BIZOMAT MAKEOS · Manufacturing
Surface and Cylindrical Grinding Cycle Time
How long will this surface, traverse or plunge grinding operation take?
Grinding time for reciprocating surface grinding (strokes per pass from crossfeed, passes from stock and downfeed), cylindrical traverse grinding (traverse rate from wheel width, traverse per revolution and work speed) and cylindrical plunge grinding (infeed rate), with spark-out passes or dwell.
Open the calculatorRuns in your browser. No account needed.
How this tool works
Inputs, units and where to find them
| Input | Unit | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| Operation | choice | Choose the grinding operation. |
| Stock to remove (depth, or on diameter for cylindrical) | mm | Material to remove; for cylindrical work enter the reduction in diameter. |
| Downfeed or infeed per pass (on diameter for cylindrical) | mm | Wheel feed per pass; for cylindrical work on the diameter. |
| Spark-out passes | Extra passes without feed to finish size and finish. | |
| Surface grinding | ||
| Work length | mm | Length of the ground surface. |
| Work width | mm | Width of the ground surface. |
| Overtravel each end | mm | Table overrun beyond each end. |
| Table speed | m/min | Table speed. |
| Crossfeed per stroke | mm | Crossfeed at each stroke (usually a fraction of wheel width). |
| Cylindrical grinding | ||
| Ground length | mm | Length of the ground diameter. |
| Wheel width | mm | Width of the grinding wheel. |
| Traverse per work revolution (share of wheel width) | % | Axial traverse per work revolution as a share of wheel width. |
| Work speed | rpm | Rotational speed of the work. |
| Plunge infeed rate (on diameter) | mm/min | Plunge infeed rate on the diameter. |
| Dwell or spark-out time (plunge) | s | Time at final size in plunge grinding. |
What each input means
Open an input to see what it is, its units, the worked example and the common mistakes, with a small diagram.
What this means: Operation
- What it is
- The grinding operation: surface grinding on a reciprocating table, cylindrical traverse grinding along the part, or cylindrical plunge grinding straight in.
- Units and format
- Choose one of 3 options from the list: Surface grinding (reciprocating); Cylindrical traverse; Cylindrical plunge.
- Example
- The form opens with “Surface grinding (reciprocating)” selected as a worked example. Choose the option that matches your case.
- Get it right
- Each operation uses its own section of inputs; the others are ignored.
What this means: Stock to remove (depth, or on diameter for cyli…
- What it is
- The amount of material to grind off: depth below the surface for surface grinding, or the reduction in diameter for cylindrical work.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0.000001 mm to 50 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 0.2 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- More stock means more passes, or a longer plunge time.
- Get it right
- For cylindrical work give the reduction on diameter, which is twice the depth removed from each side.
What this means: Downfeed or infeed per pass (on diameter for cy…
- What it is
- How far the wheel is fed into the work at each pass: downfeed for surface grinding, infeed on diameter for cylindrical traverse grinding.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0.000001 mm to 5 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 0.02 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- A larger feed per pass reduces the number of passes.
- Get it right
- Give cylindrical infeed on the diameter, like the stock. Not used for plunge grinding.
What this means: Spark-out passes
- What it is
- Extra passes made with no further feed, to let the wheel finish the size and surface after the stock is removed.
- Units and format
- Enter a plain number with no unit. The form accepts 0 to 50. Use a whole number. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 2 as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- Each spark-out pass adds one full pass of time.
- Get it right
- Used for surface and traverse grinding; plunge grinding uses the dwell time instead.
Surface grinding
What this means: Work length
- What it is
- The length of the surface being ground, in the direction the table reciprocates.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0.000001 mm to 100000 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 300 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- Stroke time rises with work length plus twice the overtravel.
- Get it right
- Give the work length only; overtravel at each end is added separately.
What this means: Work width
- What it is
- The width of the ground surface across the table, which sets how many crossfeed strokes each pass needs.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0.000001 mm to 100000 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 100 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- Strokes per pass rise in steps as width grows.
- Get it right
- Measure across the table direction, at right angles to the work length.
What this means: Overtravel each end
- What it is
- The distance the table travels past each end of the work so the wheel clears it fully before reversing.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0 mm to 1000 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 25 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Get it right
- Give the overrun at one end; the tool doubles it for each stroke.
What this means: Table speed
- What it is
- The speed of the reciprocating table during the grinding stroke, from the machine setting or process sheet.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in m/min: metres per minute. The form accepts 0.000001 m/min to 200 m/min. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 15 m/min as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- Grinding time is inversely proportional to table speed.
- Get it right
- This is metres per minute, while the lengths are in millimetres; the tool converts.
What this means: Crossfeed per stroke
- What it is
- The sideways step of the wheel across the work at each table stroke, usually a fraction of the wheel width.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0.000001 mm to 500 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 5 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- A larger crossfeed means fewer strokes per pass.
- Get it right
- This is per stroke, not per pass; it must not exceed the wheel width.
Cylindrical grinding
What this means: Ground length
- What it is
- The length of the diameter being ground in cylindrical traverse grinding, along the axis of the work.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0.000001 mm to 100000 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 150 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Get it right
- Used only for traverse grinding; the tool adds one wheel width to it for each pass.
What this means: Wheel width
- What it is
- The width of the grinding wheel face. In traverse grinding it sets the traverse per revolution and adds to the travel per pass.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm: millimetres. The form accepts 0.000001 mm to 1000 mm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 40 mm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Get it right
- Use the face width actually in contact, after any dressing of the wheel edges.
What this means: Traverse per work revolution (share of wheel wi…
- What it is
- How far the work moves along its axis in one revolution, as a share of the wheel width, for traverse grinding.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in %: percent: the number is read as a percentage, so type 8 for 8 %. The form accepts 1% to 100%. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 50% as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- Traverse rate is directly proportional to it, so time falls as it rises.
- Get it right
- Smaller shares give better finish but longer times; take it from your process data.
What this means: Work speed
- What it is
- The rotational speed of the workpiece between centres or in the chuck, for traverse grinding.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in rpm: revolutions per minute. The form accepts 0.000001 rpm to 100000 rpm. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 150 rpm as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- Traverse rate is directly proportional to work speed, so time falls as it rises.
- Get it right
- This is the work speed, not the wheel spindle speed.
What this means: Plunge infeed rate (on diameter)
- What it is
- The rate at which the wheel is fed radially into the work in plunge grinding, stated as reduction in diameter per minute.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in mm/min: millimetres per minute. The form accepts 0.000001 mm/min to 100 mm/min. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 0.5 mm/min as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- Plunge time is the stock divided by this rate.
- Get it right
- Give it on the diameter, matching the stock to remove.
What this means: Dwell or spark-out time (plunge)
- What it is
- The time the wheel stays at final size without feed at the end of a plunge, to spark out and finish the surface.
- Units and format
- Enter a number in s: seconds. The form accepts 0 s to 600 s. Required: the tool does not calculate until every input is valid.
- Example
- The form opens with 5 s as a worked example. It is an illustration, not a recommended value: replace it with your own figure.
- Effect on the result
- It adds directly to the plunge grinding time.
- Get it right
- This is in seconds while the result is in minutes; used only for plunge grinding.
Method and formulas
- Surface: strokes per pass = ⌈B ÷ crossfeed⌉; stroke time = (L + 2 × overtravel) ÷ table speed; passes = ⌈stock ÷ downfeed⌉ + spark-out.
- Traverse: traverse rate = share × wheel width × work rpm; pass time = (ground length + wheel width) ÷ traverse rate; passes = ⌈stock ÷ infeed⌉ + spark-out.
- Plunge: time = stock ÷ infeed rate + dwell.
- Example: the default surface grinding job takes 5.6 min.
Limitations
- Approach, dressing and gauging time are not included.
- Feeds and speeds come from your wheel supplier and process data.
- Example values are illustrations. Replace them with values for your actual task.
Typical uses
- Quote grinding time for a part
- Compare traverse and plunge grinding
- Balance a grinding operation in a cell
Who it is for
- Machinists
- CNC programmers
- Manufacturing engineers
What you get
- Passes or strokes
- Grinding time
- Feed rates used
Interpreting the result
- Fewer, deeper roughing passes followed by light finishing passes usually shorten the cycle.
References
- Machinery’s Handbook, 29th edition (Industrial Press, 2012), printed pp. 1246–1265. Topic reference; no source tables or recommended settings are reproduced.
BIZOMAT tools are screening and decision-support utilities. Verify important financial, engineering, safety, legal or operational decisions using appropriate professional standards and your organisation’s approved data.
Open the Surface and Cylindrical Grinding Cycle Time calculator