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annealed O1 steel on CBN wheels- yea or nay

S

Steve Tiedman

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Oct 25, 2020
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Minneapolis, MN
I'm guessing nay because the steel is in the softened annealed state, but...

I've ordered a stick of annealed 1/8" x 3/4" O1 tool steel from McMaster. I want to try making a couple 3" edge-length woodcarving blades. After shaping the blades, I'll heat and oil quench them, then heat treat in an oven.

I have 2 grinders- 7" slow speed with 180/600 grit CBN, and a 6" high speed with 36/60 grit aluminum oxide wheels.

I also have my cheap, old 4" wide Delta benchtop belt sander, and I've used it for shaping steel before.

So, keep the annealed steel off the CBN wheels? Thoughts?
 
I have never sharpened anything but 10V or 15V steel on my personal grinder and they look like new. When I was having hands on in my shop for my club I had 2 general use grinders for everyone to use and 1 of those had 2 CBN wheels (180 and 300 grit) and The other had 1 CBN wheel (180 grit) and 1 aluminum oxide wheel. They were used for many years without anyone (but me) watching what was being ground or sharpened. I saw pros reshaping tools with a 180 CBN and I know that they were at best HSS. After closing the shop to hands on from my club I sold those two grinders and I never felt that I was giving someone a raw deal as they still looked fine and seemed to work well and have had no complaints from those who bought them. I myself would not use annealed steel on mine but after seeing what was sharpened on those other two I don't know if it would hurt much.
 
Any "hardened" metal is fine on CBN wheels. So, shovel blades, plane irons, bench chisels, axe heads, hoes, M2, M42, V10, V15 are fine. Brass, aluminum, mild steel, copper, and maybe a few others can clog the wheel up. A piece of hard aluminum oxide from an old grinding wheel can help clean up the wheel. I intentionally loaded up an old CBN wheel once to see how long it would take to remove the build up. Maybe a month of mostly M2 tools at that time. I do sharpen my Big Ugly tools on my CBN wheels. It has tantung as the cutting material, and cold rolled steel for the bar supporting the tantung. I do grind most of the bar away, but there is always 1/8 inch or more of it that hits the wheel. No problems.

robo hippy
 
Yes if you get the Slick Stick from woodturnerswonders. If you don't have it abd you sharpen those tools frequently you could clog the wheel. If you sharpen hss afterwords it helps clean it but your much better of just getting the slick stick.
 
Slick stick from Woodturner's Wonders. I don't use it on my wheels, but I do dribble a bit of the Trend Lapping fluid onto the bevels of my tools when sharpening. If I put it on the wheel, I get a racing stripe similar to what I wear after turning sloppy wet wood. I also LOVE the slick stick on my bandsaw blades, tool rests, and on the soles of my wood hand planes.

robo hippy
 
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