Questions for Wolverine owners

[Cliff Holmes]

I'm about to splurge on a Wolverine sharpening system for my wife. However, I'm a little confused on what grinding wheels to get. Hartville has wheels listed as "I" and "K" hardness. I understand what that means, but which is best for use in grinding with the Wolverine? Or is there something else?

Also, do you keep different grits on each side? Or the same grit with different jigs?

Any and all advice appreciated.

[Hilel Salomon]

Hi,

I called Hartville and spoke to one of their tech/salesmen about the wheels. He explained that although the "k" series was slightly more expensive, it worked better on bowl gouges than did the "I." If you call them, you'll find that they are very helpful and knowledgeable about turning (not all of them but they'll put you with the ones that are. I bought one but haven't been able to use it because it's out of balance and I'll need to use my Oneway balancing kit.
I also have a finer grit wheel that I got from Woodcraft. I think it's called Carmel and is made in Israel. It's absolutely great for finish grinding but takes a little longer to change the tool angle.
Regards, Hilel.

[Dick Strauss]

Cliff,

I like the harder "K" type wheels if possible. They are a little harder but don't get grooved as easily. Many people use two different grits on the two wheels. The finer grits are used for bowl/spindle gouge setup while the coarser (lower number) grits are for rough shaping and scrapers. I think that anything over 100 grit is too fine for my needs.

I keep the 60/80 grit white wheels mounted for most of my sharpening and switch to the hard factory grey 36/60 grit N/L hardness wheels for rough shaping as needed.

If you can spare the extra money, I've heard very good things about the Norton 3X wheels. My next set will be these wheels!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Cliff,

As far as grits for your wheels - each turner has their own preferences. I use a 120 grit on one side of my slow speed grinder and a 150 grit on the other. I use higher grit wheels because once the shape of the edge is what I want - all I want to do is touch the tool to the wheel to freshen the edge and get back to turning.

Here is the 120 grit wheel I have: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200...it--8-x-1.aspx (http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2000216/919/Aluminum-Oxide-Grinding-Wheel--White--120-Grit--8-x-1.aspx)
Here is the 150 grit: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...inding%20wheel (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10088&filter=grinding%20wheel)

[Dick Strauss]

I forgot to mention...I run an 8" high speed (3500 rpm) grinder. If you are running a slow speed one like Steve S, I would put more weight on his suggestion and ignore mine. A smaller grinder wheel also makes a difference as to what wheel works best for your situation.

[Bob Bergstrom]

We had Professional turner last month at our club meeting talk about grits of grinding wheels. He said he used a 100 grit 3x for most sharpening because he makes relatively smaller items. He said that turners like Mike Mahoney use a 60 or less because of the number of bowls they turn. Norton 3x are great wheels. The extra ceramic sharpens high speed steel well. The softer wheel grove faster but works faster and may stay cleaner longer than the harder wheel. The craft supply diamond hone or oneway are the best and will last a long time. They may cost more now, but in the long run last a lot longer. I went through a couple of the cheap ones till I bought the craft supply hone. It does a great job.