Grinding wheel?

[John Torchick]

I have a grinder that uses the 6 in. dia. wheel X 3/4 in. with a 1/2 in. hole. I'm looking for a fine or very fine wheel to sharpen my lathe tools. I can't seem to find one anywhere. I'm sure that it exists. Also, need dressing wheel. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Charlie Knighton]

John, before you buy anything, watch Kirk DeHeer's Sharpening Demystified dvd

buy it at craft supplies or maybe direct
kirkdeheer.com
kirk@kirkdeheer.com

i wish i had done it in 2006

 

[odie]

I have a grinder that uses the 6 in. dia. wheel X 3/4 in. with a 1/2 in. hole. I'm looking for a fine or very fine wheel to sharpen my lathe tools. I can't seem to find one anywhere. I'm sure that it exists. Also, need dressing wheel. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

John.......

What grit(s) are you looking for? This should be a very common wheel size. If you have Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight, Ace Hardware, auto parts store, etc, you should be able to find one easily.

You should check out a diamond dresser for your grinding wheels. In my opinion, they do a much better job than one of the dressing wheels.

ooc

 

[Harry Robinette]

You might look into a CBN wheel from Dave S. he has 6" CBN wheels in 180 grit.
I just got mine and I love it, the wheel never needs dressed or cleaned they are rather expensive at about $210.00 with adapter and shipping. But they last a life time and do an unbelievable job of sharpening your tools.
The 3X wheels from Norton are really nice wheels for sharpening and you can get them from Woodcraft,the 80 grit leaves a very smooth edge.
As always just my $.02.

 

[Ian Robertson]

I will second the CBN wheel.

 

[Matt Lewis]

Wholesale Tools - http://www.wttool.com/index/page/category/category_id/21207/.

Look around their site as they have others, but these work nicely for HSS and don't cost much. I have them on my six inch.

Here are the white AO ones with the weaker/softer bond - http://www.wttool.com/index/page/category/category_id/13462/.

Regards,

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have a grinder that uses the 6 in. dia. wheel X 3/4 in. with a 1/2 in. hole. I'm looking for a fine or very fine wheel to sharpen my lathe tools. I can't seem to find one anywhere. I'm sure that it exists. Also, need dressing wheel. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

John, rather than me writing a reply, I think that the following post by one of the moderators on the Home Machnist! forum provided all you need to know. You can read the whole thread, but everything that you need is in the first post.

 

[Richard Coers]

Oneway has them.
http://www.oneway.ca/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=43&Itemid=2

 

[robo hippy]

It is very rare to find a grinding wheel with a grit higher than 120, though I did see a few 150, and one 320 wheel, but haven't seen them yet. The CBN wheels are the best thing out there. Far superior in cutting ability, durability, and are spin and bubble balanced before you get them. Cost is more to start, but they are a far better value. Check D Way.

robo hippy

 

[John Torchick]

Thanks to all. $210 is out of the budget. Odie, I have looked at all you have mentioned but nothing in one of the finer grits. Will check out the videos and other forum mentioned. Need to get the tools sharp. I'll see what kind of edge I can get with what I have. I do wnat to find a diamond wheel as suggested. Could I use my wife's diamond ring?

 

[MichaelMouse]

How fine is "fine" in your estimation? Reason there are so few grinding stones in anything beyond 120 is there's really no need for them. Every time this topic comes up, it seems the answer is 100 is fine enough for most turners. I'm in that group, though I had a fling two stones ago with a "friable" 120. Made a fast pile of sand, and no better surface on the turning than using 100.

I think the text here http://woodworker.com/6x34x1-blue-a...5-677.asp?search=grinding wheels&searchmode=2 makes good sense. Carbon steel and friable AlOx stones will protect from ham-handed operators. Harder stones are fine "up to" HSS. Some of the alloys we're seeing now will take some time, though.

Which is why I'm using the SiC wheels. Not the priciest or trendiest, so no brag rights, but they freshen an edge easily and swiftly. After all, removing the least metal to get the edge is the objective of sharpening. Silicon Carbide to abrade the carbides in the steel works for me. Not sure which process is used to create carbide for the cheaper wheels, but it matters little what shape the scratch exhibits, since I'm cutting with the steel between.

Caution. I am a freehand sharpener, so there's no pressing against the wheel. Even at that, a fifty buck wheel lasts only three years to ~5" with an estimate of 10,000 fresh edges for me. If you use a jig and press to eliminate gaps between bevel and stone, you'll do less.

 

[odie]

Thanks to all. $210 is out of the budget. Odie, I have looked at all you have mentioned but nothing in one of the finer grits. Will check out the videos and other forum mentioned. Need to get the tools sharp. I'll see what kind of edge I can get with what I have. I do wnat to find a diamond wheel as suggested. Could I use my wife's diamond ring?

John.......

I agree with MM in the post above this one. You will not be happy with really fine grits.....in my experience, they tend to overheat the tool too easily, because you'll be tempted to press too hard. If you don't use any feed pressure, it'll grind so slowly that.........you'll be tempted to press too hard!

MM and I previously asked what grits are you wishing to locate?

If you'd like to try a 120gt wheel, I have a CGW white wheel in 120gt. (Made in Israel, slightly used, now 5 7/8" diameter, 3/4" wide, 1/2" sleeved hole. You can have this one, if you want it.....you pay for the shipping.

I also have a Norton 80gt SG wheel that is also slightly used, 5 7/8" diameter, 3/4" wide, 1/2" hole, that I'd sell at a good price, if you are interested. I just checked on this wheel, and it doesn't look like it's available anymore at CSUSA, but I think it was around $60 new. If you want this one, you can have it for half that price.....again, you pay shipping.

The 80gt Norton SG wheel is the one I've been using for the past ten or twelve years......it's the one I'd recommend. Expensive, but well worth it, in my opinion. I currently have them installed on both sides of my 8" grinder.

ooc

 

[John Torchick]

Odie, thanks for the offer. To all, I'll see what I can do with the wheels that are on the grinder right now. I just thought the finer grit might be better but several indicated that is not the case. I will try to locate a diamond dressing wheel as recommended.

 

[john lucas]

I pretty much agree with all that's been said. I find finer than 100 grit doesn't accomplish much for me. I have sharpened tools on my Wet Wheel grinder to a much cleaner edge and it's just too slow. It's painfully slow if you need to reshape an edge.
I won't argue that a sharper edge will cut cleaner. I'm just not sure it's worth it for most turning and can't really tell that the edge lasts longer. It might but it's an awful subtle thing.
I took a class with Frank Sudol and he sharpened on a 400 grit belt sander. I had one hell of time because it removed so little metal if my edge wasn't dead on I just ended up with more facets, none of which were on the cutting edge. When you did get it sharp it really cut but in the long run I went back to my 80 or 100 grit.
I buy my stones from www.use-enco.com for white 100 grit wheels although I was buying 1" x8" wheels.

 

[John Torchick]

I didn't anticipate all the replies and info for this request. I look at the members who replied and see that they are all over the country. I really like this forum as the members are most willing to pitch in and help. Many thanks to all! Got sharpening on the list for this week as I have some turning to do. I am going to try and make some snow man decorations from some dowel I bought at Lowe's. A fellow turned one and brought it to the last meeting of our club/chapter.

 

[odie]

Odie, thanks for the offer. To all, I'll see what I can do with the wheels that are on the grinder right now. I just thought the finer grit might be better but several indicated that is not the case. I will try to locate a diamond dressing wheel as recommended.

You are welcome, John........

If it weren't for the fact that most turning tools are fairly thick steel, the 120gt, or even higher (if there is such a thing!) would do well on thin metal. With thin steel, it might grind the metal fast enough to do some good.

That 120gt wheel I mentioned was an experiment, very much like you were contemplating.......and, I suspect if you had wanted it, you'd have done some testing and concluded the same as what I and most other turners have found. I bought two of the 6" SG wheels, and one of them is still being used on the old 6" grinder......just not for lathe tools. (Pretty expensive wheel for general purpose grinding......but, you use what you have on hand!)

I don't think there is such a thing as a "diamond dressing wheel". The diamond dressers that I'm aware of (and use), are a solid block of diamond impregnated material, with a handle. You should get one of these......they are really great!

I've seen these diamond dressing tools from a number of suppliers, but here's a link to the one I use at CSUSA:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p...ifetime-Diamond-Wheel-Dresser/diamond+dresser

ooc