Grinding dresser

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A grinding dresser or wheel dresser is a tool to dress the surface of a grinding wheel. Grinding
dressers are used for making different profile on grinding wheel. The dressing of a wheel in order
to return the wheel to its original shape. Truing is also a method of wheel balancing.
Contents
[hide]

1 Purpose

2 Types
2.1 Grinding complex shapes

3 References

Purpose[edit]
The objective of dressing the wheel is to:

True the wheel by knocking abrasive particles from the wheel's surface and making the
wheel concentric. This minimizes vibration and improves surface finish, eliminating the
vibration of the out-of-balance wheel across the workpiece's surface.

Dislodge these abrasive particles, which also has the effect of exposing fresh abrasive
from the wheel's surface. Each abrasive grain is a small cutting tool; a worn grain has its
edges dulled and loses its effectiveness. Exposing the fresh grains is thus a sharpening
process. Glazing of the wheel is evidence of rounded grains and is noticeable by a reflective
surface on the spinning wheel.

Clean the wheel. If a workpiece is softer than the grade for which the wheel is designed,
the abrasive particles will not be dislodged in time to present fresh, sharp grains. The wheel
therefore appears to lose its edge especially as the pores between grains fill with fragments
of the workpiece. The wheel is then said to be loaded and is one reason why the selection of
wheel is extremely important.

Types[edit]

Star or disc wheel dresser

Star dressers A long handled tool with a row of free running, hardened and serrated,
discs running at right angles to the handle. These are presented to the grinding wheel as it is
turned off and slows down. Force is applied to the face of the slowing wheel with the result

that the hardened discs match speed with the face of the wheel allowing the fingers or
undulating surface of the dresser, to knock the abrasive grains out.

Diamond dressers

Diamond dressers Shorter handled Diamond tools that either have a matrix of small
diamonds bonded to a broad surface on the end of the dresser (top image) or a single
diamond mounted in their face (lower image). As the diamond is introduced to the wheel's
face, the harder diamond remains attached and the looser grains fall away.

Dressing sticks A stick of hard material, usually made from the same materials
(silicon carbide) but with a stronger bonding agent. Norbide is one brand of dressing stick
made by Norton Abrasives, from boron carbide.

Grinding complex shapes[edit]

Four types of dressers are used to dress the wheels of CNC grinders used for grinding complex
shapes. This type of dresser is mainly in use on CNC grinding machine tools to automatically
dress the grinding wheel via computer control in specialist areas requiring complex shapes such
as grinding bearing raceways.

Stationary dressers a stationary dresser is a metal blade with a single diamond

brazed into the tip. A CNC dressing program moves it across the face of the wheel, moving in
and out to create the desired profile.The grinding wheel's profile is controlled by the CNC
program used to dress the wheel, rather than by the profile of the dresser itself.

Crush rolls a crush roll is a high-speed steel or tungsten carbide wheel. Its profile is
the mirror image of the desired profile of the grinding wheel. It is forced against the grinding
wheel, while spinning at the same surface speed as the grinding wheel. Doing so breaks the
bond between the abrasive particles on the surface of the wheel, exposing a new surface as
particles fall away. One disadvantage is that the wheel profile cannot be adjusted except by
replacing the roll with one having a different profile.

Diamond crush rolls a diamond crush roll is a crush roll coated with diamond
particles. It wears more slowly. Less wear means they can be used to achieve tighter
tolerances than crush rolls.

Rotary dressers a rotary dresser (sometimes referred to as a pizza-cutter dresser) is

a disc with a hard material - usually diamond - attached to the edge. The grinding wheel's
profile is controlled by the CNC program used to dress the wheel, rather than by the profile of
the dresser itself.[1]