What is Blanchard Grinding?
Blanchard grinding is a method of machining that is developed by Blanchard Machine Company in the early 1900s. It’s used for large, flat parts. It’s used for parts that require significant material removal. And it does it in a fairly uniform way. If you’re not familiar with Blanchard grinding, it’s best described as surface grinding or redress. If you’re looking for more information on it, there are plenty of videos out there on how to do Blanchard grinding.
Key Aspects of Blanchard Grinding
Process
It uses a revolving magnetic chuck to keep the workpiece in place while a grinding wheel revolves above it. The chuck and wheel revolve in opposing directions, which allows for equal material removal.
Efficiency
Blanchard grinding is noted for its high material removal rate, which makes it quicker than other grinding procedures, particularly for big components.
Applications
It is widely used in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and construction, and is perfect for big items such as mould plates and castings.
Surface Finish
The method generally yields a surface polish of 63-125 RMS and tolerances as close as ±0.001 inch.
How Does Blanchard Grinding Work?
The workpiece is secured to a magnetic chuck that spins throughout the grinding operation. A vertical grinding wheel falls into the material, removing stock as the wheel and chuck revolve in opposing directions.
This process guarantees that materials are removed uniformly throughout the surface. The method produces tolerances of ±0.001 inches and surface polishes of 63 to 125 RMS.
Benefits of Blanchard Grinding
Fast Material Removal
Blanchard Grinding is very effective in rapidly removing huge amounts of material, making it ideal for heavy-duty applications. This capacity to remove material quickly is useful for big workpieces or high-volume production, accelerating the process and increasing overall productivity in sectors such as automotive or aerospace manufacture.
Consistent Flatness
Blanchard Grinding produces a flat, smooth surface over massive metal pieces, ensuring consistent results. This approach is very useful for pieces that need high flatness and parallelism tolerances. The rotary grinding method ensures that the end product meets uniformity criteria, which makes it ideal for cutting huge plates or metal sheets.
Cost-Effective
Blanchard Grinding is noted for its efficiency, which results in lower manufacturing costs. It can remove material from many sections at the same time, saving time and money on labour. Blanchard Grinding is a low-cost alternative for producing bulk or large-scale components while keeping high-quality requirements.
Blanchard Grinding vs. Surface and Cylindrical Grinding
Blanchard Grinding
This machine is perfect for grinding big, flat surfaces since it uses a spinning grinding wheel. In addition to removing material rapidly, it leaves behind a crosshatch pattern that is easily identifiable. It works well for work that is less exact and involves a big volume.
Surface Grinding
Utilises a grinding wheel that is flat in order to smooth up flat surfaces. It provides a higher level of accuracy than Blanchard Grinding and is appropriate for use with smaller items and tolerances that are more stringent.
Cylindrical Grinding
For the purpose of grinding the outer diameter of cylindrical objects, this technique makes use of a wheel that rotates. It lends itself very well to the production of smooth finishes and precise tolerances on spherical objects.
Applications of Blanchard Grinding
Blanchard grinding is used in a variety of sectors because it is efficient and produces flat, consistent surfaces. Here are a few significant uses.
Large Castings and Forgings
Blanchard grinding is perfect for treating big castings and forgings, maintaining the required flatness and consistency. This use is critical in sectors such as aerospace and automotive where accuracy is required.
Plate Stock Preparation
This technique is often used for the purpose of flattening and finishing big portions of plate material. By ensuring that these plates fulfil particular thickness and flatness standards, Blanchard grinding makes them acceptable for further machining. Blanchard grinding is also known as “blended grinding.”
Tool and Die Manufacturing
The Blanchard grinding process is used in the fabrication of tools and dies for the purpose of producing flat surfaces that are exact on dies and tooling components. This application is essential for ensuring that the production procedures are executed correctly in terms of fit and function.
Stamping and Rotary Tables
The Blanchard grinding process is an efficient method for finishing big stampings and rotary tables, which provides the surface quality that is required for components that are utilised in a variety of machines.
Post-Weld Finishing
When parts have been welded, they often need to be finished in order to eliminate any extra material or defects. Blanchard grinding is a speedy procedure that may be used to refine welded sections, resulting in a surface finish that is clean and uninterrupted.
Accuracy and Tolerances in Blanchard Grinding
Known for its capacity to attain specified precision and tolerance levels, blanchard grinding is a technique that may be used in a wide variety of applications. This grinding procedure is often connected with a certain level of precision and tolerances, which are summarised below.
Dimensional Tolerances
Depending on the exact needs and the quality of the grinding facility, Blanchard grinding has the capability to produce dimensional tolerances that range from around ±0.002 to ±0.0011 inches.
Flatness and Parallelism
Flatness and parallelism tolerances typically fall within the range of 0.0015 to 0.003 inches per foot, with bigger components possibly exhibiting maximum variations of up to 0.006 inches.
Surface Finish
Surface finishes ranging from 63 RMS to 125 RMS may be produced by the technique, and options for finer finishes can be made available upon request.
Material Considerations
Tolerances may change depending on the material that is being ground, with ferrous materials often allowing for more stringent tolerances than non-ferrous materials do.
Blanchard Grinding Costs and Considerations
It is essential for manufacturers to keep in mind that blanchard grinding offers a variety of economic advantages as well as a variety of issues.
Costs
Because of its easy setups and rapid processing times, blanchard grinding is usually very affordable for big quantities. Variations in component thickness, surface polish requirements, and complexity will affect costs as well. Usually cost is computed hourly; bigger or thicker pieces are charged more. Simultaneous processing of many pieces improves cost reductions even further.
Considerations
With tolerances approximately ±0.001 inches, blanchard grinding is efficient but less accurate than other techniques. Applications requiring a smooth surface might find the odd cross-hatch finish inappropriate. Moreover, the kind of material affects efficiency and cost; ferrous materials are easier to grind than nonferrous materials, which might call for particular techniques.
Conclusion
Blanchard Grinding is a strong and cost-effective way to flatten big components. Its speed is appropriate for high-volume applications, while its accuracy is perfect for smaller jobs. Manufacturers may choose Blanchard Grinding for their production needs by knowing its procedures, advantages, and considerations.
