CBN wheel grit for woodturning

[Michael Schneider]

Hello All,

I am getting back to some woodturning after about 10 years away. There is some nice technology changes in metallurgy and grinding wheels.


There are many nice manufactures, that were nice, so I decided to spread it around between Carter and Son, Thompson, John Jorden, and D-Way for some gouges a parting tool, and a couple of skews. (There are many more great businesses, but only so much money :-( ).


I am stuck on what grits to buy for a CBN wheel. There are many wheels out there, so I thought I would support another small business and pick up a pair of 4 in 1 design from Woodturning Wonders .

I don't tend to change the geometry of my tools very much, so I was thinking of getting a 180 and a 350. My line of thought was I could hit it with the 350 and maybe not need to hone.

For those with CBN wheels already, does that plan seem reasonable? (I still have lower grits in white wheels if I need to hog something down).

Thanks

[Bernie Weishapl]

Michael I just use the 180 grit. I have never seen a need for anything other than that. I have a white stone wheel when I need to reshape the hit it on the 180 and go.

[Thom Sturgill]

I have D-Way's 180 and Woodturners wonder 4-in-1 360 grit. I can not tell that much difference in the edges. I like the rounded corner for honing the square hollowing bits and occasionally use the sides for my wife's carving tools (before I hone them on the buffer.) those wheels are HEAVY so make sure you have a heavy duty grinder to handle them and be ready for the slow ramp up and they seem to take forever to come to a stop.

[Rex Guinn]

I only have the 180 and love it, on the other side of the grinder is a standard 60 grit if I need to take off a lot of material.

[Peter Blair]

I use the D-way 180 on both sides of my slow speed grinder. One side stays pretty much for the wolverine and the other with a Robo Hippy. I can touch up any of my tools in seconds with this set up. Yesterday I found out that I just might get a better edge with a finer grit. If I ever wear out one of these I just may try a finer replacement.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Reed Gray (aka RoboHippy) has a good piece on CBN and why you might not want to get "the cheapest" wheel
http://www.robohippy.net/featured-article/

[Reed Gray]

I would say if you are only getting one, then get a 180 grit wheel. If two, then the 180 and 80 grit. Both are very aggressive when new, cutting far faster than their comparable grits in the standard grinding wheels. I haven't tried the 360 grit wheel as it wasn't out when I got the newer metal wheels with the electroplated CBN on them. Maybe I will try one out some day. For gouges and scrapers, you don't need to hone. For skews, you still do need to hone, mostly to get rid of the burr. Also, I love the 1 1/2 inch wide wheels, I have never run off the edge of the wheel and dinged the wings on my gouges with the wide wheels.

robo hippy

[Charles Bjorgen]

I posed a similar question a few weeks back and the consensus was in favor of the 180 grit. My selection was complicated because my grinder, a Baldor, is for 7 inch wheels and the only source I found for that size was D-Way. The wheel is still new enough so I'm certain it has not yet broken in, but like Reed I really like the additional width of the wheel.

By the way, I left the inner half of the guard installed and have mounted some magnetic hangers near the outlet of the grinder to capture steel particles from the grinding operation. These magnets are about 3-4 inches in diameter and are for hanging wreaths and other decorative items to the steel siding on our house. Seems to be working but I have to remember to brush them off.

[Roger Chandler]

Michael I just use the 180 grit. I have never seen a need for anything other than that. I have a white stone wheel when I need to reshape the hit it on the 180 and go.

Bernie! So glad to see you post again! Been a long while, and your presence here has been missed by myself and numerous others I am sure. I was just thinking about you the other day, wondering how you are doing? I don't mean to hijack this thread, so I will let it go with a hearty welcome.....good to see your interaction!

For the thread, I offer the following: I have both the 80 and 180 grit CBN wheels, and of course use the 180 grit most, and the 80 for heavy shaping and also for my scrapers.......the burr put on a scraper by the 80 grit does a nice job with smoothing things out!

[Michael Schneider]

Thanks to everyone for their information. I was thinking about gouges and skews and was not thinking of scrapers. I think I will jump into the CBN world with the woodturning wonders , 4 in 1 design in 80 and 600 grit. I can reshape and do scrapers on the 80 and use the 600 to touch up the edge,

The D way wheels look excellent also, I bought a parting tool and gouge from D-Way, so I am just spreading my limited funds among several businesses.


Merry Christmas to all and Happy Turning

[John Grace]

Question...has anyone or heard of anyone wearing out a CBN wheel? thanks...

[Ralph Lindberg]

Question...has anyone or heard of anyone wearing out a CBN wheel? thanks...


Last time I talked to Dave (D-way) about he hadn't worn one out after several thousand tools.
Now, because D-Way wheels are steel and the CBN is bonded, they would wear longer then the (cheaper) Aluminum ones that are electroplated on.
But just how much "quicker" one of those would wear out, I can't say. I know I figure my D-Way CBN is a "life-time" buy.

[Bill Boehme]

... Now, because D-Way wheels are steel and the CBN is bonded, they would wear longer then the (cheaper) Aluminum ones that are electroplated on....

Ralph, all CBN wheels are nickle electroplated whether aluminum or steel (see Dave's write up on the D-Way site). I could envision the steel lasting longer if heavy grinding pressure were applied as a regular practice. I would think that isn't the case for the way that most of us sharpen tools.

[Justin Stephen]

Another vote for 180. I bought the 80-grit wheel (D-Way) first and regretted it. Now I use the 180 about 99% of the time. I kind of wish I had just bought two 180s in retrospect if I was going to own two of them.

[Steve Mellott]

I agree. I have both an 80 and a 180 grit wheel. If I could do it over, I would buy 2 separate 180 wheels - the 80 grit is way too aggressive for me.

Steve

[hu lowery]

I am using a 220 grit four in one wheel and a 350 inch and a half radius edged one. They are both aluminum centered and I have no problem spinning them up on a pretty small grinder. I did time how long it took for the grinder to stop turning after I turned it off. It took over five minutes. Of course a little touching up or cutting the secondary bevel after the grinder is off gets it stopped much sooner. Doesn't really matter except I have forgotten to turn the grinder off a couple times. Don't notice it with the speed the grinder spins after turning it off and can't hear the grinder once I am back on the lathe.

If you get the six hundred grit wheel or anyone else is running one I'd like to hear how they like it. I find the 350 sharpens well leaving a tiny burr and is aggressive enough for minor shaping but I am still curious about the finer grits.

No reason it shouldn't be but it is nice to check the bevel on my bowl gouge after sharpening on the CBN for a month or more and find it is still the sixty degrees I sharpened it to way back when. The CBN wheels were an excellent purchase.

Hu

[Michael Schneider]

Hu,

Thank you very much for the info. I talked with Ken at WoodTurning Wonders and has ordered the 600 grit for me in the 4-1. He has one in the standard config, but I thought I would wait for the 4-1. He has some good reports from this wheel.

Since I have some time to wait for the 600, I am wrestling with the grit for the other wheel.

Currently I am between the 80 and the 180 for scraper burrs and some shaping if needed.

Do you use your 220 grit for anything or do you use your 350 for all your work?

It seems that many grits would meet my needs, just trying to find the optimal one to meet my workflows.

I have a feeling that all this concern is for not, If I dropped a wheel >= 180 and less then == 600 then I would probably be just as happy with any of them :-)

Like many tools, one always compares when you buy, then happily uses what you have after you purchase it.

I guess the good news is there are so many very good choices to meet your needs.

I have been amazed with both Dave and D-WAY and Ken at Woodturners Wonders and will happily buy more from both. We are so lucky to have such good vendors (Don't mean to leave out other good vendors, those are the two I have bought things from for sharpening).


Thank you,
Michael

[John K Jordan]

Hu, I'v been using a 600 grit on my Tormek for a few months now. It works very well and is by no means too fine. It is much more aggressive and does not leave the edge as clean as the Tormek water wheel. I do not leave a burr from a grinder on turning tools since a clean edge cuts much cleaner and leaves a smoother finish. I found burr from a grinder is usually gone in a few revolutions anyway. (If I want a burr on a scraper I add it with a carbide burnisher.) i usually polish the cutting edges to remove any burr.

The 600 grit is almost too coarse for me - I would like to try a 1000 grit on the Tormek.

Note that I only sharpen and don't shape tools on that wheel. I have a separate grinder with a more coarse CBN wheel (240 I think) i use for shaping a tool. The scratches left by that wheel are way too rough for me for finish turning. I do mostly small spindle work and with good wood (like fine-grained exotics) I often use only 600 grit paper IF the tool edge does not have coarse scratches, occasionally 400 grit. The wood surface can't possibly be smoother than the cutting edge of the tool.

JKJ

[Dale Bonertz]

I know of one person who wore his out. He makes tools so it had very heavy use. I think for most of us we will be hard pressed to where them out.

[John Keeton]

Everyone has preferences and priorities. When I did flat work, I had my chisels and plane blades sharpened down to 2000 grit and the edges then polished on compound. Sanding large areas of board stock was laborious. However, sanding on the lathe, while not fun, is a relatively easy and quick task. For those reasons, I am happy with the edge I get on a 180 CBN, and do not hone my edges when I sharpen. I view sandpaper as just another tool and I am not embarrassed to use it to get an acceptable finish or to tweak a surface. It is the end product I am after, not the process.

That said, I have seen the fine work of those that feel differently and respect their views. It really comes down to personal preference.

[Reed Gray]

Hmm, looks like I may have to get one of the 600 or so grit wheels. I just have to experiment. The important burr for me is the one I use on scrapers. I am starting to feel that the 80 grit wheel leaves a better burr for heavy bowl roughing, and can go through a bowl or three, depending on size, with no need to touch up. I am also starting to feel that the 180 leaves a better edge for shear scraping than the 80, but it is difficult to tell because different woods cut differently. I do burnish, once in a while, using both a triangle burnishing tool, and a fine diamond hone. I really can't feel any difference. John, the degree of 'polishing' on the bevel changes a LOT once the wheel is broken in. My 180 grit looks like a mirror now.

robo hippy