Vollmer’s VPulse 500 wire-erosion machine has been equipped with additional functions to dress diamond grinding wheels using erosive methods.

Another advantage of Vollmer’s latest technology is that using a hydrocarbon-based dielectric protects the clamping systems of the wheel packages from corrosion.
The method of how metal-bonded diamond grinding wheels are dressed determines their removal rate and operating life. When these wheels are dressed mechanically, the diamond grains partially lose their sharpness and break away easily. This effect results in only moderate grain protrusion, which does not allow the metal-bonded grinding wheel to be used at its optimum operating point. The solution of contactless spark erosion yields structure and retaining force in the diamond grains.
Dr Stefan Brand, CEO of the Vollmer Group, says: “Metal-bonded diamond grinding wheels are increasingly being used in tool machining. To improve their removal rate and operating life, spark eroding is the recommended dressing method. At the EMO 2019 exhibition in Hanover, we demonstrated for the first time how grinding wheels can be dressed using erosive methods with our VPulse 500.”
Unlike other eroding processes, the VPulse 500 uses a hydrocarbon-based dielectric, meaning that the sensitive clamping systems on the grinding wheel packages do not require special protection. With its five-axis kinematics, the VPulse 500 automatically measures and erodes every diamond grinding wheel.
As a benefit of the fine eroding wire, even complex geometries can be machined on the grinding wheel in one set-up. Internal testing of the VPulse 500 at Vollmer has shown that, compared with mechanical methods, the operating life of metal-bonded grinding wheels can be improved significantly. In addition, the removal rate is enhanced as a result of the open-pored grinding wheel with grain-free regions.
“Customers have the option of equipping the VPulse 500 with four different workpiece storage solutions, enabling up to 68 grinding wheel packages to be processed unmanned, around the clock,” says Brand. “This is irrespective of whether companies are manufacturing or re-profiling diamond grinding wheels.”
For further information www.vollmer-group.com