Did you know that manpower and abrasives together account for about 90% of the total cost of grinding with handheld tools?
Put another way, with grinding, time is definitely money. All steps that can be taken to reduce time to complete each grinding task are essential in increasing productivity and cost savings.
For each job in material removal, such as chamfering a steel plate, deburring a casting, or smoothing a weld seam, there is a specific abrasive need. Based on the application, you could be using carbide burrs, bonded wheels and coated pads, wire brushes, polishing pads or many others...
On top of the load applied by the operator on the tool (the feed force), one of the key factors impacting greatly the time taken to complete the grinding job, is the tool’s capacity to run the chosen abrasive at the right speed.
2 Reasons Why You Should Care About Getting The Right Speed For Your Abrasive:
Productivity Gains: Running the abrasives at the proper speed results in larger percentage of material removal in a given time.
Safety: Proper abrasive speed offers optimal safety for operators, avoiding abrasive bursts. Generally the free speed of a tool should never exceed the abrasive's maximum operating speed.
Get Optimal Abrasive Speed With Governed Air Grinders:
It is possible to optimize the abrasive's speed by equipping the tool's air motor with a governor.
The air governor acts like a “cruise control” for the grinder: it adjusts the air flow to the load applied on the tool, so the abrasive maximal speed is maintained, maximizing the material removal.
How Does an Air Governor Work?
The governor limits the air flow through the motor when no torque is applied. As soon as the operator increases the load, the air governor allows more air to flow through the air motor, maintaining the rotational speed of the abrasive. With this design, the abrasive is run at the correct speed and delivers maximal material removal.
The tool is running at free speed, with little to no load applied by the operator.
The tool is running and load is applied by the operator. The air governor opens up, to increase the air flow.
As a matter of fact, when the tool is not equipped with an air governor, as soon as feed force is applied, tool’s speed decreases, and therefore, the abrasive cannot be run at the right speed. The operator needs more time to get the same job done.
Always refer to the abrasive manufacturer specification (MOS), to make sure your grinder free speed matches it, and never exceeds it.