More grinder advice please?

[Mark Hepburn]

I ordered the Rikon grinder that Bill Boehme and Robo Hippy suggested on sale at woodcraft. Here are my questions. I have a jet wet grinder that I am keeping in service and I have a CBN wheel I put on it. Dave at D-Way said that he has several customers that did that with good results.

I'm not a sharpening guru and use jigs for nearly all my sharpening.

I'm thinking of returning the jet to its original configuration nod putting the CBN wheel one the Rikon. So,
Does that make sense? And if so, which of the Rikon wheels to remove? (I bet someone says both ). They're AO in 60 and 120 grit. My CBN is 180.

My main focus is just having good sharp tools without trashing them while I'm on the learning curve. Especially trying to sharpen the ginormous Lacer skew. All my tools are HSS or powdered metal or whatever it is Doug Thompson uses - I forget at the moment.
So what would you experienced sharpeners do?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[hockenbery]

I would favor putting the CBN on the Rikon along with the 60 grit wheel.
You can use the 60 grit to shape new tools.
And if you ever join the legions who sharpen their bowl gouges on the 60 grit wheels you will have that option.

Save the tormek for planner blades and jointer knives.

My 2 cents
Al

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I would favor putting the CBN on the Rikon along with the 60 grit wheel.
You can use the 60 grit to shape new tools.
And if you ever join the legions who sharpen their bowl gouges on the 60 grit wheels you will have that option.

Save the tormek for planner blades and jointer knives.

My 2 cents
Al

Al, your 2 cents goes a long way with me. That's what I'll do. Many thanks.

 

[john lucas]

I have a 120 AO on one side and a 180 CBN on the other. The CBN cuts as fast as the 120 but leaves a smoother edge. I'd go with the suggestion of keeping the 60 grit

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I have a 120 AO on one side and a 180 CBN on the other. The CBN cuts as fast as the 120 but leaves a smoother edge. I'd go with the suggestion of keeping the 60 grit

Thanks John. That's two. By the way, I watched your YouTube vide on roughing gouge alternatives. Good info that helped me working with a square blank just last night. Really enjoyed it.

 

[Jerry Bailey]

I did as John did, left the 120 on the left side, put the CBN 180 on the right side
have the 60 wrapped and stored but figured with the amount of shaping I do, the 120 would work just fine ......
mostly use the CBN as all I need to do now is resharpen, and it does an awesome job.........

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'll go with Al's suggestion.

 

[robo hippy]

Well, my Tormek is used for kitchen knives only. I haven't used the planer or jointer in a year or three. I would put the 180 grit in the Rikon. Keep the 60 or even an 80 grit on the other side, at least till it wears out, then get an 80 grit CBN. I do prefer a scraper burr from the 80 grit wheel to the one from the 180 grit wheel for both heavy roughing and shear scraping. I do my bench chisels on the 180 grit wheel, then hone.

robo hippy

 

[Mark Hepburn]

It's unanimous then. I keep the 60 grit AO wheel and put the CBN on the other side. Thanks everyone.

 

[hockenbery]

I see you are a master of polling.

Timing the start and stop is key to getting the result you want
-

Have fun

 

[Bill Boehme]

I see you are a master of polling.

Timing the start and stop is key to getting the result you want
-

Have fun

Sorry, Al, but you only get to vote once.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I see you are a master of polling.

Timing the start and stop is key to getting the result you want
-

Have fun

Well I do live in James Carville country so maybe it's something in the water here in South Louisiana.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Regardless of the grinder, and if you have one CBN wheel and multiple Aluminum Oxide wheels (AO) use a coarse wheel on the one side and the CBN on the other. You can reshape with the "disposable" AO wheel and refine with the CBN