Micro grinding tool for manufacture of complex structures in brittle materials

This paper presents a novel micro shaft grinding tool with cylindrical tool tip diameter between 13 mu m and 100 mu m. The manufacturing of the tool itself is carried out on a prototype desktop machine. The shaping of the tool is accomplished by grinding the tool tip directly onto the cylindrical carbide tool shank. During tool grinding, the tool shank rotates in a micro spindle with air-lubricated bearings, leading to high concentricity and low run-out. The tool tip is electrically nickel plated with diamond grains. During first experimental tests of the tool, very low surface roughness values and sharp edges without burrs were achieved. (C) 2009 CIRP.