Chevalier grinders – neat, precise, ergonomical, easy to use and good value for money

Our resident grinding expert, Richard Starzec explained to MTDCNC exactly what customers can expect from the Chevalier range of grinders, watch the video underneath:

Chevalier SMART series

Chevalier have 2 types of grinder in the SMART series, hydraulic and ballscrew.  The hydraulic machines, where the table (the X axis), moves left to right, are used for through grinding.  But, if you want to add more relief to the surface you’re grinding, putting a ballscrew on the X axis means you can change the height of the wheel – using the Y axis while you’re moving across in the X so you can perform tasks like backing off dies, much easier than resetting and doing it afterwards. 

The machine names are derived from the imperial system so an 818 has 8” in the cross slide and 18” in the longditudinal.  The SMART grinders can utilise different types of motion, there are machines with moving tables and those with a moving gantry.  It’s a comprehensive range with machines up to 3m long x 6m wide

Surface finish and precision

In the video, Paul from MTDCNC highlighted the 2 key driving factors of grinding machines, surface finish and precision, and Chevalier achieves this by combining good quality slideways and good quality bearings in the spindle.  The machines also feature ballscrew control on all axes, together with linear scale feedback to maintain perfect accuracy, rigidity and get a good finish.

Obviously, anything you add to a surface grinder can affect the accuracy, but for example, it is possible to add a 4th axis unit.  The benefits of having a rotary axis means that you can perform punch grinding, flats around a periphery and slots.  There are issues, but providing you’re very careful about the way you fixture the machine – put fixtures on, line them up etc, you’ve got total flexibility.

Chevalier SMART control

As Richard points out in the video, Chevalier have developed their own SMART control, and they’ve also created special grinding software, which is customised for specifically for Chevalier machines.  They’ve refined it, done lots of cycles for grooving, slot grinding, all kinds of different grinding processes, all through this SMART control, giving you ultimate accuracy and perfect finish.

We’re very impressed with the Chevalier range of grinders, if you’d like any more information, just give us a call on 01273 732286 or email [email protected]