Grinding is a means of fabricating and finishing a product. Industrial grinding consists of many different forms or processes, however, the four major types are:
1. Cylindrical Grinding
2. Internal Grinding
3. Centerless Grinding
4. Surface Grinding
Blanchard grinding, is process that falls into the fourth category. It is also known as rotary surface grinding or vertical spindle grinding.
Vertical Spindle Grinding: A Form of Surface Grinding
The purpose of surface grinding is to produce a precise flat surface. Rotary surface or spindle grinding offers a means of accomplishing this quickly on one face or side of a work piece. The normal material is metal, specifically ferrous metal. However, the grinder can also finish successfully non-ferrous metals and even many plastics. Commonly used materials include:
* Aluminum
* Brass
* Copper
* Stainless steel
* Titanium
The size of material for use on this grinder tends to be large, usually too large for other methods including disc grinding.
To accomplish the process, the grinder uses a vertical axis spindle. The operator feeds the work in a horizontal plane that is beneath a rotating grinding wheel. The work piece is often attached magnetically (facilitated by processing only ferrous metal) to the reciprocating table or a rotary-table worktable, which can be rotated to begin the process.
Benefits of Employing Blanchard Grinding Machinery
The result is a very specific finish pattern on the surface of the workpiece. The pattern is described as a cross hatch, spiral pattern finish. It accomplishes this quickly allowing for very fast turnaround. Moreover, the machines can address various thickness and reduce them all to the same fine finish. In fact, the machine easily, and quickly, grinds diverse sizes of workpieces. This makes it an optimal option for very long and large production runs.
Other advantages of using this type of precision surface grinding equipment include:
* Able to achieve dimensional tolerances as little as ±.001″
* Removes large amounts of surface stock efficiently
* Ideal for large components such as mold plates, rotary tables and vacuum chambers
* Size versatility
* Eliminates miss-matches
* Capable of simultaneously grinding multiple components
* Can use both wafer thin and heavier vacuum chunks
These are all advantages to employing this specific type of precision grinder.
Blanchard Grinding
The name for this grinding machine comes from the specialist in rotary grinding machines – the Blanchard Machine Company, a dedicated specialist in rotary grinding machines. Grinding machines of this type are excellent choices when the parts are large and the run is lengthy. Overall, Blanchard grinding produces a moderate finish and medium precision at a high production rate.
