Form Grinding in Transition: CBN, Creep Feed, 5-Axis and Automation

📅 20 August 2026🔖 Grinding know-how

Form and profile grinding has evolved over recent years from a classic finishing operation into a highly productive, versatile key technology. Following the current innovation lines of the leading manufacturers from the German-Swiss region reveals clear trends: more power density, more process reliability and more automation – while precision continues to increase.

Creep-feed and deep grinding

Creep-feed grinding has become synonymous with high stock removal. Instead of many fine strokes, the profile is ground in a single pass with a large infeed and slow feed rate. This suits particularly hard-to-machine materials, long profiles and steering racks. Modern machines combine high rigidity, powerful drives and efficient coolant supply to minimise heat input into the workpiece.

CBN and diamond grinding wheels

Tool technology is the second lever. CBN (cubic boron nitride) and diamond as abrasives retain their sharpness far longer than conventional corundum and permit higher cutting speeds with excellent surface finish. Crucial is dressing with form rollers or diamond form rollers so that the wheel profile remains exact. Together with continuous dressing compensation this yields constant contour accuracy over long production runs.

Grind-hardening: grinding and hardening in one

A particularly interesting development is grind-hardening: the heat generated during grinding is used deliberately to harden the surface layer of the workpiece. Hardening and grinding therefore merge into a single process – saving process steps, energy and handling, and opening new possibilities for economical series production.

5-axis and universal form grinding centres

For complex, three-dimensional shapes, 5-axis creep-feed grinding machines and universal form grinding centres are becoming increasingly important. They combine several machining axes, high-precision A/C rotary tables and grinding wheel magazines, so that a wide range of geometries can be produced in a single set-up. With controls such as Siemens ONE and HSK interfaces, the most demanding formed parts – such as turbine blades or gear components – can be ground reproducibly in series.

Hydrostatics and linear drives

The demand for ever higher precision promotes the use of hydrostatic guideways and linear drives. Hydrostatic guideways run almost friction-free, without stick-slip and with maximum damping; marble beds further increase rigidity. Combined with directly connected servo motors, positioning accuracies of a few thousandths of a millimetre are achieved – ideal for the finest infeeds and highly precise surfaces.

Automation and tool management

Automation is the third major trend. Grinding wheel magazines, palletising and loading systems as well as automatic dressing and measuring cycles reduce non-productive time and make the machine productive around the clock. Combined with in-process gauging and NC-controlled error compensation, production becomes increasingly autonomous and repeatable – without operator intervention.

Digital control and software

Modern CNC controls and grinding software bundle grinding and dressing cycles, simulate the process and compensate for wear automatically. Interfaces to digitalisation (IoT, data analysis, remote service) permit real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance – an important building block for process reliability and efficiency.

What we learn from the leading manufacturers

The two major "schools" of precision grinding set different priorities. ELB-KEHREN with the brands aba, KEHREN, MICRON and REFORM has stood for highly rigid surface, profile and creep-feed grinding machines from Babenhausen for over 70 years – modular in design and engineered for maximum process reliability. United Grinding, with Mägerle, Blohm and Jung, likewise bundles extensive know-how in surface and profile grinding as well as automated solutions. Exactly these impulses – rigidity, high-performance tools, automation and digital control – also flow into our JM series.

Videos & sources

Technical insights into high-speed form and creep-feed grinding as well as application videos can be found on our channels and with the manufacturers mentioned:

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