Grinding Wheel
A grinding wheel is an expendable wheel that is composed of an abrasive compound used for various grinding (abrasive cutting) and abrasive machining operations. They are used in grinding machines.
The wheels are generally made from a matrix of coarse particles pressed and bonded together to form a solid, circular shape. Various profiles and cross sections are available depending on the intended usage for the wheel. They may also be made from a solid steel or aluminium disc with particles bonded to the surface.
The manufacture of these wheels is a precise and tightly controlled process, due not only to the inherent safety risks of a spinning disc, but also the composition and uniformity required to prevent that disc from exploding due to the high stresses produced on rotation.
Straight wheel are by far the most common style of wheel and can be found on . They are used on the periphery only and therefore produce a slightly concave surface (hollow ground) on the part. This can be used to advantage on many tools such as chisels. Straight Wheels are generally used for cylindrical, centreless, and surface grinding operations. Wheels of this form vary greatly in size, the diameter and width of face naturally depending upon the class of work for which is used and the size and power of the grinding machine.
Cylinder wheels provide a long, wide surface with no center mounting support (hollow). They can be very large, up to 12″ in width. They are used only in vertical or horizontal spindle grinders. Cylinder or wheel ring is used for producing flat surfaces, the grinding being done with the end face of the wheel.
A straight wheel that tapers outward towards the center of the wheel. This arrangement is stronger than straight wheels and can accept higher lateral loads. Tapered face straight wheel is primarily used for grinding thread, gear teeth etc.
Straight cup wheels are an alternative to cup wheels in tool and cutter grinders, where having an additional radial grinding surface is beneficial.
Cut off wheels, also known as parting wheels, are self-sharpening wheels that are thin in width and often have radial fibres reinforcing them. They are often used in the construction industry for cutting reinforcement bars (rebar), protruding bolts or anything that needs quick removal or trimming. Most handymen would recognise an angle grinder and the discs they use.
To use the grinding wheel it must first be clamped to the grinding machine. The wheel type (e.g. cup or plain wheel below) fit freely on their supporting arbors, the necessary clamping force to transfer the rotary motion being applied to the wheels side by identically sized flanges (metal discs). The paper blotter shown in the images is intended to distribute this clamping force evenly across the wheels surface.
Grinding wheels are self sharpening to a small degree; for optimal use they may be dressed and trued by the use of wheel or grinding dressers. Dressing the wheel refers to removing the current layer of abrasive, so that a fresh and sharp surface is exposed to the work surface. Trueing the wheel makes the grinding surface parallel to the grinding table or other reference plane, so that the entire grinding wheel is even and produces an accurate surface.
Source: Wikipedia
