Sharpening: Diamond wheel vs 3X wheels

[Terry Gerros]

Curious to get opinions on the diamond sharpening wheels sold by Woodcraft compared to Norton 3X or SG wheels. Worth the money or do you believe it is yet another gimic? I am currently using the white wheel that came on my grinder. Thanks.

[Reed Gray]

Terry,
I have never tried a diamond wheel, but do have the diamond stones and hones. That being said, there is a place here in Eugene that will make them. While doing a search for the untimate grinding wheel, I contacted Norton and Amplex to ask about diamond as a grinding material and was sent to the place here in town. Their advice was that diamond was great for carbide, but if used on steel, it would clog up, and there is basically no way to clean it up. I have noticed that over the 15 years I have had my diomond stones, they do still cut, but not the way they did when new. I have CBN wheels. Cubic boric nitride is a material that is made for grinding steel. Not for everyone though. The wheel is an aluminum core with 3/16 inch of material bonded to it. There is no need to spin balance it. An 8 by 1 inch wheel cost me $300. After 4 years of production turning, I still have over 1/8 inch of material left. Wheels can be made to any grit. They do wash out a little, and must be taked back to the company for truing up. I did have a 320 grit wheel and it lasted about a year and a half. I now have a 150 grit wheel for the fine wheel, and an 80 grit for the coarse wheel. The CBN does leave a smoother face than aluminum oxide or any other comparable grit wheel I have seen, but cuts the same.

I will be in Portland in November for the NW Woodturners meeting to demo bowl turning. If you are ever coming to Eugene, stop by and say hi.

robo hippy

[Terry Gerros]

Hi Reed,
Thanks for the info. The diamond wheels from Woodcraft are 150.00 . They don't offer any info about cleaning them to get the material out, so it would be a bit distressing to spend that much only for it to become clogged with no way to clean. Where do you purchase your CBN wheels? I suspect you use a diamond dresser to clean the wheel?

I live in Salem on Cordon Rd, wherebouts in Eugene are you? I get down there periodically so next time it would be good to meet you.

Regards,
Terry

[Reed Gray]

I get the wheels from Northwest Super Abrasives, 541-683-0801. They can do diamond abrasives as well, but I don't know the prices.

For cleaning the CBN wheels, you use a piece of very hard Aluminum Oxide. The wheels will eat a diamond dresser.

I used to come up to the Willamette Valley Woodturners meetings, but have had to cut back on a lot of my fun things. I will be at the Christmas meeting. I demoed bowl turning with Nick Stagg there earlier this year.

I live in the Santa Clara area, NW Eugene.

robo hippy

[Rob Cunningham]

Most diamond wheels are for grinding carbide and will clog if used on steel. There is the XD diamond wheel for steel, but the only ones I have seen are for use on a surface grinder, not a bench grinder.
MSC carries cleaning sticks for diamond and CBN wheels.
https://www1.mscdirect.com/Diamond-&-Cbn-Grinding-Wheel-Accessories/Diamond-&-Cbn-Products/Abrasives/s145.HTML

[Bob Hallowell]

My biggest fear with those would be getting them dressed to run true on my grinder. If a regular wheel has a slight wobble or hop you can dress that out.

Bob

[Reed Gray]

Bob,
I would doubt that it would be a problem. The wheels are not solid abrasive. With both diamond and CBN, there is a core wheel (aluminum) with the abrasive added onto it. The core wheel is first trued before the abrasives go on, and then with my CBN wheels, they put it on a machine to true it up again. Because of the hardness of the materials, they are not designed to fracture away and expose fresh abrasive. Not even the smallest bit of wobble in any of the wheels I have gotten, 4 total now.

robo hippy

[David Walser]

Terry,

The diamond wheels I've seen cost a little more and are different from those at Woodcraft. Here's a link to the other options: http://diamond-grinding-wheel.com/#wheel

The ones I've looked at are 8" in diameter and 1.5" wide. In addition, they come in coarser grits than the Woodcraft option (60, 80, and 100 grit) compared to Woodcraft's 120 grit. (The wheels also come in 180, 220, 360, and 600 grit options.) The extra width and the coarser grits might make them more attractive for sharpening turning tools.

All I've done is look so far.

[Terry Gerros]

David,

Thanks for the website, I will chieck it out. I too have just been looking as I recently saw the ad on the diamond wheel in Woodcraft. Still working on the original white aluminum oxide wheel that came with the grinder. Was looking to upgrade the wheel when I saw that diamond wheel.

Terry