The United Grinding stand at the EMO exhibition in Hanover last month featured a host of Walter machines and technologies for effective and efficient tool and insert grinding/erosion. In particular, parent group United Grinding’s CORE (Customer Oriented REvolution) hardware/software architecture and Walter’s Laser Contour Check non-contact tool measurement development, shared centre stage.

CORE architecture embraces the digital age by offering intuitive operation that facilitates machine set-up, operation, networking and maintenance. Underpinning this ethos is ‘work simplification in production’ topave the way for a new generation of machine tools which fully embrace the digital age.

Laser Contour Check is now optional on all Walter Helitronic tool grinding and erosion machines. This featureensures high precision and fast in-process measurement of tool parameters using blue laser technology in conjunction with process intelligence to measure various features on cylindrical tools from 1 to 52 mm diameter. Compensation for any deviations takes place during the machining process.

Laser Contour Check’s analogue laser beam measures a tool’s entire contour rather than just specific points, as with tactile or digital methods. Laser technology also avoids possible damage to the tool’s cutting edges, as well as measuring errors that could occur due to probe tip wear during tactile measuring routines. It is possible to integrate the measuring system directly into the machine’s working area, so it moves into position when required.

At EMO, visitors saw both CORE and Laser Contour Check on Walter’s Helitronic Mini Plus and Helitronic Micro tool grinders.While the former produces tools of 1 to 16 mm diameter and up to 255 mm long, and re-grinds tools of 3 to 100 mm diameter, the latter processes tools from 0.1 to 12.7 mm diameter and 220 mm long.
For further information www.walter-machines.com/en

The serial production of large gears requires a high level of quality, excellence and continuity in production. Particular emphasis is on maximising the synergy between the grinding machine, grinding process and grinding wheel. After several successful trials on various Klingelnberg Höfler Rapid series grinding machines carried out at various customer production facilities, Krebs & Riedel has received several significant orders for grinding large gears and introduced its new premium grinding wheels with high process reliability.

Krebs & Riedel is a major manufacturer of grinding wheels for gear grinding in the automotive and EV sector. Now, with its new Blue Moon TZ premium product range, the company is expanding into other sectors that require large gears, such as wind turbines.

“In some tests, the material removal rate (Q’w) was more than 30 mm³/mm,” says Sigurd De Ridder, senior application engineer at Krebs & Riedel, who conducts trials and process optimisation for customers worldwide. “Precision-shaped abrasive grains are state of the art today. Blue Moon TZ is self-sharpening, very sharp-edged, microcrystalline and has an elongated trapezoidal shape.”

According to Krebs & Riedel, the homogeneous pore structure of Blue Moon TZ contributes to an extreme improvement in the entire cooling system during grinding. Due to the open structure, coolant immediately floods the whole grinding wheel. Even with extreme material removal rate, the coolant transports chip away from the contact surface, avoiding heat input that could lead to thermal damage of the gear.

On average, tests on Klingelnberg Höfler Rapid 2500 machines showed the following grinding results: a cooler grind and a longer tool life, combined with up to 20% faster grinding time compared with standard grinding wheels. In dressing tests, the average result showed 20% longer dressing intervals and 30% less infeed.
For further information www.krebs-riedel.com