Materials for Precision Grinding

Our precision grinding services are the final step in achieving ultimate accuracy and mirror-like surface finishes. We specialize in grinding hardened metals to sub-micron tolerances, ensuring your most critical components perform flawlessly.

The Primary Focus: Hardened Metals

While many metals can be ground, the primary and most valuable application of precision grinding is to shape and finish materials after they have been hardened through heat treatment. Traditional cutting tools struggle with hardened materials, but the abrasive nature of grinding allows us to remove microscopic layers of these materials with extreme precision.

Achieving Perfection on the Hardest Materials

Our grinding expertise is centered on the tool steels and hardened alloys that form the backbone of high-performance tooling and machinery.

Tool Steel (A2, D2, S7, H13, P20)

Our Core Application. After a tool steel component for an injection mold or stamping die has been heat-treated to its final hardness (often 58-62 HRC), precision grinding is the essential final step to achieve the required dimensional accuracy and surface finish for the mating faces and critical features.

Hardened Alloy Steel (e.g., 4140, 4340)

For high-strength shafts, gears, and mechanical components that have been hardened for wear resistance, cylindrical and surface grinding are used to ensure perfect roundness, straightness, and a smooth surface for bearings or mating parts.

Hardened Stainless Steel (e.g., 440C, 17-4 PH)

Many stainless steel components for medical or industrial applications are hardened to improve their durability. We use grinding to create sharp cutting edges on surgical instruments or to achieve the final tolerance on hardened actuator components.

Carbide

An extremely hard and brittle material used for cutting tools and high-wear applications. Grinding with a diamond abrasive wheel is one of the only ways to effectively shape and sharpen carbide components.

A Process of Abrasive Machining

Unlike CNC milling which shears material, grinding uses thousands of microscopic abrasive grains to remove material, offering unique advantages.

Overcomes Hardness

The abrasive grains in the grinding wheel are harder than the workpiece material (e.g., diamond or cubic boron nitride), allowing them to precisely remove material from even the hardest tool steels.

Low Thermal Impact

When performed correctly with proper coolant, the heat generated is localized and quickly dissipated, preventing damage to the temper of the hardened material.

Achieves Ultimate Precision

The process removes material at a microscopic level, allowing for dimensional control that is often 10 times more precise than the best CNC milling or turning operations.