“It’s only as good as the quality of the
disk,” said Manley. “The key to using a
rotary-disk dresser is to have minimal
runout (TIR) in that disk. We can reliably
change from one form to another without
having to perform multiple offsets.”
Whether you use a single-point dress-
er or a rotary-disk dresser, maintaining
the form is critical.
“One of the biggest challenges that I
see in grinding is maintaining the form
on the wheel,” said Manley. “Even a
square profile will go convex or concave,
or have corner breakdown, and that is
detrimental to the process.”
Dressing time per part has been re-
duced significantly thanks to the use of
superabrasives.
“This can have a huge impact on
your nonproductive time,” said Manley.
“What it also does is allow you to be
very, very predictable in your process.”
While a superabrasive wheel costs
more than a conventional wheel, the cost
per part is far less.
“If you are changing a wheel and
calibrating the machine every couple of
months with a superabrasive wheel compared to every couple of days with a conventional wheel, you can see how much
savings there will be,” said Manley.
However, he added, suberabrasives are
not the solution for everyone, but they are
certainly worth a look, in most cases.
Labor Content
Like many other processes, the reduction
of labor also lowers cost per part.
For example, if a single worker can
run multiple machines, by complementing him with autoloaders, labor cost will
come down.
“You can also have one programmer
work centrally to produce the program
for the creation of the first part off the
grinder, and have operators on the shop
floor running the machines, acting as
processes maintenance workers in order
to reduce the labor cost,” explained Manley. “The shop floor personnel monitor
the process and make adjustments when
necessary, but are not responsible for the
prototyping of the first piece.”n
For more information, visit www.
machine toolsystems.com.
