CBN grinding wheel plus what on the other side?

[Jack Gaskins]

I just received my 180 CBN wheel but cant decide what wheel I should put on the other side of my grinder? Yes it would be nice to have another CBN but cant afford the $$. So this leaves me with either a Norton 3x or standard white AO wheel. I don't do a lot of turning and my white wheels lasted me four years. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jack

[Thom Sturgill]

Well, at 4 years per matrix wheel it would take about 16 years to pay for a second CBN wheel, so I see your point.

I have an MDF wheel that I charge with compound to hone with on my 8" VS grinder, but then I have two old 6" HS grinders too. One is a buffer for polishing my wife's carving tools and the other has a Norton 3x wheel with a Veritas platform and a wire wheel. I do reshaping on the Norton wheel. Doug Thompson would probably tell you to get a 36 grit K hardness wheel or an 80 grit Norton 3X. We normally use I or J hardness wheels, K hardness are only available in 36 and 80 grit.

[Roger Chandler]

I have a 180 CBN wheel on one side and a Norton 3X 60 grit on the other..........this has proven to be a very good combination for me...........I did true up the Norton and get it balanced...........it works really well for heavy grinding and I use it on my scrapers a lot more than the cbn........just because I have the platform on my wolverine jig on that side and the surface off the wheel is good enough to give me quality cuts .........I get an even better edge with the cbn wheel on them, but it does not seem to make a lot of difference on what grit I am able to start sanding with on a bowl.

[Reed Gray]

The 180 grit CBN wheel will take care of just about all your sharpening needs. The only real reason for a coarse wheel on the other side is for some shaping or reshaping of a tool. 60 or 80 grit. The 180 grit CBN wheels create a very nice burr on scrapers.

robo hippy

[Ralph Lindberg]

We have a regular white on the other side. I just used it to re-shape some spade bits from flat to curved.

The other grinder has a wire-wheel and a buffing wheel (steel)

[Jack Gaskins]

Haven't used a CBN wheel before so not sure what would be useful on the other side. I was looking at sharpeningsupplies.com today and found a Norton J wheel for only $27 plus $8 to ship. Might just put that on and go with it. Should I get a oneway balancer for the AO wheel?

[Thom Sturgill]

Jack, I would definitely recommend a drill bushing, the plastic ones can be worse than useless. Don Geiger has an article on his site about tuning up a grinder (http://www.geigerssolutions.com/Tuning-Up-a-Bench-Grinder.html) with small stickers to balance the wheel. Worth reading.

[Tom M King]

288379I didn't put anything on the other side of mine. I ordered the fine wheel, and thought I would get a coarse one for the other side later, but the fine cuts so fast that there is no need for a coarser one. It runs so smoothly that I didn't want to spoil it with anything less well balanced on the other side. I do have other grinders though. I origninally bought a Dewalt grinder just for the CBN wheel, but it didn't do the wheel justice. I sent it back, and got the Metabo. It was so smooth I put a machine screw on it while it was running to see if it would stay, then added the forged nail, then found the coin in my pocket, then went to the truck to get the camera. In that shot, I hadn't even tightened down the self-locking nuts to the varnished plywood base for the grinder.

[Reed Gray]

I don't know how much the Oneway balancing system, but the other CBN wheel might be cost effective then. Balancing up a wheel isn't always necessary, some of them run true enough as is, but like Thom said, get a machined bushing.

My take on grinding wheels and that other stuff....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDYdo1IoyRY

robo hippy

[Roger Chandler]

I forgot to mention the drill bushing........I got mine from McMaster Carr.............it is essential for getting a wheel balanced IMO.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Have used the standard gray wheels to shape high speed gouges without problems. Moderate heat doesn't affect the steel and the wheels are cheap and plentiful.

[Jack Gaskins]

That Metabo sure looks nice and no vibrating, sweet.

[Jack Gaskins]

Jack, I would definitely recommend a drill bushing, the plastic ones can be worse than useless. Don Geiger has an article on his site about tuning up a grinder (http://www.geigerssolutions.com/Tuning-Up-a-Bench-Grinder.html) with small stickers to balance the wheel. Worth reading.

Yep, have two bushings on hand. Ordered them a couple years ago just didn't get around to installing them. Definitely plan to install one on the AO wheel if it wont run smoothly.