Meister’s New HPL Anti-Friction Technology Gets High Grades
Since Meister introduced its new HPL anti-friction bond technology the Company has been conducting field trials with numerous customers looking to improve their high precision grinding processes. The tests compare results produced by standard Vit-CBN grinding wheels versus the performance of wheels incorporating Meister’s new HPL anti-friction bond technology. The results of the field trials to date have been impressive.
HPL wheel technology relies on premium grade CBN crystals fixed with durable, porous, friction-inhibiting bonding matrix making it possible in many instances to adjust grinding processes to achieve faster grinding of difficult materials without sacrificing quality due to wheel loading and/or part burning.
The first 55 trials included 48 I.D. and 7 O.D. applications. They covered deep bore grinding, blind-end bore grinding, heavy stock form grinding, creep-feed grinding and high stock removal out-of-round grinding. In 85% of the trials, the new HPL technology worked very well, often providing cost-effective advantages over the grinding product the customer was currently using:
Longer Wheel Life – 36% of the participants in the trials were able to increase dressing intervals to achieve significantly longer wheel life.
Closer Tolerances – 38% were able to reduce grinding forces. This resulted in less wheel deflection so that the process resulted in better tolerances.
Part Burning Eliminated – Customers who were having a problem with burn marks on their workpieces, (16% of the field trial participants), were able to completely eliminate them by using HPL Wheels.
This innovative HPL wheel technology is only in the early stages of commercialization. Watch for upcoming reports demonstrating even more impressive results as we increase our knowledge of how this anti-friction technology can be applied to an ever-widening range of grinding applications.
