New Grinding and Automation Technologies

SAINT-GOBAIN ABRASIVES will be exhibiting a range of abrasive grinding products and technology at IMTS 2024, booth 237042, including the Norton RazorStar™ belts, quick-change and fiber discs with an engineered-shaped ceramic grain, a new technology offering high performance and metal removal rates in the toughest off-hand and/or automated grinding applications.

RazorStar’s combination of uniquely shaped razor-sharp grains in an upright position along with a special supersized grinding aid, helps to significantly reduce heat generation for cooler cuts and longer life on a range of materials such as carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel, nickel alloys and other hard-to-grind metals.

A highlight of the exhibit will be the Norton Abrasive Process Solutions (APS) Program that provides custom grinding expertise by helping customers determine optimal grinding or finishing solutions, from simple to complex, off-hand or automated, and for metal fabrication, production grinding, and virtually any abrasives operation. The APS Program draws on the knowledge of the Norton team along with access to 30 different machines, and a state-of-the-art APS Robotic Automation Cell at the Higgins Grinding Technology Center in Northborough, Mass. The APS team provides abrasive process development, optimization, automation, and in-house testing. APS services encompass the testing and optimization of new abrasives, improving quality and/ or throughput, and exploring entirely new and customized processes.

Other grinding products to be displayed include the Norton Quantum™ Prime grinding wheels that feature proprietary nano-crystalline ceramic grain, for productivity gains in multiple applications. The Quantum Prime grain delivers high grinding efficiency and part quality, as well as long wheel life. Wheels are available in a range of types including OD, ID, gear grinding, toolroom, disc grinding, mounted wheels, surface grinding, creep feed, and flute grinding.

Also on exhibit will be the Norton Paradigm® Plus diamond wheels with a new grain technology that complements a brittle metal bond to improve grinding performance on carbide round tools and periphery grinding on carbide and cermet inserts. “This technology, together with an advanced lightweight core, produces lower specific cutting energy with a 25% to 50% higher MRR, and has significantly improved wheel life when compared with other Paradigm wheels,” according to the developer.

Norton plans to present gear-grinding solutions that feature a new bond for grinding in extreme, tight tolerance environments. The portfolio of gear-grinding products is specifically designed by category to provide higher profile accuracy, excellent form holding and burn-free grinding in worm, profile, and bevel applications.

New NORaX® N889 micro-structured abrasive belts featuring a precise, flexible design for producing consistent, fine part finishes for a range of industry applications will be shown, too. The belts have up to 30% better performance compared with other belts in their class.

For the high-performance external grinding of cam and crankshafts and internal grinding applications in automotive and bearing industries, Vitron7 cBN grinding wheels feature a high-precision vitrified bond will also be shown.

Alfredo Barragan, senior application engineer with Norton | Saint-Gobain Abrasives, will make a presentation - “Cutting Edge Innovations: Maximizing Productivity and Best Practices with Superabrasives” - on Wednesday, September 11 at 3:15 pm, at the IMTS Conference.

Learn more at www.nortonabrasives.com