We deliver precision grinding for parts that have to hold size, flatness and finish after heat treatment. Abrasive machining reaches the tolerances and surface quality cutting tools cannot, across hardened steels, stainless, carbide and engineering ceramics.
Each capability below answers a specific precision problem. If your part has to hold tenths after hardening, or a surface that seals, seats or slides, this is the process that gets it there.
A hardened shaft that has already moved in heat treatment will not clean up to size by turning — the tool simply deflects off the hardness.
Grinding between centers or on a chuck takes hardened surfaces to final size with controlled stock removal and in-process gauging.
A gasket or mating face that is out of flat leaks, no matter how good the fastener torque is.
Reciprocating and rotary table surface grinding produces flat, parallel, burr-free faces ready for sealing or assembly.
Bearing seats and bushing bores need concentricity that drilling and boring cannot reliably reach.
A high-speed internal spindle finishes bores to size and roundness, keeping wall concentricity and taper under control.
Center-type grinding carries setup and handling time that dominates the price once quantities climb.
Through-feed and in-feed centerless grinding removes the center holes and the handling, giving fast cycle times on round work.
Form features that carry a fit or a seal often need a dressed wheel rather than a single-point tool.
Dressed wheels and CNC profile dressing reproduce complex cross-sections with the finish already in the profile.
A part can be fully to size and still fail on Ra, waviness or visible grinding marks.
Spark-out passes, wheel selection and controlled coolant deliver the finish the drawing specifies — measured, not assumed.
We deliver ground parts with tight size control and consistent finish, supporting everything from a single prototype to scheduled production batches.
Grinding results depend on matching the abrasive to the workpiece. Our wheel and consumable portfolio covers aluminium oxide through to superabrasives, selected against the hardness, finish and volume your part demands.
Aluminium oxide and silicon carbide wheels cover the widest range of general engineering work, from rough stock removal through to a controlled finish.
Ceramic grain and cubic boron nitride keep a sharp edge far longer, which matters on hardened steel where wheel breakdown drives the cycle time.
Diamond tooling is the only practical answer for carbide, ceramics and other materials that ordinary abrasives cannot touch economically.
The classic grinding workload: through-hardened and case-hardened steels ground after heat treatment, where cutting tools can no longer hold size.
Stainless, titanium and nickel alloys grind hot and tend to load the wheel, so grade, coolant and dressing strategy carry more weight than on plain carbon steel.
Secondary operations that follow grinding to protect or refine the surface, without undoing the tolerance you just achieved.
Our grinding cells are set up for precision work after heat treatment, running to drawing and GD&T requirements with in-process verification rather than end-of-batch sorting.
| Process Parameter | Technical Capability |
|---|---|
| Grinding Processes Available | Surface, cylindrical (OD), internal (ID), centerless and form / profile grinding |
| Dimensional Tolerance | Standard ±0.01 mm; precision work up to ±0.002 mm on critical features |
| Surface Finish (Ground) | Standard ground Ra 0.8 µm; fine grinding Ra 0.4 µm – 0.1 µm on request |
| Roundness & Cylindricity | From 0.002 mm on ground diameters, depending on geometry and setup |
| Parallelism & Flatness | From 0.005 mm across ground faces and reference surfaces |
| Workpiece Hardness Range | Soft through hardened materials up to 62 HRC, plus carbide and ceramic workpieces |
| Wheel & Abrasive Selection | Aluminium oxide, silicon carbide, ceramic, CBN and diamond in vitrified or resin bond |
| Coolant & Thermal Control | Flood coolant with filtration to prevent burning, loading and heat-affected surface damage |
| Quality Assurance | First Article Inspection (FAI), in-process gauging, CMM and surface roughness verification |
| Lead Time | Prototypes: as fast as 3 working days; production batches: typically 5–10 working days |
Project focus: roundness held after hardening & a cleanable surface
Cylindrical Grinding (OD)
316L Stainless / Titanium Gr 5
0.002 mm achieved
A medical device manufacturer needed surgical instrument shafts and guide pins ground after heat treatment. Turning could no longer hold size on the hardened material, and the surface had to be smooth enough to clean reliably between procedures.
We ground between centers with a fine-grain wheel and light spark-out passes, using steady rest support to control deflection on the slender sections.
"The shafts came back on size and with a finish our cleaning validation accepted first time. Holding roundness on the long slender sections was the part we had struggled to source."— Manufacturing Engineering Lead, surgical instrument programme partner
Focus: journal roundness & consistent finish across the batch
Cylindrical & Centerless Grinding
4340 Steel / Hardened Alloy
Ra 0.4 µm
A motorsport engine builder required ground crankshaft journals and valvetrain pins. Bearing life depends on journal roundness and surface finish, and the previous supplier's parts varied enough between batches to show up as uneven bearing wear during teardown.
Crankshaft journals were ground on centers with in-process sizing, while the valvetrain pins moved to centerless grinding to remove setup and handling cost at volume.
"Bearing wear evened out immediately after we switched the journals to their grinding cell. Batch-to-batch consistency was the thing we could never get from the previous source."— Lead Engineer, motorsport engine programme partner
Focus: flatness and parallel faces for a precision fit
Surface Grinding
Hardened Tool Steel up to 62 HRC
0.005 mm
An automation integrator needed hardened wear plates and tooling inserts ground flat and parallel. The plates locate other components, so any deviation in thickness translated directly into setup error on their assembly line.
We ground both faces in sequence on a magnetic chuck with dressed-wheel control, then deburred and measured thickness at a grid of points rather than at a single location.
"Thickness is now consistent enough that we stopped re-shimming the fixture on every build. The inspection report maps the whole plate, not one spot."— Senior Automation Engineer, tooling programme partner
Focus: finish transferred to the moulded surface
Form & Fine Surface Grinding
Hardened Tool Steel / Carbide
Ra 0.1 µm achievable
An electronics brand needed mould cores and punch tooling ground to a very fine finish, because every grinding mark transfers straight onto the moulded housing surface. Cosmetic parts leave nowhere to hide a scratch.
We ground the form with a dressed wheel, then stepped down through progressively finer wheels to reach the finish target while protecting the edge geometry.
"The finish off the grinder was close enough that our polishing step dropped from hours to a quick pass on each core."— Tooling Manager, consumer electronics programme partner
A streamlined workflow that removes unnecessary time cost and keeps your project moving from drawing to delivered parts.
Upload your drawings and tolerance callouts for pricing and a manufacturability review.
We fix the grinding method, stock allowance, wheel selection and datum strategy before any metal moves.
Surface, cylindrical, internal, centerless or form grinding with flood coolant and in-process sizing.
Dimensional checks, roundness and surface roughness verification against the drawing.
Protective finishing, careful packing of ground surfaces, and global dispatch.
As a professional precision grinding supplier since 2009, we have successfully obtained four ISO certifications. We are dedicated to providing our clients with high-quality, precision-ground components.
We provide professional grinding capacity across surface, cylindrical, internal, centerless and form processes, with batch delivery in 5–10 working days.
Upload your drawings and receive a free quote within 24 hours, including expert-level DFM feedback.
CNC grinding is an abrasive machining process that removes very small amounts of material using a rotating abrasive wheel. Because the wheel cuts instead of a single-point tool, it holds size and finish on materials that are too hard to turn or mill — typically after heat treatment. The workpiece is positioned to a controlled datum and the wheel is fed in fine increments, with flood coolant carrying heat away and in-process gauging confirming size as the part is ground.
It depends on the geometry that has to be controlled.
Surface grinding for flat, parallel faces such as plates, wear strips and sealing surfaces. Cylindrical grinding for outside diameters on shafts, journals and spindles. Internal grinding for bores, bearing seats and bushing fits. Centerless grinding for round parts in volume, where the workpiece is supported by a regulating wheel rather than centers. Form grinding for radii, angles, grooves and profiles reproduced by a dressed wheel.
Grinding is normally the process that takes a part to its final tolerance. Typical results are ±0.01 mm as standard, with precision work reaching ±0.002 mm on critical features. Roundness can be held from 0.002 mm on ground diameters and parallelism from 0.005 mm across ground faces. Surface finish typically lands at Ra 0.8 µm, with fine grinding reaching Ra 0.4 µm to Ra 0.1 µm when the drawing calls for it. Achievable values always depend on geometry, material and setup.
Heat treatment distorts a part, so a feature machined to final size before hardening will rarely still be in tolerance afterwards. The standard route is to machine with a grinding allowance, harden, then grind away that allowance to reach final size and finish. Grinding also cuts materials that conventional tooling cannot, which is why hardened tool steel at 62 HRC, carbide and ceramics are ground rather than turned or milled.
Hardened and tool steels up to 62 HRC, carbon and alloy steels, stainless steels such as 304, 316L and 17-4 PH, titanium grades 2 and 5, nickel alloys including Inconel and Hastelloy, plus carbide and engineering ceramics. The abrasive is matched to the workpiece: aluminium oxide and silicon carbide for general work, ceramic and CBN for hardened steel at volume, and diamond for carbide and ceramics.
Heat is the main risk in grinding, because it can soften a hardened surface or leave residual stress without changing the dimensions. We control it with correct wheel grade and bond selection, high-pressure flood coolant with filtration, conservative infeed rates, frequent wheel dressing to keep the abrasive sharp, and spark-out passes at the end of the cycle. Where a part is safety-critical, the surface can be inspected for thermal damage as part of the inspection plan.
Prototype and small batch grinding is typically delivered in around 3 working days, and production batches usually run on a 5–10 working day cycle. Lead time depends on the process, the quantity and whether heat treatment or a finishing operation sits in the route, so we confirm the schedule with the quotation.
Yes. We support one-off tooling and repair work as well as repeat production batches. For repeat orders we retain the process records — wheel specification, dressing strategy, fixturing and inspection results — so a follow-up batch matches the first one rather than being re-engineered from scratch.
Absolutely. Our engineering team reviews the drawing before quoting and flags anything that will affect cost or feasibility — insufficient grinding allowance, an undercut or relief that cannot be reached by the wheel, a datum that cannot be held in the fixture, or a surface finish specification that would be better met by a different process. That feedback is free on every quote.
