Grinding Machines - CRATEX Abrasives

There are grinders for round parts and grinders for flat surfaces. Those for round parts include machines like cylindrical and centerless grinders, and those for flat surfaces are called surface grinders. There are also form grinders (they move the workpiece and the wheel or just the wheel along different axes to grind precisely contoured surfaces) and tool & cutter grinders (for production and sharpening of cutting tools).

Various machines can be used for abrasive cutting such as bench grinders, industrial grinding machines, different hand power tools (such as die grinders or angle grinders) or grindstones.

Grindstones are round sharpening stones typically made from sandstone, mounted on grindstone machines that have speed-control pedals.

Angle or side grinder is used both for abrasive cutting and polishing. The angles grinders are powered by either an electric motor, compressed air or petrol engine. They are made with an adjustable guard for safety and additional side-handle for operations that require the usage of both hands.

There are a wide variety of side grinders on the market, so you’ll be able to find the perfect one for the project you’re working on. One of the main things to consider is the motor strength and the disc size, and the rule is – the greater the power, the bigger the disc. Common angle grinder discs are 4", 4.5", 5", 6", 7", 9" and 12".

Other specifications that could make a lot of difference are the power source, rpm and the size of the mandrel. Depending on the power source, angle grinders can be pneumatic, which have much smaller discs and are generally used for easier, more precise work, and electric, which are used for heavy-duty jobs. Although small electric and large pneumatic grinders do exist, smaller electric grinders have a tougher time maintaining adequate power, whereas pneumatic grinders can be both small and light, but equally powerful.

Depending on the operation, different kinds of discs can be used on these grinders, such as diamond-blade cut-off discs, abrasive grinding wheels, grinding stones, sanding discs, polishing pads and wire brush wheels.

Die grinders and rotary tools and can be used for grinding (with bonded abrasive stones called mounted points/stones or grinding points), but sanding (with coated abrasives like mounted sand paper drums), honing (with fine-grit mounted points), polishing or buffing (with cloth or fiber drums and polishing compound), lapping (with mounted lap and lapping compound) and machining (with drill bits, end mills or burrs) as well, and there is no conceptual difference between the two tools. However, over time their names started to refer more to two same tools used for two different operations: die grinder refer more to the pneumatic, heavy-duty tools, while rotary tools refer more the electric tools used for lighter tasks.

CRATEX Rotary Hand-piece CTX-800 is a precision air tool with different speed options. It has a high torque and construction made from rugged stainless-steel which makes it extremely light and perfect for all kinds of precision grinding, polishing and finishing operations. The tool has a collet that can be changed easily and that can take 1/8'' and 3/32'' diameter shanks and mandrels.

Bench grinders are most commonly seen in residential basements and garages and are standard equipment in machine shops. The name tells us a lot about the way the tool is being used – it is a bench-top type grinder that can be used for different operations depending on the type of wheels that are mounted.