A cylindrical grinder is a type of grinding machine that is used to shape the outside of an object. It can work on many different types of objects provided that the object has a central axis of rotation.

 

For example this type of grinder can be used to grind shapes such as a cylinder, ellipse, cam or crankshaft.

 

The essential actions of a cylindrical grinder are:

A constantly rotating object.

 

A constantly rotating grinding wheel

 

The grinding wheel must be fed forwards and away from the object

 

Different types of grinding include:

Outside diameter grinding

 

Inside diameter grinding

 

Plunge grinding

 

Creep Feed grinding

 

Centreless Grinding

 

The Invention of the grinder

John Wilkinson and Henry Maudslay are credited with building the first horizontal boring machine and the first engine lathe, which all other modern machine tools are said to have been developed from.

 

The cylindrical grinder as it stands owes much of its design to the onset of the industrial revolution.

As steel production grew and the grinding wheel was improved there became more need for the use of cylindrical grinders.

 

There are two men who are credited with independently designing versions of a cylindrical grinder. They are Jonathan Bridges and James Wheaton. Both men were working in the 1930’s and it is unclear which man produced the first machine.

 

The cylindrical grinder is responsible for many inventions and innovations and is useful in any situation where precise metal working is required.

 

From the automotive industry to the military, the cylindrical grinders is responsible for the development of many machines and industries over the last hundred years.

Cylindrical grinding is very important in the machine tooling industry.

It works in a similar way to a lathe whereby a cylindrical workpiece is rotated and a cutting tool is brought against it to cut it doen to whatever the required size is.

These types of grinder are often used because they can achieve an extremely high level of precision and therefore can be used to make component parts for complex machinery. Some can even cut to one thirtieth the diameter of a human hair, which makes them the ideal tool for creating component parts for surgical equipment.

Using this type of tool usually achieves a better finish than a lathe which makes it a popular and useful precision tool.

The tool differs from a normal lathe as both the grinding wheel and the workpiece rotate at the same time.