A grinding machine is shown as including a machine base, a wheel supported by the base and carrying a rotatable superabrasive grinding wheel, a device for relatively feeding the grinding wheel and a workpiece at a feed rate along a normal force vector between the two, and an apparatus for controlling the grinding processes. The apparatus further preferably includes a force transducer mounted adjacent the wheelhead to measure the magnitude of the normal force factor occurring between the wheel and the workpiece, as well as a control device for varying the feed rate and for determining the relative wheel sharpness based upon the feed rate and the measured normal forces. The feed rate can thereby be varied in response to the determined wheel sharpness to maintain a substantially constant normal force and to optimize the grinding process. By monitoring the magnitude of the normal force factor and by determining the wheel sharpness, the grinding machine of the subject invention enables automatic conditioning of a superabrasive grinding wheel, optimization of the grinding process, and optimization of reshaping of the grinding wheel.