Grinder Wheel Help

[Kevin Kelly]

I have the 8" slow speed grinder that Woodcraft carries; it came with 60 and 100 grit white wheels. It seems to me that they cut slowly and fill up with metal from the tool really quickly, and i'm trying to be careful - in David Ellsworth's words - to dress the bevel, not grind the tool. Has anyone else experienced this problem, or am i doing something wrong? BTW, the wheels are Dean brand.

Also, after i dress them (or sharpen or clean or whatever one does with the wolverine diamond jig), the cutting surface of both wheels is pretty smooth, considerably smoother than the sides. Is this normal or a problem? If it's problematic, could it be contributing to the above problem?

What do i need to do?

Thanks,
kevin

[Arvin Brown]

I have the exact same system that you do. The wheel are suppose to be extremly flat and round after dressing them with the wolverine diamond dressing tool. Your wheel will look "dirty" after sharpening tools but you shouldn't have to redress the wheel for a LONG time. Just because it looks dirty doesn't mean that it won't sharpen. You can take a steel brush and "clean the wheel" while it is stationary.

[Charles Bjorgen]

Kevin -- It's pretty normal for your white wheels to show the steel grindings from your sharpening. The trick might be to not press the steel too hard against the wheels while sharpening. Just let the weight of the tool exert the pressure against the grinding wheel.

I also use the Wolverine diamond jig for trueing my wheels and think it's a great tool. However, I don't use it routinely for dressing the wheels because it tends to waste away grinding wheels pretty fast. I'd suggest getting the T-shaped diamond dresser from Woodcraft, about $16.00, and use that for regular dressing and cleaning. If your wheels develop an out-of-round condition, use the Wolverine dresser to correct that.

Depending on what you use to dress your wheels, you can come up with varying surfaces. In my experience the silicon carbide sticks and star wheel dressers leave a coarser surface, the diamond dressers smoother.


I have the 8" slow speed grinder that Woodcraft carries; it came with 60 and 100 grit white wheels. It seems to me that they cut slowly and fill up with metal from the tool really quickly, and i'm trying to be careful - in David Ellsworth's words - to dress the bevel, not grind the tool. Has anyone else experienced this problem, or am i doing something wrong? BTW, the wheels are Dean brand.

Also, after i dress them (or sharpen or clean or whatever one does with the wolverine diamond jig), the cutting surface of both wheels is pretty smooth, considerably smoother than the sides. Is this normal or a problem? If it's problematic, could it be contributing to the above problem?

What do i need to do?

Thanks,
kevin