Rikon 1hp set up

[John Hicks]

Before moving I bought a Rikon 1hp grinder and the wolverine system. I have a Sorby proedge now and wanted something that would maybe be more versatile. I have yet to really start using it. I would have much rather had a Baldor, but the price is way out of my budget.
The white wheels that came with it are both very out of balance and I'm not very impressed with the quality. I was wondering if a radius cbn wheel might be a better choice? I, being an older American, tend to look for American made products when I can find, and afford them. So, I'm wondering what would be a good choice for a cbn wheel for general purpose? I have Trent Bosch cutters and his hollowing system; so I was thinking a radius wheel might be good for that. With the pro-edge, it takes off material too fast and is not very precise when trying to sharpen small cutters, although with a150 grit belt; it does a bang up job on gouges.
I'm even considering conventional higher quality wheels because of the cost of a good cbn wheel.

 

[Ron Solfest]

Go with CBN, you’ll love them. Recommend you look at and/or call woodturnerswonders.com

 

[robo hippy]

The 1 hp Rikon is a good grinder, with power equal to my Baldor grinder. When I got my first one, I took the rubber feet off so I could bolt it to some plywood as I like to take my own grinder with me when I demo. The feet on the first one, metal ones that is, were about 1/8 inch out of whack and I had to do some grinding to get it to sit flat. I removed the tool rests and the lamp as they are worthless. I had to put the Wolverine up on a piece of about 3/4 inch plywood to get it to height. The wheels that came with the first one were so bad, I wouldn't give them to some one I didn't like. Maybe 1/4 inch of run out.... The second one I got sat flat after taking off the rubber feet, and the grinding wheels were better, but still took them off. I do keep the inside wheel guard on. I think I had to use a shim or two to get the wheel far enough away from the motor so it would spin. The helical washers from Ken help fix any run out problems.

As for CBN wheels, I have mostly D Way. If you get one wheel, get a 180 grit as it will do 95% of all the sharpening you will need. If you get 2, then get a 600 grit. It comes in handy for a finer edge on gouges for punky wood. If you have to do serious tool shaping, then find a 36 grit standard wheel. I think all of them are made over seas. I don't know if there is much quality differences. I did look at the Cuttermaster/Tradesman from up in Canada, and they are a good wheel, maybe looking a tiny bit better than the others. Cindy Drozda sells the Optigrind, which originally came out of Austria, I think.

As for shape, I prefer the square edge ones. The rounded edge is fine for the hollowing tool tips, but other than that, I don't see any real use for them... The side grind option is not some thing I use, but many do. I think Ken Rizza has an edge here.

Oh, I have yet to try the Slick Stick from Ken. It is supposed to do wonders for cleaning the wheel and also to keep gunk from building up on bandsaw blades.

robo hippy

 

[Mark Jundanian]

John, I would suggest you look at buying one CBN wheel and keeping one friable until you have a better idea what you like and want, and whether or not you'll be grinding much high carbon steel. Woodturner's Wonders is a great resource, but probably not the only great resource.

 

[hockenbery]

I now use a radius CBN to sharpen my hollowing tools.
does a great job. matrix wheels do just as good. I have a couple of Bosch bars.

the white wheels do a good job too. I would suggest spending a hour or so to tune up the grinder by adjusting and balancing the white wheels. you will need a wheel dresser. when the white wheels wear done to 7” consider replacing with cbn. a good wheel dresser from Packard is $40

Packard Woodworks: The Woodturner's Source: Grinding Wheel Dresser

a radius CBN from Ken Rizzo is $150.

there was a thread a while back on getting new wheels to run true.

the wheels need to be turned on the shaft to the spot of least wobble.
and paper spacers under the washers on opposite sides will push the side of the wheels true.
then the wheel needs to be dressed to round.

Mount one wheel at a time

 

[Doug Freeman]

I’m still using AlOx wheels. I was contemplating getting a cbn and got a great deal on some used Norton blue “K” hardness wheels, 46 and80 gr. I sharpen gouges on a Tormek copy, and use the grinder to sharpen all flat tools, which then get honed, so the grit is not real important. My sharpening routine is a bit different than most due to the wet wheel. Most all with cbn recommend having a low gr alox wheel for tool shaping. Ive used a low gr wheel a lot for shaping gouges and scrapers.

 

[Bill Blasic]

I had bought the 1/2 HP Rikon when a while back is was very hard to find a mid-priced slo-speed grinder. I threw two CBN wheels on it and yes it took about 8 seconds to get to full speed but it took almost 13 minutes before it stopped when turned off. And brand new with the white wheels it ran perfectly true. I know of no where in the USA that CBN wheels are made and on my personal grinder (which only I use) the CBN wheels came from Austria and are 1 1/2" wide and 80 and 180 grit. The CBN wheels on the 2 other grinders (used by students and those taking hands on classes are 1" wheels and 1 of those grinders retains 1 white wheel for reshaping. Now the CBN wheels on my personal grinder are at least 12 years old and they still look like they did the day they came out of the box but back then those 2 CBN wheels came in north of $500. The 1/2 HP Rikon now resides with my daughter in NC.

 

[Allen Mattsen]

I've been using 180 & 600 grit "Mega Square" wheels on a Rikon 1hp grinder from Woodturners Wonders. They've been excellent. I like the wide wheel faces, makes it easy.

 

[Chris Fairbanks]

I have the exact same setup as Alan. Not had much turning time this year but so far I like it.