Abstract: Apparatus for uniformly grinding the peripheral surface of a kiln ring of a rotating rotary kiln to axial flatness includes a grinder; an electrical motor for continually driving the grinder; a pneumatic cylinder for urging the grinder against the surface of the kiln ring; a current transformer for sensing the magnitude of current flow to the motor; and a controller which compares the magnitude of sensed motor current to a set point reference of desired current flow to the motor and supplies pressurized fluid to the pneumatic cylinder at a pressure which varies as an inverse function of the difference between sensed current and set point references and maintains the current flow to the motor equal to the set point reference.