fig1 illustrates a grinding spindle 1 for grinding cams having a cam outer surface 17 that is parallel to a camshaft longitudinal axis 2 which is arranged at an angle α to the camshaft longitudinal axis 2 . a grinding wheel 3 is dressed conically at the same angle , so that a grinding zone 4 of the grinding wheel 3 is in turn arranged parallel to the camshaft longitudinal axis 2 . as a result of the oblique arrangement of the grinding spindle 1 , the latter is significantly shorter and more rigid in design than if it were arranged parallel to the camshaft longitudinal axis 2 . the angle α can be selected freely and preferably has a value between 10 ° and 30 °, the magnitude of the angle depending on the camshaft geometry . the camshaft 13 is accommodated between a workpiece headstock 9 , on which chuck 10 is mounted , the latter being mounted so as to be rotatable about its longitudinal axis in extension of the axis of rotation 2 or the workpiece and a tailstock 11 . the workpiece headstock 9 and the tailstock 11 are firmly mounted on the grinding table 12 . in order to support the camshaft 13 during the grinding , steady rests 5 and 7 are mounted on the grinding table 12 and prevent the camshaft 13 from bending during the grinding operation . the steady rests 5 and 7 support the camshaft 13 at its bearing points 6 and 8 in exact alignment between the longitudinal axis of the workpiece headstock 9 and of the tailstock 11 . the number of steady rests varies , depending on the geometry of the camshaft 13 and the required accuracies and machining times . illustrated by way of example in fig1 are two steady rests 5 and 7 , which are mounted on the grinding table . the grinding - spindle drive for the grinding spindle 1 having the small grinding wheel 3 can be implemented with a belt drive or as a high - frequency grinding - spindle unit . the infeed axis x and the longitudinal positioning axis z are illustrated in fig1 . the vertical advance axis y has to be imagined as perpendicular to the plane of the drawing . the workpiece rotates about the axis of rotation c of the workpiece . in the case of a small grinding dimension , the cam contour is produced only using the grinding wheel 3 . however , it is also possible for a dedicated grinding wheel of larger diameter to be used for pre - grinding a partial detail from fig1 is illustrated in fig1 a . in order to grind conical cams , which have a bevel angle β on the cam outer surface 17 in the direction of the camshaft longitudinal axis 2 , there are various possibilities . in the case of a bevel angle β of the cam outer surface 17 , it is possible for the grinding wheel 3 to be dressed at an angle α 1 , so that ( α 1 + β = α ) the bevel angle β is dressed on the grinding wheel and the pivoting angle α of the grinding spindle 1 remains unchanged . another variant is that the grinding wheel 3 remains dressed to the angle and the grinding spindle 1 is pivoted horizontally by the angle β ( α ± β = α 2 ). according to fig2 when the cam shape is being ground , the grinding zone 4 wanders above or below the theoretical camshaft longitudinal axis 2 , because of the non - round contour of the cam 15 , so that during one revolution of the cam , the grinding zone wanders between the points 4 a and 4 b on the grinding wheel . in the case of a grinding wheel brought obliquely into contact , this would normally lead to a distortion of the cam outer surface 17 . in the case in which the grinding zone wanders between point 4 a and point 4 b , the cam outer surface 17 which , in the case of flat cams in the direction of the axis of rotation 2 of the workpiece should be parallel to the latter , becomes oblique in the region in which the grinding does not take place in the grinding zone 4 . in order to prevent this , according to the invention , the grinding wheel 3 , together with the entire grinding spindle 1 , is tracked along the vertical advance axis y in such a way that the grinding always takes place exactly in the grinding zone 4 illustrated in fig2 . in order to obtain an optimum cam geometry during finish - grinding , it is necessary that the grinding zone 4 always remains precisely at the same position on the circumference of the grinding wheel 3 . the grinding zone 4 must be located on the grinding - wheel circumference on the grinding wheel 3 on the center line 20 , which is in turn arranged parallel to the x axis . this tracking of the grinding wheel 3 during the grinding of the cam shape is indicated in fig2 by the two dimensions a and b . fig3 illustrates the vertical advance axis y and the longitudinal positioning axis z . in addition , the axis of rotation c of the workpiece is also shown here . the infeed axis x has to be imagined as running perpendicular to the plane of the drawing . all the axes are implemented as cnc axes . the advance axis y is used to keep the grinding zone 4 on the grinding wheel 3 always in the same position . the infeed axis x and the axis of rotation c of the workpiece serve to generate the cam shape , and therefore have to work in a coordinated operation . in order to keep the grinding zone 4 always on the same position on the grinding wheel 3 , it is necessary for the vertical advance axis y to be tracked as a function of the position of the infeed axis x and the axis of rotation c of the workpiece . it can be seen that the three axes x , y and c have to operate in a direct functional relationship with one another , and are therefore operated in a coordinated manner . in the case of camshafts which have a relatively large grinding dimension , it is possible , for example , to use the design according to fig4 . this shows a design of a grinding machine having two grinding spindles , a first grinding spindle la being equipped to pre - grind an intermediate contour on the cam shape , using a first , large grinding wheel 3 a , which has a diameter of 400 mm , for example . the first grinding spindle 1 a does not need to be arranged so that it can move in the direction of the y axis . in general terms , the idea of the method is that , during the finish - grinding using the grinding wheel 3 , an interpolating movement of the axes x , y and c is carried out during grinding . it would also be possible instead of moving the grinding wheel 3 vertically using the grinding spindle 1 , to mount this in a stationary manner in the direction of the y axis and , for this purpose , to operate the workpiece headstock 9 , together with the chuck 10 , the steady rests 5 and 7 and the tailstock 11 , i . e ., the complete grinding - table fittings on the grinding table 12 , vertically in interpolating operation in relation to the axes x and c . by this means , the same effect would be achieved with a changed apparatus construction . the second grinding spindle 1 , which can be pivoted in , serves to finish - grind the cam contour and accommodates at least one grinding wheel 3 , and has the construction shown in fig1 to 3 .