Performance starts with precise dressing

The performance of a diamond or CBN grinding wheel depends not only on its design, specification and manufacture. Proper preparation before use is just as important.

Precise preparation, including dressing and balancing, ensures the correct geometry of the grinding wheel mounted on its wheel arbor, the condition of its abrasive surface and its stability during operation. Inadequate preparation, on the other hand, can increase grinding forces, cause vibration or heat generation, and directly affect accuracy and the surface finish of the workpiece. Even a grinding wheel perfectly matched to the application cannot deliver its full performance without proper preparation.

With the ASA 300W, diamond and CBN grinding wheels are dressed and profiled with very high precision directly on the complete wheel pack. This preparation is carried out independently of the production machine, which therefore remains available for grinding.

Learn more: ASA 300W

Choosing the right dressing wheel

The choice of dressing wheel, its grit size and specification is also essential for achieving precise dressing and maintaining grinding wheel performance.

To ensure suitable dressing for different grinding wheel specifications, we recommend having at least two types of dressing wheels available.

For grit sizes from 10 to 35, the recommended specification is 80C 500 I7 V62A.

For grit sizes from 46 to 252, the recommended specification is 10C 120 KL7V.

Recommended dressing wheels for different grit sizes

The following dressing wheels are recommended by ASA and kept in stock, available individually.

Options and accessories

Recommendations for a reliable dressing process

• The dressing machine must be highly rigid and stable.
• Dress the grinding wheels with coolant. We recommend neat grinding oil.
• The dressing wheel should be as wide as possible and have a larger diameter than the grinding wheel being dressed.
• The dressing wheel must rotate in the opposite direction to the grinding wheel being dressed.
• Dressing wheel speed:
  • 12-15 m/s (120 mesh)
  • 10-12 m/s (500 mesh)
  • 8-10 m/s (1000 mesh)
• Speed of the grinding wheel being dressed: 2–4 m/s
• Roughing infeed: 0.01 – 0.05 mm
• Finishing infeed: 0.002 – 0.02 mm
• For grinding wheels with a pointed profile, we recommend using a dressing wheel with a finer grit size than normally recommended. This helps prevent chipping of the grinding wheel during dressing.
• Dressing wheel feed rate: the diameter of the grinding wheel and the thickness of the abrasive layer to be dressed must be taken into account.

Large diameter or thin abrasive layer = reduce the feed rate.
Small diameter or thick abrasive layer = increase the feed rate.

Example: For a grinding wheel diameter of 150 mm and an abrasive layer thickness of 3 mm, the feed rate is approximately 0.5 m/min.

Sharpening

After dressing, the surface of the abrasive layer may remain dull. To achieve optimum cutting ability, we recommend manually opening the grinding wheel with a sharpening stick. The stick should be wetted with oil and applied with the grinding wheel rotating in its normal working direction and at its operating speed.

The table below rates our Goodds according to the three criteria most frequently requested by our customers. To meet your specific requirements, we can adjust these characteristics by varying the concentration or grinding wheel grade.

	Low	Acceptable	Medium	Good	Excellent
Cutting ability
Profile retention
Surface finish

Phenolic Resin Bond

Used for grinding and regrinding in small to medium production runs, particularly where excellent surface finish is required. Dry grinding is possible with selected bonds.

Bond	Diamond	CBN
B21	For polishing (flutes, end faces). For micron grit sizes.	For polishing (flutes, end faces). For micron grit sizes.
VC10	Universal bond (end-face grinding). Dry grinding possible.	Universal bond (end-face grinding). Dry grinding possible.
B16	For surface and plunge grinding.	For surface and plunge grinding.
B25	For cut-off wheels.	For cut-off wheels.
BC4	Universal bond (flute grinding). Dry grinding possible. For micron grit sizes.	Universal bond (flute grinding). Dry grinding possible. For micron grit sizes.
BC3	Same as BC4, but for coarser grit sizes.	Same as BC4, but for coarser grit sizes.
BC5	Universal bond (gashing). Dry grinding possible.	Universal bond (gashing). Dry grinding possible.
ADS	For polishing applications in the watch industry.	-

 Cutting ability;  Profile retention;  Surface finish.

Polyimide Resin Bond

Used for medium to high-volume grinding applications with coolant, providing a good surface finish.

Bond	Diamond	CBN
BP4	Universal bond (flute grinding, gashing).	Universal bond (flute grinding, gashing).
BP11	Finish grinding. For micron grit sizes.	Finish grinding. For micron grit sizes.
BP17	Superfinish grinding. For micron grit sizes.	-

 Cutting ability;  Profile retention;  Surface finish.

Hybrid Bond

Resin-metal hybrid bond: used for high-volume production thanks to its high profile retention and cutting ability. The achievable surface finish is lower than with polyimide bonds.

Bond	Diamond	CBN
BPM2A	For gashing and flute grinding of micro- and nano-tools. For micron grit.	-
BPM3	High stock removal grinding. Very free-cutting.	High stock removal grinding. Very free-cutting.
BPM5	High stock removal grinding (end-face grinding).	High stock removal grinding (end-face grinding).
H6 PIRANHA	High stock removal grinding (flute grinding, tool diameter Ø4 to 8 mm).	High stock removal grinding (flute grinding, tool diameter Ø4 mm and above).

 Cutting ability;  Profile retention;  Surface finish.

Metal Bond MNG

Metal bond: used for high-volume production thanks to its high profile retention and heat resistance.

Bond	Diamond	CBN
MNG1	Roughing wheel for OD grinding (Rollomatic NP4, NP5, NP50).	Roughing wheel for OD grinding (Rollomatic NP4, NP5, NP50).
MNG2	Cup wheel for insert grinding.	-
MNG4	For higher stock removal than with the MNG5 bond.	-
MNG5	For dental tools (flute grinding).	For form tools.
MNG8	For form tools. For micron grit sizes.	For form tools. For micron grit sizes.

 Cutting ability;  Profile retention;  Surface finish.

Metal-Ceramic Bond

Metal-ceramic bond: used for high-volume production thanks to its cutting ability and heat resistance.

Bond	Diamond	CBN
M1 SHARK	High stock removal grinding (flute grinding, tool diameter Ø8 mm and above).	-

 Cutting ability;  Profile retention;  Surface finish.

Diamond

Diamond is used in grinding wheels for grinding non-ferrous, non-metallic and composite materials. (Knoop hardness: 8,000–9,000).

Borazon

Cubic boron nitride (CBN) is used in grinding wheels for hardened ferrous materials and superalloys. (Knoop hardness: 4,600).

Surface roughness (finish)

Approximate value, depending on the bond and workpiece material.

Grit size

All our grit sizes are designated according to the FEPA standard.

Grinding wheel grade

This letter is always placed before the concentration designation and indicates the modification of the base bond.

Concentration

The same concentration values are used for both diamond and CBN abrasives and comply with international standards. The concentration indicates the amount of abrasive, expressed in carats per cm³.

(1 carat = 0.2 g)