I am getting into my shop now and have a question for the seasoned shop workers. As I am mainly going to be doing woodworking, what would you suggest as the three or so wheels to have on hand for my old bench grinder?
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I am getting into my shop now and have a question for the seasoned shop workers. As I am mainly going to be doing woodworking, what would you suggest as the three or so wheels to have on hand for my old bench grinder?
My thought is that you probably don't need 3 wheels, at least to sharpen hand tools. People have been raving about the cbn wheels now available, usually suggesting 180 grit. I hope this helps.
All depends what you plan to do with it? Grinding random metal down, grinding out dings in a chisel or plane blade?
My grinder is equipped with a fine stone on one side, and a good quality wire wheel on the other. For the way I work, I use the wire wheel more than the stone. I have the fine stone which I put on there to sharpen lathe tools etc., but I also use it for general grinding. It's slower that using a coarser wheel, unless I include the time to change the wheels.
Wayne
My question too. A CBN is great for hardened steel but not so great for mild steel and other materials. My six shop grinders have a variety of wheels, both CBN and AlOx for different purposes. (A wire brush and polishing wheel is nice too.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Day
JKJ
So, I am thinking about general usage. I do want a wire wheel and a buffing wheel, but then one to grind general metal and one to sharpen tool. Is there any others that I should have just for general use? I know later I will probably get some that are more specialized use. This is a home garage shop with not a lot of room and I no longer have a shed with my recent move.
Typically a grinder comes with two cheap AlOx wheels, one coarser than the other. These are fine for general grinding of mild and hardened steel. I keep one grinder with a coarse AlOx wheel and a wire brush in my little welding shop. There are much better wheels available for tools, though. Before I switched to CBN I used a couple of the blue Norton 3x wheels with the Oneway balancing system - so much better than the stock wheels!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Cariveau
As mentioned, if you grind mild steel on a CBN wheel it will load up and be useless until cleaned. Likewise, you can't grind brass or aluminum, which will also load up a standard wheel but at least it can be dressed.
For general shop use, I'd want at least two bench grinders to have a buffing wheel, wire brush, AlOx wheel, and a CBN wheel. The Rikon bench grinders are pretty reasonable in prices, especially if you catch them on sale. Woodturners Wonders will ship a bench grinder with CBN wheels premounted for a good price. (A friend of mine just bought one.)
BTW, for anyone who has not used a wire wheel - USE FACE PROTECTION!! The wires can and do break loose and can turn in to needle-like projectiles that will go through clothing and take out an eye. Another option for wire brushing that I usually prefer, especially for larger things, is a twisted wire wheel on a hand-held angle grinder. I still wear a full face shield but the angle grinder has a nice protective guard.
JKJ