Choosing between the two options require you to look at the costs involved vis-a-vis the impact to your bottom line. While the conventional wheels have been used for so many years, they can, however, become glazed and dull much faster. This results in lower grinding productivity and may cause thermal damage to the cutting tool being ground. On the other hand, using CBN grinding wheels means having 4 times higher abrasive resistance, 2 times the hardness, and 55 times higher thermal conductivity than aluminium oxide abrasives. This is why CBC wheels are particularly the top choice in grinding high speed and high alloy steel tools.
Moreover, CBN grinding wheels cause very little or no thermal damage to the cutting edge with its cool cutting action as well as provide longer service even at high material removal rates. Plus, they are consistently sharp providing burr-free cutting edge and are easy to control tool sizes, shapes, and even the finishes you want to achieve. All of these benefits boil down to increased grinding performance due to the low chance for downtime and less time needed for wheel changes and spark-out. And finally, CBN grains don’t react with steel alloys and can retain their strength well even beyond 10000C.
The bottom line is choosing CBN grinding wheels means you save time and money with its great potential in keeping tools sharp and always ready for their cutting job.