Truing & Dressing

MACH 122: Abrasive Machining

TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING tab
Introduction
 A grinding wheel must run true with every point on its cutting
surface concentric with the machine spindle.
 As the wheel becomes loaded with workpiece material,
it must be dressed to restore sharpness.
 It must also run in balance because of its great speed.
 Truing, dressing, and balancing are important parts of grinding
operations.
OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVESto…
 Describe truing, dressing, and balancing of grinding wheels.
 Distinguish the difference between the objectives
of truing and dressing a grinding wheel.
 Correctly position a single-point diamond dresser
in relation to the grinding wheel.
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING

Truing and Dressing

 When a new wheel is installed, it must be trued before use, to
bring every point on its cutting surface concentric with the
machine spindle.
 The cutting surface of a new
wheel will run out slightly due
to the clearance between the
wheel bore & machine spindle.

Fig. L-51
Sketch, exaggerated for effect, showing a grinding wheel
on a spindle. The gap under the spindle may be only a few thousandths of an
inch but still enough to cause problems
if the wheel is not trued to the center of the spindle.
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING

Truing and Dressing

 Dressing is the process of sharpening a grinding wheel.
 In most grinding operations, small chips of workpiece material
can become lodged in the cutting surface.
 If the wheel bonding hardness is excessive, dulled abrasive
grains can remain in the grinding wheel.
 Both truing and dressing remove a certain amount of
material from the grinding wheel.
 Wheels should be trued & dressed only enough to establish
concentricity or to expose new sharp abrasive grains to the
workpiece.
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING

Truing and Dressing

 Optimal matching of grinding wheels to grinding operation
results in a self-dressing condition.
 Force of the grinding action is sufficient to release dull abrasive
grains from the bond & keep the wheel sharp.
 Need to retrue a grinding wheel typically relates to the
losing of form control, as when the edges wear away an
unacceptable amount.
 Need to dress a grinding wheel is typically related
to maintaining surface finish.
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING

Truing and Dressing

 Precision grinders are trued and dressed with single- or multiple-
point diamond dressers.

Fig. L-52
Single-point diamond dresser. An important precaution in using such a dresser is to turn the diamond often to avoid grinding flats
on it. This diamond is pointing to the right (Courtesy Desmond-Stephan Manufacturing Company).
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING

Truing and Dressing

• A cluster dresser may be wide
enough to reach across the
entire cutting surface of the
wheel.
– Traversing the dresser is
the most common way to
dress the grinding wheel

Fig. L-53
Cluster dressers have come into use mostly because several smaller diamonds are less expensive than one large diamond
(Courtesy Desmond-Stephan Manufacturing Company).
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING

Truing and Dressing

 The dresser must be positioned off center and to the left of
the wheel to prevent the dresser from getting caught and
being pulled under the wheel.

Fig. L-54
This is one of several ways of mounting a dresser
on a surface grinder. The dresser with its diamond
is placed and magnetically secured on a clean
magnetic chuck. Note that the diamond is slanted
at a 15-degree angle and slightly past the vertical
centerline of the wheel. (DoALL Company).
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING tab

Truing and Dressing

 When the dresser is cutting all around, the wheel has been
fully trued.
 Do not remove any more abrasive than is necessary to achieve
concentric running of the cutting surface.
 Truing may be done dry if the diamond allowed to cool a few
seconds after each pass has been made.
 If the truing is done with grinding fluid, flood the diamond
continuously; otherwise, it could be fractured.
 After truing & dressing, “break” sharp corners of the wheel
with a dressing stick, leaving a small radius.
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING tab

Balancing
 An out-of-balance wheel can cause chatter marks
in the workpiece finish.
 Balancing is usually required on large wheels (over 14-in.
diameter) but may not be required for smaller wheels.
 Wheels are balanced on an overlapping disk balancing tool or
parallel ways (Figs. L-63 & L-64).
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING tab

Balancing
Fig. L-64 Balancing a wheel on two knife edges,
as on this unit, is accurate because there is minimal friction. Of
course, the unit must be perfectly level and true. Otherwise, the
wheel may roll from causes other than being out-of-balance.

Fig. L-63 This type of balancing device with overlapping wheels

or disks is quite common. It has an advantage in that it need not
be precisely leveled
TRUING, BALANCING & DRESSING tab

Balancing

Fig. L-65
With the weights between the vertical &
horizontal centerlines the wheel should
be in proper balance, stationary in any
position.

If not, a matched pair of differing

balance weights should be used.
(MAG Industrial Automation)