Recorded history shows that the process of grinding with a circular wheel has existed as early as the Egyptian era. Materials such as sandstone, emery and corundum mixed together with various materials made up the first recognized grinding wheels. Although it is impossible to identify when the first bonded abrasive wheel was developed, many people give credit to the Tamils of India, who in 1825 took emery or corundum, mixed it with a gum resin taken from trees and formed the mixture into a wheel. Shortly thereafter, in 1842 a British patent was issued for the first formal vitrified grinding manufacturing process. As the demands of new machinery grow so continues the research and development of grinding wheels to meet the requirements of grinding in the manufacturing process.

Hermes Abrasive Tool
The Hermes Group is one of the largest suppliers of high-quality coated abrasives worldwide. The Group has production facilities and sales offices in all major industrial and newly industrialized countries, with a leading position in the world market -- a success which is due to systematic and effective improvements in product and production quality, giving cost reductions in abrasive processes for our customers.

In abrasive materials, for example, Hermes research has produced a technological breakthrough with development and production of the micro-crystalline aluminum oxide Sapphire Blue®. This is an advanced abrasive that gives considerable performance benefits over conventional products, especially when used in grinding wheels.

Hermes Grinding Wheels
We have our own production facility for:

• precision grinding wheels with vitrified or resin bond
• vitrified bond CBN wheels
• inner-toothed and outer-toothed honing rings

This plant expanded its production capabilities in 1994 to manufacture grinding wheels up to a diameter of 43", in keeping with market requirements. It systematically pursued the development of vitrified-bond CBN wheels, obtaining a permit for a maximum operating speed of 31,496 fpm from the DSA (German Grinding Wheel Committee) in 1995.

Hermes - Innovation and Performance
In the course of several decades of activity Hermes has accumulated a wealth of know-how in customer-oriented research, development and the production of aluminum oxide and silicon carbide grinding wheels, and can select from its wide range of individual capabilities to specify the right grinding tools for optimum results in production, and for cost effectiveness in your grinding processes.

For Cost Effectiveness in Your Grinding Processes
Our aim is to provide users with grinding wheels that meet their needs for process improvement and a high level of process reliability in production; we have developed individual problem solutions in close cooperation with our customers, e.g. in the anti-friction bearing and automotive industries. Our vitrified-bond and resin-bond grinding wheels, available in a range of specifications, are particularly successful in precision grinding, with a quality level that meets the highest standards of customers in Germany and abroad.