Meister Abrasives new HPL (High Performance Lubrication) Grinding Wheels rely on premium grade CBN crystals fixed with durable, porous, intrinsically lubricated bonding matrix to allow substantially faster grinding of difficult materials without sacrificing quality due to wheel loading and/or part burning.

According to Dr. Peter Beyer, Ph.D., CEO and chief technologist for Meister Abrasives, the new HPL superabrasive wheels are a significant extension of the company's proprietary HPB (High Performance Bonding Technology). It departs from conventional approaches to manufacturing wheels with lubricating properties that rely on fillers that can clog the wheel's pores and are less likely to distribute lubricating properties evenly.

Meister HPL wheels contain a lubricant that is intrinsic to the bonding matrix chemistry and is released uniformly as the wheel breaks down. Wheels manufactured with this technology minimize friction from bond/work piece interactions and heat generation and deter the onset of metal loading into the bond structure.

HPL technology also makes it possible to implement wheel characteristics that are not economically feasible with standard vitrified bondings. The superior grit retention and lubricating properties of the bond make it possible to utilize high concentrations of premium grade CBN crystals that in a standard bonding matrix would generate too much pressure and heat. This allows Meister to manufacture wheels with superior cutting performance and wear resistance to others on the market.

The unique properties of these intrinsically lubricated wheels address a wide range of problems including: burning of parts, wheel loading, excessive wheel wear due to heat related issues and quality issues due to temperature sensitive materials.

Dr. Beyer indicated that R&D for this technology has been going on for about 18 months. He said, "Early adapters in Europe and the United States have tested dozens of application-specific HPL recipes with excellent results. Although the extent of performance improvements varies from application to application, I can say that our customers rarely switch to a new technology for existing production grinding applications if they are not realizing a 25 percent or better improvement in productivity."

According to Bruce Northrup, Vice President and General Manager of Meister Abrasives USA, applications for the new HPL abrasive technology include: Deep bore grinding with limited coolant access, such as fuel injection nozzle components; blind-end bore grinding such as lash adjusters and tappets; heavy-stock form grinding applications such as electronic power steering (EPS) ball-nut tracks; creep-feed grinding of tool steels and superalloys; high stock removal out-of-round grinding for punches; and any application where the concentration of oil and lubricant are less than ideal or the flow of the coolant is impeded, as is the case with deep bores.

HPL (High Performance Lubrication) CBN grinding wheels are available for both internal and external grinding with mesh sizes ranging from 60 to 1200.