ELB-Schliff SW 8

The SW 6 and SW 8 share ELB-Schliff's CNC surface grinder architecture (moving table, fixed column, Siemens 828D control) but differ in working envelope. The SW 6 covers a 600 x 350 mm chuck and up to 700 mm table traverse — suitable for mold plates, gauge tooling, and medium-size tooling blocks up to about 600 mm. The SW 8 steps up to an 800 x 400 mm chuck and 900 mm table traverse, accommodating the larger cavity blocks, press tool plates, and fixture subplates that dominate large tool and die operations. Spindle power is also higher on the SW 8 (7.5 kW vs 5.5 kW), supporting more aggressive stock removal on the larger workpieces the machine is designed to handle.

Profile grinding produces a contoured surface on a workpiece by grinding with a wheel whose edge profile matches the inverse of the workpiece contour required. On the SW 8, profile grinding is executed by first CNC-dressing the grinding wheel to the required profile using a diamond roll or single-point diamond dresser traversed under program control across the wheel face. The dressed wheel then replicates its profile onto the workpiece during the grinding pass. Applications include precision punch profiles for progressive dies, form tool profiles, and precision cam shapes. The Siemens 828D manages the dressing path programming — profile coordinates are entered directly or imported from CAD/CAM profile data.

The SW 8's automatic dressing system uses a programmable diamond dresser unit mounted on the machine. At programmed intervals (by number of workpieces, depth ground, or operator-initiated command), the CNC automatically executes a dressing cycle: the wheel traverses over the stationary diamond at a programmed feed rate and depth to restore the wheel's cutting face geometry and sharpness. The dresser removes the dulled or loaded abrasive layer and exposes fresh abrasive grains. For surface grinding, straight dressing (flat wheel face) is standard; for profile grinding, the dresser is traversed in a programmed profile path to dress the contoured wheel shape. Automatic dressing eliminates manual dressing, ensures consistent wheel geometry throughout the run, and enables unattended grinding operation.

The SW 8's usable workpiece height (distance from chuck surface to the grinding wheel in the highest Z position) depends on the installed configuration and options. The standard machine provides approximately 400–450 mm of usable grinding height above the chuck face, accounting for wheel diameter, wheel flange, and spindle geometry. The 600 mm total Z-axis travel includes the distance from the lowest grinding position (wheel touching chuck) to the maximum raised position. For workpieces taller than 300–350 mm, ELB-Schliff offers extended Z-stroke variants or raised column options — confirm with ELB-Schliff applications engineering for specific tall workpiece requirements.

The SW 8 includes a 300 L coolant tank with basic chip settlement filtration. For precision surface grinding (especially of hardened tool steel), finer filtration (paper band filter, magnetic separator, or centrifuge) is recommended to remove the fine swarf particles that contaminate coolant and cause scratching of precision ground surfaces. ELB-Schliff offers or recommends compatible filtration systems from suppliers such as Knoll or Mayfran. Coolant concentration should be maintained at 4–6% for general tool steel grinding. For CBN wheel grinding (if applicable), use specific coolant formulations compatible with the wheel bond chemistry — consult the CBN wheel manufacturer's recommendations.