Precision Abrasive Grinding In The 21st Century

This book may not be what you would expect; it's not another book on the science of grinding. Its goal, Harry Sachsel's own words, is to include "information .. gleaned from working with thousands of applications over many years. This is hands-on information, There is a place for graphs, equations, and forumlas, but what is missing is the "show me" direction and "what's in it for me". The book is less a source for engineering facts and more a commentary by a salesman/Certified Abrasives Engineer who has spent 47 years helping others with problems in grinding. Along with his creditials as the owner of a business selling abrasives in Chicago, center of a major machining region of the US, Sachsel is one of the few people granted certification under a program offered by the Abrasive Engineering Society in the 1980s.

Within this book's 680 pages are short "technical briefs" that are grouped into 12 broad categories in chapters, each two or three page long, which is what Sachsel feels is optimum for his audience. Scattered throughout are tid bits of history of the abrasives industry, perspectives on the business world, advice he'd give to buyers and people trying to improve a grinding processes, as well as promotions of his products and services. There are several themes in the book, one being the wide range of grinding practices and the difficulty of making generalizations --the phrase "the application is everything" appears often. Few would disagree with him that the array of applications, products and materials in this evolving technology presents a challenge to anyone attempting to understand their use. Similarly few would disagree with his theme that industry needs to embrace new methods, processes or ways of thinking to succeed in the contemporary marketplace.

An appealing feature of this book is the memoir-like telling of practical experiences in a technology that has ungone dramatic changes in the last two decades. Sachsel has done what many in the abrasives industry talk about, but few do: put their experiences and knowledge into print for the benefit of others. For a list of topics, see the table of contents . For a sample page, click here or read "grinding briefs" online at Diamond Industrial Tools. com .