CBN Internal Grinding

Good morning. We are a small company that has been around since 1967, manufacturing diamond and CBN internal grinding tools.

I have a pretty general question here regarding the current market, and any thoughts and ideas would most certainly be appreciated.

I have been running the company since 2010, and at that time, probably 65-70% of our sales were CBN tools...indicating a large market for grinding ferrous materials (our tools are mainly used for mold finishing). Of late, our CBN sales have dropped off to less than 5%.

I am just curious as to what might be the reasoning behind this precipitous fall? I'm assuming new methodology in the machining of superhard steels might be a contributing factor...but I operate in a pretty small niche market and don't have a great insight into the world of manufacturing processes as a whole.

Thanks,

Mike

Hard turning with CBN inserts, cheaper CBN grinding points (diamond too) from CN.

I agree, we're doing a lot more hard tuning than we used to. Using carbide, ceramic and CBN. Any kind of interrupted cut (internal key way) we still grind.

I see two things.
One is plain competition from China.
Two and a bigger thing if you are in the USA is that the use of such products is more and more overseas.
I would think it very hard to sell this into China or India now.
It is not just wheels and grind bits. The world of CBN and PCD inserts made in the US has fallen off huge.

One should note that the op asking about internal grinding wheels, not hard OD turn or milling.
I'm more a plated wheel user but you always delivered a good product and considered a reliable name by most that I know.
Bob

Diagrind said:

, probably 65-70% of our sales were CBN tools...indicating a large market for grinding ferrous materials (our tools are mainly used for mold finishing). Of late, our CBN sales have dropped off to less than 5%.
Mike

Click to expand...

Have you considered supplying tools to the automotive market. These would be wheels used for fuel injector, constant velocity joint, bearing race, and gear grinding.
Is it possible to work directly with the ID grinder companies, such as Studer or Bryant, to supply abrasives for these high volume applications?

The operator of a custom grinder and tooling set would be unlikely to switch suppliers once a grinding process has been developed and proven in production.

Thank you for the replies.

Bob, thanks for the compliment, our CBN plated tools seem to be the only thing that has held consistent. As to Chinese competition, we know it's out there, and perhaps our bonding system doesn't provide enough in terms of variation to attract a buyer...regardless of superior performance. For instance, I know there are many Chinese companies producing resin bond tools, which may work on certain jobs, but not as effectively as our proprietary vitreous metal tools. It's difficult for a small company to get out in front of that...especially when a purchaser is basically clicking buttons nowadays.

As to entering the automotive market...we do supply tools to some automotive entities, but just getting in the door is not easy. In our experience, the buyer is a tier or two removed from the major plants. We used to work closely with Moore Jig Grinders, the demise of that company hurt our sales quite a bit. I will reach out to Studer and Bryant, thanks for the idea.

Mike