How a new and innovative Tool Design can make a Huge Impact on Performance
A bearing manufacturer was looking to make an improvement on an internal grinding application for inner bearing rings.
Natural diamond 0.5 ct
They had (5) machines in full production, all using aluminum oxide grinding wheels and single point diamond dressers. As is often the case, most of the attention had been focused on optimizing the grinding wheels, but the dressers had been overlooked. They used a standard single point design with a large industrial quality natural diamond in the tip. Single point tools such as these have a reputation for inconsistent and unstable performance, due to fluctuating quality in the diamond themselves, along with the need for frequent rotation to maintain a sharp contact point. If left in one position for too long, the tools develop a large flat on the diamond which can lead to quality fluctuations and even burn.
hybrid diamond matrix with CVD rod
A significant improvement was made by introducing a Meister cDD dressing tool that incorporated a single CVD rod embedded in a diamond-encrusted hybrid matrix. The design of this new tool maintained a consistent and sharp contact area even after thousands of dressing cycles. This meant there was no longer any need to rotate or replace the tool due to dull or blunted contact surfaces between the dressing tool and the grinding wheel.
Below is a summary of the test parameters and results:
Tool comparison:
Grinding process:
Results and Advantages:
- Meister cDD Tool has stable performance during the entire tool life
- Easy to implement, no process changes needed
- Turning of the dresser not necessary (4x per day required for original tool)
- Longer tool life: 14 days (1 day for original tool)
- Projected annual consumption over (5) machines reduced from 1500 tools to 100 tools, with a cost savings of over $20k per year.
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