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 μm and 100 μm. 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.