Dressing – A little thing with a big impact
Dressing is an essential for most precision grinding applications.
In basic grinding terminology, dressing is the process of shaping and/or conditioning the surface of a grinding wheel. It is one of the most influential parts of the grinding process.
Smooth, Dull and Much More
This little act of dressing can make a coarse wheel act smooth or a dull wheel act sharp. Unfortunately, it can also have the exact opposite effect – much to the frustration of those relying on the application.
Many grinding applications suffer more from a poor dressing process than any other factor, such as wheel specification, coolant or speeds and feeds.
Benefits of Dressing
Some grinding variables that are greatly impacted by the grinding wheel dressing process include:
- Surface Finish
- Surface Stress
- Burn
- Grind Force (Tangential and Normal)
- Wheel Life (G-Ratio)
Weldon Solutions encourages grinder operators to take a close look at your current grinding wheel dressing process, carefully documenting and analyzing it. With more than 100 years of grinding experience across our team, we’re here to help you address any application challenges.
This small piece of your process may have the biggest impact on the grinding improvements you are looking for in your project! Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of dressing and how we can help you get the most out of your machine.