Grinding machines remove material from the workpiece by abrasion, which can generate substantial amounts of heat; they therefore incorporate a coolant to cool the workpiece so that it does not overheat and go outside its tolerance. The coolant also benefits the machinist as the heat generated may cause burns in some cases. In very high-precision grinding machines (most cylindrical and surface grinders) the final grinding stages are usually set up so that they remove about 200nm (less than 1/100000 in) per pass - this generates so little heat that even with no coolant, the temperature rise is negligible.

These machines include the: