Patent ID: 7153194

Claim:
A method of grinding a component, so as to perform a first grinding stage in which a grinding wheel driven by a spindle motor grinds the component to remove a relatively large depth of material while the component is rotated by a motor driven headstock around its axis, with control of the speed of rotation of the headstock at all times during each rotation so as to maintain a substantially constant material removal rate, so that the time for the first grinding stage is reduced to the shortest period in view of the power available; and a second grinding stage in which the speed of rotation of the headstock is reduced, and the component is ground to finish size with the grinding parameters and particularly the wheelfeed and the speed of rotation of the headstock being controlled so that the power demand on the spindle motor does not exceed the maximum power rating for the motor while maintaining the same constant material removal rate at all points around the component during the second stage.