Manufacturing of Dressing Rollers

Diamond dressing rollers are important electroplated tools. They are used for profiling and sharpening of grinding tools (Sect. 6.5 “Tool Conditioning”). Diamond dressing rollers are either produced with a direct method or a reverse method [MINK99, YEGE86, KLOC09, p. 140]. In the direct method, the diamond grits are fixed stochastically on a profiled body. Therefore, the size deviation of the grits defines the geometrical envelope [KLOC09, p. 140].

The reverse method works with lost molds that have the negative profile of the dressing roller [LIER01]. The diamonds are either scattered or hand-set onto the profile area. The grits are then bonded together by electroplating or infiltration methods and the abrasive layer is fixed on the body.

Figure 3.18 displays the reverse centrifugal method for electroplating. The reverse centrifugal method works with a Ni-rich electrode to improve the coverage of the grits and a graphite mold. The process is relatively slow. The geometrical envelope of the dressing tool is not defined by the grits but by the mold. The concave profile elements of the mold define the maximum grit diamond size. Diamond rollers with highest packing density manufactured by the reverse method have the highest importance in industrial applications [KLOC09].

The German term “Diamantierung” summarizes diamond pattern, grit type, and bonding method. Manufacturers specify dressing tools by either the concentration of diamond grits in carat per cm3 or by the number of diamond grits per cm2 [MERZ94]. Profile rollers with a large diamond grit size or small diamond grit concentration generate high effective grinding wheel surface roughnesses [MERZ94, SCHM68]. Similar tendencies are obtained for form rollers [MERZ94, STUF96]. High grit

concentration decreases the load on the single dressing grit, increasing dressing tool life [WIMM95]. However, the higher dressing tool costs might be unprofitable.

Hand-set diamond patterns can vary along the profile of a dressing roller. For example, the shoulder of a profile roller is equipped with bigger diamond grits in a smaller concentration than the face area [KLOC87]. The profile roller can then generate the grinding wheel shoulder with a higher surface roughness and the danger of thermally induced workpiece damage is minimized.

Updated: 24.03.2016 — 11:54