We have talked about round bar grinding in the past. The following posts will look deeper into the communicating skills that will help you minimize disappointments in this area. Unfortunately, more people than not have purchased a bar of steel and found that it won’t make their part because there was not sufficient stock allowance to “clean-up”. That need not be the case. Most often, communication is again the culprit. We are speaking of ROUND STEEL BARS.

1. Diameter size relative to length will be important.
2. Subsequent machining or grinding method will be important.
3. Mill finish and mill tolerance will be important. This often varies by mill.
4. You should share “end use” with your supplier.
5. Also, share any subsequent operations you will be doing on the bar.
6. If the finished shaft involves substantial step downs, or, if only a small portion of the bar needs to finish…share that information.
7. Remember, your supplier cannot be made responsible for a third party’s work, and/or, mistakes.
8. If liability on the shaft is considerable, consider parking it in another party’s driveway.
9. Try to “Talk the Talk” phrases like, “a stick of steel”, or, “cold roll”, or, “a length of steel”, will get you in trouble.
10. Share important ancillary facts with your supplier; have you received steel in the past that has not been straight enough, hasn’t cleaned up, or was inappropriate in another way?

Each one of the above should solicit further discussion. That is going to come under the header of; TO BE DISCUSSED (TBD). I will try to do just that over the next several weeks. So, stay tuned.

-Howard Thomas, February 26th 2019