Methods for cylindrical grinding a workpiece are disclosed. The method includes cylindrical grinding, with a bonded abrasive wheel having a permeable structure that includes interconnected porosity, a workpiece at a specific cutting energy of less than about 12 Hp/in.sup.3min (29.7 J/mm.sup.3), and a material removal rate of at least about 1 in.sup.3/minin (10.8 mm.sup.3/sec/mm)grinding. The bonded abrasive wheel may include at least about 3 volume percent of a filamentary sol-gel alpha-alumina abrasive grain having an average length-to-cross-sectional-width ratio of greater than about 4:1, or agglomerates thereof. In one embodiment, the workpiece is ground in the presence of a water soluble oil.