Abstract: A method and apparatus for centerless grinding of one or more tapered sections in a length of wire in which the wire is advanced through a gap formed between a rotating work wheel and regulating wheel, and the gap is adjusted in forming the tapered section by an image detection module upstream of the wheels made up of a linear array of closely spaced pixels beneath a guide slot through which the wire is advanced to sense the position of the wire at close increments and incrementally adjust the gap in strict accordance with the position actually sensed.