and non-metallic sheets are fixed in place by vacuum or mechanical means. The clamping mechanism is essential to the entire machining process as well as the performance of the column surface grinder because only strict positioning and clamping devices can be used to complete the work accurately under precision standards.
 

Other Factors

In addition to CNC control and column structure, there are other factors that affect the grinding quality and precision. The key factors that affect the performance of a column surface grinder are the material of the grinding wheel and the material of the workpiece. Generally, a workpiece can be made from aluminum, brass, steel, cast iron, and mild steel. Some of them are more stable and do not attach to the grinding wheel during processing, while others have different physical properties that can lead to corrosion and are not ideal for further applications. The shape of the grinding wheel is another factor. The shape is not limited to a specific shape, but may be of various shapes. On-site operators can trim wheels for special usages and purposes by some measures. Some CNC automatic systems can also do other things. It is worth noting that in the surface grinding process, the shape of the grinding wheel will affect the reverse shape of the workpiece, so the operator of the CNC machine must be aware of the shape change in order to immediately modify the grinding wheel, and the desired grinding could be carried on with smooth pace.
 

Accuracy Standard

The double column surface grinders as well as the single-column surface grinders are machine tools used to provide precision ground surfaces. The goal of such machines is to provide precision surface finishing in specific dimensions. Therefore, the use of surface grinders depends on the type of the workpiece and the end application of it. A certain precision value should be achievable on most surface grinders. Since the grinding machine consists of a table that can travel in both the longitudinal direction and along the grinding wheel surface, the longitudinal feed is usually hydraulically driven, and the crossfeed can also be hydraulically driven. A single column or multiple column surface grinder can apply one or more than one power system at the same time to drive the movement of the worktable, it can be either manual, electric or hydraulic system. The final use of the product should be clarified before purchasing, so the accuracy value must be set accurately before processing, otherwise, the final output will not be as ideal as designed.
 

Working Speed

The grinding process of an automatic grinding machine is like another automatic cutting-based machining process; the grinding wheel rotates in the spindle head, and the height can be adjusted by any of the above methods. Modern surface grinders are semi-automatic. The number of cuts and ignitions can be set in advance to determine the number of passes. Once set, the automatic grinding process requires little operator intervention. Depending on the workpiece material, the workpiece is usually clamped by using an electromagnetic chuck. However, it can be an electromagnetic chuck or a manually operated permanent magnet chuck. The machine provides the application of cooling liquid and the extraction of metal dust, so the grinding process will not cause the operator to spread the mist.

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