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CBN Wheels

The d-way booth was selling them.
There may have been others selling metal diamond or cbn wheels but that was the one I noticed.
They even had them on one of the woodcraft low speed grinders like mine.
But one wheel cost more than twice as much as the grinder.
I don't go through enough white wheel to justify it, yet.

Having a solid wheel that will not fly apart or chip off is pretty attractive though.

Mark
 
Hi Paul:

Mark is correct - D-Way Tools sells the CBN wheels...

They have them in 80 and 180 grit....

I came VERY close to buying one at the Symposium - had I not already bought some other new items (a new Steve Sinner/Advanced Lathe Tools Steady, and an updated gate/rest for my McNaughton Hollower), I probably would own one right now (....couldn't drop too much cash at the symposium, due to a looming college tuition bill for my daughter!)

Although quite pricey at $ 185 each, the quality and longevity of the wheels probably is well worth it.... ... I'll get one some time in the near future I hope. Probably should sell another bowl or two to pay for one....

Have a look HERE.

Hope this helps!

Rob

(BTW Mark - Good to meet you at the WC lunch on Friday!)
 
I bought a set to put on my woodcraft slow speed grinder. I am modifying it right now to allow me to use the guards and that will take a few days.
I will lye you know how and what when I finish
 
Thanks guys. I contacted Dave and I'm waiting for a reply. My Baldor grinder is 7" and all the wheels I've seen are 6 or 8". Since these wheels do not fly apart, I'm wondering if I can take the gaurds off my grinder and use the 8" wheels. I'll have to mess with it and see.
 
I have been using CBN wheels for over 5 years now. They are a different style from the D Way wheels (3/16 inch of a matrix bonded to an aluminum hub). The advantages, they don't wear out, they are already spin balanced, and will not need truing. Just can't be beat by anything else out there.

robo hippy
 
I got mine through NW Super Abrasives here in Eugene, a division of Burton Saw. I am going to be getting some of the D Way wheels to compare. Cost for the ones I have are $300 each. D Way ones are $180. Mine do get some run out in them, and need to be trued up once in a while which means taking them back to the place that made them. If you try to use a diamond dresser, the CBN will eat them. After over 5 years of production turning, I still have half of the matrix left on the wheels. They are cleaned by using a very hard aluminum oxide stick. D Way has the CBN electroplated to a steel wheel, which never needs cleaning, or dressing. I don't know for sure, so have to take them for a test drive. He said he grinds with them 6 hours a day, and they show no wear. Contact info was in the AAW magazine article about grinding wheels by Bill Nedow. Excellent article.

robo hippy
 
I put the wheels on today. Added about 1/8" or so of a spacer in the guards to allow for the wider wheels. I put a piece of thin tape on the front and then put a dial indicator on them and they show about .0012" runout. Don't know what acceptable is, but they seem to work good. I haven't tried the tools to wood yet, but the only mess under the grinder is steel, no white/grey/red/blue powder from the wheels. Granted, $400 for wheels is 2x + what the grinder cost, so I need to get a baldor now to justify the wheel costs.
 

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Steve:

Is the measured runout you saw due to radial eccentric runout ("in-out") or lateral ("wobble") runout?

How did the width of the wheel & bushing fit onto the shaft of the grinder? (i.e. ......was the shaft long enough to get the nut on OK?)

BTW - did you get an e-mail from me yesterday with an attachment (.doc) ? ?

Rob
 
Rob Wallace said:
Steve:

Is the measured runout you saw due to radial eccentric runout ("in-out") or lateral ("wobble") runout?

How did the width of the wheel & bushing fit onto the shaft of the grinder? (i.e. ......was the shaft long enough to get the nut on OK?)

BTW - did you get an e-mail from me yesterday with an attachment (.doc) ? ?

Rob
Click to expand...

Got the doc, thanks
The shafts are long enough to accommodate the extra wheel width, the washers and the nuts
The runout in this case is the front, not side to side.
Side to side is greater, but they are balanced to compensate, so it doesn't matter for balance.
 
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I looked at the D Way wheels and was very tempted. I read the AAW piece, and they seemed ideal, but pricy.

But when I asked some of the demonstrators, they thought they were overkill and not right for woodturning tools. I asked a well known sharpening guru, who we all know, and he said the grit is way to fine, and you need to grind and hand hone to get the proper edge.

I am torn and would like to hear what the user think, and do you need both grits? I was thinking about just getting the 180 grit.
 
I don't think the 180 grit wheel is too fine. I had a 320 wheel, and it was too fine. If you hone, which I almost never do, the honing will do fine in 'refreshing' the edge, but after a few times, you have to take it back to the wheel. You have to take some steel off to get a fresh edge. Part of that may be because the inside of the gouge edge gets work and rounded over when cutting. My 150 grit wheel does a great job, and I would expect the same for the 180 grit wheel. CBN is made specifically for grinding steel. Diamond is best for carbide and very hard steel.

Another reason for me not honing is that I don't get any benefit from it on my gouges. Since I have started free hand sharpening on a platform, there is no time savings when compared to honing. Just imagine, no more gouge jig.

robo hippy
 
I don't think it is too fine at all. Which is an odd statement if you hone (which I don't).
Now for reshaping or initial grinding, 180 would be too fine, and if I was only going to buy one grit, it would be 80.

While I do listen to these well known people, I use what works for me and do more research on my own to make an informed decision.
 
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