Precision Raw Materials & Centerless Grinding Blog

All About BC’s Grinding Services

Written by Boston Centerless | Oct 10, 2023 12:34:17 PM

Both round bar and precision ground bar have their place in manufacturing, and the choice between these two types of bar depends on the requisite level of precision required by the manufacturer. For applications that require higher levels of precision, it is important to team up with an experienced grinding partner, like Boston Centerless. We are an integrated product service provider that not only delivers outstanding precision ground bar via our AccuRod® and GrindAll grinding services, but also offers a wide range of value-added services such as heat treating, straightening, laser marking, and material testing and validation. When combined with our precision grinding operations, these steps can reduce costs, decrease time to market, increase productivity, enhance quality, and improve responsiveness for our customers.

What is Precision Centerless Grinding?

At Boston Centerless, we utilize centerless grinding to supply a variety of industries with precision bar materials. These industries rely on our high precision bar materials to optimize the performance of their products. Companies looking for the best quality bar depend on Boston Centerless.  

Centerless grinding is an efficient machining process that is suitable for stock removal for bar materials. The workpiece is situated between two wheels that rotate to remove stock material via abrasive cutting. There are 3 primary methods for centerless grinding: thru-feed, in-feed, and end-feed. The main distinction between these techniques is the method used to feed the workpiece through the grinder. Boston Centerless primarily uses the thru-feed method but can also do in-feed grinding. In addition to unparalleled precision, centerless grinding delivers faster turnaround times compared to other grinding techniques.

As a recognized industry leader in Lean Manufacturing, our approach to precision grinding often distinguishes us from other providers. At Boston Centerless, our operators are experts in their craft, leveraging the know-how they have developed over many years. Our approach permeates our culture, including our operator training programs, and enables our team to deliver an unparalleled level of precision and quality that our customers rely on. At Boston Centerless, we set the standard and are a role model for U.S. manufacturing.

Boston Centerless' Grinding Services: AccuRod® versus GrindAll

The following is an overview of Boston Centerless’ two main grinding services: AccuRod® and GrindAll. Both services employ centerless grinding. The key difference is who sources the raw material: Boston Centerless procures the material for AccuRod® whereas the material is provided by our customers for GrindAll.

AccuRod® delivers precision bar for close tolerance machining applications. Our team procures raw materials from only the highest quality mills, enabling Boston Centerless to deliver precision bar that has superior machinability characteristics. All AccuRod® bar is precision machined using cutting-edge equipment to ensure our customers’ requirements are met every single time. AccuRod® is known throughout the industry for its consistent diameter tolerance, roundness, and straightness as well as its tight tolerances that many CNC Swiss machines demand to run optimally. For this reason, customers across the globe depend on our precision bar including sensitive markets such as medical, defense, and aerospace. Boston Centerless is able to grind the following materials:

  • Stainless Steel
  • Alloy and Carbon Steel
  • Special Alloys
  • Titanium
  • Aluminum
  • Red Metals
  • Medical Alloys
  • Plastics

Boston Centerless’ GrindAll service provides complete grinding services for bar material and round components supplied by the customer. With GrindAll, our centerless grinders are able to perform steps ranging from pre-machine to finish grind operations. Our team of GrindAll professionals specialize in precision grinding your material to exceptionally close tolerances. In fact, many customers outsource their grinding operations to GrindAll because they have confidence that Boston Centerless will provide unparalleled quality and reliability.

Whether you choose AccuRod® or GrindAll services, our precision bar will deliver significant operational benefits. Due to its exceptional consistency in roundness, diameter, and straightness, precision ground bars minimize the probability of part variations and ensure consistency in our customers’ production. Our precision stock enables operators to run multiple machines at once - or even unattended - offering the opportunity for lights-out manufacturing.  In addition, due to less vibration and wear on the machine, the use of high quality precision ground bar leads to increased equipment and tool life as well as increased uptime.

Would your team benefit from the outstanding manufacturability that ground bar from Boston Centerless provides?

Contact us or visit our website to learn more about our precision grinding services, AccuRod® and GrindAll, as well as the suite of value-added services we offer.


Value-Added Services Offered for AccuRod® and GrindAll

When our company first started, we focused mostly on centerless grinding but with time we have expanded our services. Today we offer much more than precision grinding. Boston Centerless is a fully integrated product and service provider that can assist you with material selection, procurement, grinding, material testing and validation, customized inventory programs and supply chain management. Since we can procure and grind your material, we serve as your “one-stop shop” – saving time and money, and minimizing risk across your supply chain. Our team offers a variety of value-added services that can be combined with AccuRod® and GrindAll including heat treating, straightening, laser marking, and material testing and validation. Whether our customers opt for our AccuRod® or GrindAll services, our team performs the requisite quality checks prior to grinding to ensure our customers receive the best bar on the market. Additionally, we perform our value-added services in-house, enabling us to deliver unmatched quality and unbeatable turnaround times. 

About Boston Centerless

Boston Centerless provides solutions that enhance our customers' manufacturing processes. With over 60 years of experience with precision grinding, we grind the tightest tolerances in the industry.  We have proven experience with an extensive range of materials, and our manufacturing solutions include:

Contact us today at (781) 994-5000 to see how we can help with your next precision bar material project, or click here for a quote.