Saint-Gobain Abrasives, one of the world’s largest abrasives manufacturers, announced that it will be highlighting a wide range of high performance, innovative abrasive grinding products and technology at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) Booth #N-237042 located in the Finishing/ Machining Pavilion, North Hall in McCormick Place, Chicago IL from Sept 9 – 14, 2024. To be shown for the first time at a major international event, New Norton RazorStar™ belts, quick-change and fiber discs feature innovative engineered-shaped ceramic grain, a revolutionary technology with unbeatable performance and metal removal rates in the toughest grinding applications when performing off-hand and/or automated grinding. A combination of uniquely-shaped razor-sharp grains in an upright position along with a special supersized grinding aid, helps to significantly reduce heat generation for cooler cuts and longer life on a range of materials such as carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel, nickel alloys and other hard-to-grind metals. In addition to impact grinding and off-hand applications, RazorStar belts are ideal for robotic applications in markets such as aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and general machining. RazorStar belts as well as other abrasive products will be shown on a dual-head Yaskawa robot in the booth.
Norton Quantum™ Prime Grinding Wheels which feature proprietary nano-crystalline ceramic grain offer unprecedented productivity gains across a wide range of applications will also be highlighted. The Quantum Prime grain delivers exceptionally high grinding efficiency and part quality, as well as significantly longer wheel life than traditional ceramic grains. Wheels are available in a range of types including OD, ID, gear grinding, toolroom, disc grinding, mounted wheels, surface grinding, creepfeed and flute grinding.
Also to be highlighted, the popular Norton Abrasive Process Solutions (APS) Program provides custom grinding expertise by helping customers determine the most optimal grinding or finishing solutions for the application at hand, ranging from simple to complex, off-hand or automated, and for metal fabrication, production grinding and virtually any abrasives operation. The APS Program draws upon the vast knowledge of the Norton team along with access to 30 different machines, and the state-of-the-art APS Robotic Automation Cell, which is at the core of the new APS Program located at the Higgins Grinding Technology Center in Northborough, Massachusetts (U.S.A.). The APS team provides abrasive process development, optimization, automation and in-house testing. APS services encompass the testing and optimization of new abrasives, improving quality and/ or throughput, and exploring entirely new and customized processes.
Additional key Norton grinding technologies to be showcased at IMTS include:
- Paradigm® Plus Diamond Wheels feature new premium grain technology that complements a brittle metal bond to deliver even higher grinding performance on carbide round tools and periphery grinding on carbide and cermet inserts. This technology, together with an advanced lightweight core, produces lower specific cutting energy with a 25% to 50% higher MRR, and has significantly improved wheel life when compared with other Paradigm wheels.
- Gear grinding solutions that feature a new high-performance bond are designed for gear grinding in extreme, tight tolerance environments will be featured. The portfolio of gear grinding products is specifically designed by category to provide higher profile accuracy, supreme form holding and burn-free grinding in worm, profile, and bevel applications.
- New Next Generation NORaX® N889 Micro-Structured Abrasive Belts feature a precise, flexible design for producing consistent, fine part finishes for a range of industry applications such as medical, aerospace, automotive, marine, metal fabrication and general metalworking. The belts have up to 30% better performance compared with other belts in their class.
- For the high performance external grinding of cam and crankshafts and internal grinding applications in automotive and bearing industries, Vitron7™ cBN Grinding Wheels featuring a high-precision vitrified bond will also be highlighted at the show.
In addition to its show presence, Norton will be making a presentation at the IMTS Conference Sessions on “Cutting Edge Innovations: Maximizing Productivity and Best Practices with Superabrasives”. The presentation by Alfredo Barragan, Sr. Application Engineer, Norton | Saint-Gobain Abrasives, will be on Wednesday, September 11th at 3:15 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. in Room W193-B, West Hall at McCormick Place.
About Saint-Gobain Abrasives
Saint-Gobain Abrasives offers powerful, precise, user-friendly solutions which enable customers to cut, shape and finish all materials in the most complex and challenging applications. By working closely with end-users and grinding expert partners, Saint-Gobain Abrasives designs and provides customized solutions to secure the best option for performance, cost and safety. Leveraging its global manufacturing presence, Saint-Gobain Abrasives serves its customers locally through its structured sales operations in over 27 countries, employing over 10,000 people.