Founded in 1979, Exactaform Cutting Tools Ltd began trading as a supplier of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and cubic boron nitride (CBN) inserts, primarily to the UK automotive industry. Having expanded its domestic and European business, it now serves an increasingly global customer base.

Growing demand for its drills and reamers in both standard and bespoke formats necessitated additional cylindrical pinch/peel grinding capacity; and having examined the available alternatives, Exactaform bought a ShapeSmart NP5 five-axis grinding machine from Rollomatic. Furthermore, to ensure the best possible results from the new machine, the company invested in premium-quality grinding fluid and a filtration system from Denbigh-based Oelheld UK Ltd (www.oelheld.co.uk).

Exactaform’s general manager, Peter Raynor, says: “In line with Rollomatic’s recommendation, we use SintoGrind grinding fluid from Oelheld UK. We have also fitted a Vomat filtration system from the same company to ensure the continued quality and long life of the grinding fluid. As SintoGrind was specifically designed for a range of grinding applications — including flute grinding, external grinding and profile grinding on materials that include tungsten carbide, HSS, PCD and CBN — it has proved to be the ideal fluid for our needs.

“To ensure the efficient operation of our new Rollomatic machine, we installed a Vomat FA 240 filtration system, which not only requires minimal maintenance but also results in more productive machine time. In addition, our grinding-fluid and filtration combination has resulted in excellent levels of surface finish — and the filtration system has reduced both grinding-wheel wear and the number of dressing cycles required.”