Bond type of superabrasive(Diamond&CBN) grinding wheels

Bond is a binding material to hold abrasive particles. Most of the grinding wheel is made up of bond and abrasive grains. The grinding wheel consists mainly of four elements: "abrasive", "bond", "filler" and "pore".

Bond has the role of holding the abrasive grains, and as the grinding progresses, it also separates the damaged abrasive grains, and release the abrasive grains with a new sharp cutting edge.

The bond has a strong influence on the holding force of the abrasive grains, so the cutting and the life of the abrasive grains can be changed by the bond.

When the grinding wheel is selected, the bond becomes very important because the point of "how much is cut by the chip of the work" greatly affects the property of the grinding wheel. The sharpness of the grinding wheel is maintained by constantly changing the grinding wheel.

There are four types of grinding wheel.

• Metal bond (M) - Metal Bond Grinding Wheels

• Resin bond (B) - Resin Bond Diamond Wheels

• Vitrified bond (V) - Vitrified Grinding Wheels

• Electroplated (P) - Electroplated Grinding Wheels

1. Metal bond (M)

Metal based bond. It is a hard bond, the general metals are copper, tin, zinc, cobalt. And metal bond wheel is with features of high efficiency, good self-sharpening, high stock removal, good shape retaintion.

2. Resin bond (B)

Resin based bond. Compared to metal and vitrified bond, resin grinding wheel is cushioning and soft, so the contact area with workpiece is bigger, more abrasive grains comes into grinding, the surface finish of workpiece is better.

3. Vitrified bond (V)

Ceramic frit based bond. Because the bond itself is hard and the elastic modulus is not so large, the number of abrasive grains to work is less than resin bond. Vitrified bond has better chemical stability, higher bonding strength, and excellent sharpness. Good compatibility for grinding PCD, PCBN, and other hard materials. 

4. Electroplated (P)

Electroplated diamond grinding wheel is made by plating abrasive(diamond or CBN) grains with a single layer by nickel. The advantage of the wheels in electroplated bond is that complicated profile with high precision can be made. In addition, the amount of exposure of the abrasive grains is much higher than other bonds, so it is excellent in sharpness. However, there is only one thin abrasive layer, the life is always shorter compared with other bond types.