Questions about CBN sharpening wheels

[mark ahlenius]

Good morning all,

I am looking for some advice on getting one or two 8" CBN wheels for my low speed Porter Cable grinder. These would be used for sharpening my lathe tools.

Specifically I am wondering about purchasing aluminum vs steel CBN wheels. One of the features I would like to get are wheels with some of the CBN particles on the side of the wheels for sharpening skews and the like. I have yet to see any steel wheels (like from Craft Supplies) which have the CBN material on the side edge, but have only seen this on the aluminum wheels.

Appreciate your experience and advice on this.

thank you,

'mark

[David M Peters]

Aluminum wheels are great, I have two of the Mega Squares (80/300) from Woodturner's Wonders on a 1HP Rikon. I used to have two of their radius edge wheels but missed having a sharp 90 degree corner.

[Edward Weber]

You obviously sharpen you skew different than I do.
There are some steel wheels with a radius edge but mainly the Aluminum wheels have the side abrasive for flat grinding.
I did notice this one
https://robcosman.com/products/rob-cosmans-cbn-grinding-wheel-8

[mark ahlenius]

Thanks very much David. Appreciate your reply.

[mark ahlenius]

thanks Edward!

[John Kananis]

Fair warning, they're addictive. I started with only 1 and now have a 400 on my tormek, 80 and 600 on a slow speed 8" grinder and an 80 on my little 6 inch grinder.

[Reed Gray]

When the aluminum wheels first came out, some were concerned that the bonding wouldn't be as good as with the steel wheels. They have been out long enough that there seems to be no problems that way. I have almost all steel wheels because the folks at D Way have been friends for a long time. If you get only one wheel, then get a 180 grit since it will do all of the sharpening you need 90% of the time. If you get a second wheel, then get a 600. I don't consider the 320 to be enough of a step up to be worthwhile. As for a grinder, I am not sure about the Porter Cable one. I consider 1/2 hp to be a bit light weight. I do have Baldor 3/4 hp, and 1 hp Rikon. Both come up to full speed in the same amount of time, and I can push into them without them stalling. Dust collection is a problem. I would keep the inside guard on. Some use magnets to collect the dust, and while it does get some, it doesn't get it all, and metal dust will float around in the air like wood dust does, and it is not good to breath in. Most metal dust collection systems are not designed for home shops. I would want an air scrubber near the grinder. For production work, you can expect 5 or so years out of them. For the average turner, much longer. The wheels are made for sharpening 'hardened' metal. This would include bench chisels and plane irons. I did intentionally load up one old wheel with soft steel, aluminum, brass, and copper. After about a month of sharpening, all visible traces were gone. You can sharpen carbide on these wheels, but it is very slow going, and when I did it with mine, the wheels never cut the same, so save your carbide tools for diamond wheels or plates. I do have one set of the radius wheels, and don't like them. As for how useful the side grind option is, I don't know. I never found a use for it. Since I turn a lot of sloppy wet wood, my wheels do gunk up. You can take them and put them in water with some Simple Green or other cleanser, soak for a bit and then scrub them off with bristle brush. You can even use oven cleaner or I believe there is a solvent especially for saw blades that can clean off build up.

robo hippy

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I’ve been using D-Way CBN wheels for years now - they’re steel and the newer ones I’ve noticed have grit on the edge of the wheel. Still wouldn’t want to use it anywhere near a skew, though. I sharpen skews on a platform and hand hone from there.

[John Kananis]

I've heard someone say that before, why? I notice a lot of pros use the grinder and hone from there. I'm just getting comfortable (somewhat not really lol) with the skew.


I’ve been using D-Way CBN wheels for years now - they’re steel and the newer ones I’ve noticed have grit on the edge of the wheel. Still wouldn’t want to use it anywhere near a skew, though. I sharpen skews on a platform and hand hone from there.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

3266636 (tel:3266636)[/URL]]I've heard someone say that before, why? I notice a lot of pros use the grinder and hone from there. I'm just getting comfortable (somewhat not really lol) with the skew.

John:
I sharpen my skews on cbn wheels using a platform adjusted to the grind angle I prefer, then hone to remove any burr and polish the edge. I usually hone to refresh an edge at least a few times (usually several times) before needing to go back to the grinder. The platform I use most is one made by Reed Gray that uses the Oneway Wolverine bases. As for why - that’s the way I learned to sharpen my skews. It works for me.

[John Kananis]

Ok, seems I was just confused by the diction. So you do sharpen on the wheel (then hone), thank you.


John:
I sharpen my skews on cbn wheels using a platform adjusted to the grind angle I prefer, then hone to remove any burr and polish the edge. I usually hone to refresh an edge at least a few times (usually several times) before needing to go back to the grinder. The platform I use most is one made by Reed Gray that uses the Oneway Wolverine bases. As for why - that’s the way I learned to sharpen my skews. It works for me.

[Reed Gray]

I do strop my skews, and to me, stropping and honing are 2 different actions. Honing does create a burr. I can feel them on my hand tools up to 16000 or so grit. Eric Lofstrom started me stropping and it makes a difference. At present, I use compound on a piece of poplar. I think that actually works as well as or better than leather.

robo hippy