Which CBN wheels should I get?

[John Spitters]

I’m looking at getting my first set of CBN wheels, I’ve read many many posts on these wheels but am at this point rather confused as to what grit/ grits I should get. I’m pretty certain that I don’t need a course 80g and am leaning more towards getting both wheels of the same grit, mostly because on one side I will have the platform jig setup and on the other the varigrind for my gouges.
If I get two wheels of the same grit what grit would be recommended?
Then on the other hand if I was to get wheels of two different grits what would then be recommended?
Also is it a great advantage to get the 1 1/2” wheels over the 1” ones? And I’m also thinking that I would not be wanting the wheels with the radiused corners.

Looking forward to your replies.
John

[Prashun Patel]

I have a 180g CBN for a few years now. Still going strong. It's been great. I find it gives a reasonably good finish, while still being quick and efficient.

[Bob Bouis]

I have a 600 on the varigrind side and 80 on the platform side, but it's easy to switch them around. 99% of the time I prefer the 80 for things you sharpen with a platform anyway.

[Reed Gray]

Read the "I love my CBN wheel" thread down below.... It is discussed pretty well down there.

robo hippy

[Roger Chandler]

John, I have owned a D-way 180 grit CBN wheel, and sold it to a turning friend after 2 years usage. When I got my new grinder, I put two Hurricane CBN wheels on it... an 80 grit for shaping grinds, and I prefer the burr the 80 grit leaves on my scrapers. I also have another 180 grit on the other side... which both grits are direct mount on the 5/8” shaft, and require no bushings. That grinder is as smooth as can be, and the wheels are both high quality and a great value.

That being said, I am very happy with my setup, but probably would not mind having a 320/350 grit wheel just for skew sharpening. I think anything over 400 grit is not useful, except if you do spindle work mostly and do not want to hardly sand.....sharpened correctly, a bowl gouge can get a very good edge from a broken in cbn [180 grit] wheel......I can begin sanding at 220, sometimes 320 grit on some woods. YMMV