CBN Wheel Grit for 'Flat' Woodworkers

[Patrick Chase]

According to my local Lee Valley, their CBN wheels will also fit the Tormek. Haven't tried it myself, though.

The Tormek has an odd-sized arbor (12 mm). At the very least you would need a reducing bushing to use an ordinary CBN wheel on it.

[Devon Curtis]

The Tormek has an odd-sized arbor (12 mm). At the very least you would need a reducing bushing to use an ordinary CBN wheel on it.

I believe they mentioned a bushing being required. It may not be available yet. I'll ask the next time I'm there, it just got mentioned off hand and I may be remembering wrong.

Shane, what do you think of the King low speed grinder? I've been thinking of picking one up for my shop.

[Shane MacMillan]

Shane, what do you think of the King low speed grinder? I've been thinking of picking one up for my shop.

Its cheap but it works well. The motor is not balanced the best so it wobbles a bit starting up but when it picks up speed its fine. Its not the wheels either, it does it with out them installed. No noticeable runout on the shaft.

[Devon Curtis]

Its cheap but it works well. The motor is not balanced the best so it wobbles a bit starting up but when it picks up speed its fine. Its not the wheels either, it does it with out them installed. No noticeable runout on the shaft.

Good to know. I was a bit worried about the possibility of runout. Thanks!

[Dan Grano]

Hello everyone. Per the recommendations in this thread (and elsewhere) I am looking to get a 180 grit CBN wheel to hollow grind plane blades and chisels. I'm looking at the options from Woodturners Wonders and I was wondering if those of you who use CBN wheels for this purpose have found the 1" wide wheels to be sufficient, or if there are any benefits in considering a wider 1.5" wheel. The WW lineup has both options, with about a $60 difference in price. Thanks!

[ken hatch]

Hello everyone. Per the recommendations in this thread (and elsewhere) I am looking to get a 180 grit CBN wheel to hollow grind plane blades and chisels. I'm looking at the options from Woodturners Wonders and I was wondering if those of you who use CBN wheels for this purpose have found the 1" wide wheels to be sufficient, or if there are any benefits in considering a wider 1.5" wheel. The WW lineup has both options, with about a $60 difference in price. Thanks!

Dan,

One inch works fine. One option you might look into is a "crowned" CBN wheel from TFWW. While I haven't tried one, one of my complaints about CBN wheels is not being able to put a slight crown on the wheel for freehand grinding. BTW, I have both CBN and low grit stone wheels for the low speed grinder and diamond, CBN, and the standard stone plus Japanese water stone for the Tormek. I've gone back to using the standard stone and the Japanese water stone on the Tormek for all but repair grinding.

ken

[Dan Grano]

Thanks so much, Ken. And I appreciate the tip on the crowned wheels from TFWW. I'll definitely check those out.

[Phil Mueller]

Dan, I have the one inch and it works well. I like to able to put the entire chisel edge on the wheel at one time without moving it back and forth and 1” covers pretty much every chisel width I have. I thought about the 1.5”, but even for plane irons I’d need to move it back and forth, so wasn’t worth the extra $ for me.

By the way, I do prefer the 180 grit over the 80 grit for hollow grinding. Just less to finish the edge.

[Derek Cohen]

Dan,

One inch works fine. One option you might look into is a "crowned" CBN wheel from TFWW. While I haven't tried one, one of my complaints about CBN wheels is not being able to put a slight crown on the wheel for freehand grinding. BTW, I have both CBN and low grit stone wheels for the low speed grinder and diamond, CBN, and the standard stone plus Japanese water stone for the Tormek. I've gone back to using the standard stone and the Japanese water stone on the Tormek for all but repair grinding.

ken

Ken, you may wish to revisit the early posts in this thread for Patrick's comments about a crowned wheel, which I support. Short version: stick to the flat face.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I’ve just begun to use my new Rikon 1/2 horse 8” grinder and an also brand new 180 grit CBN wheel.
I have a number of plane blades to straighten and also to refrind back to 25 deg. primary bevel. I’m using the Wolverine tool rest.
The 180 is fairly slow, and I had to scratch some parallel lines into the rest so I wouldn’t skew the blade unduly. Also, even though Rob Cosman touts the rest as a heat sink, it is easy to overheat the blade.
The other thing I wasn’t expecting was the relatively rough surface at the primary bevel as well as the undulating surface. I’m going to have to make a jig to keep the blade perpendicular to the wheel.

[David Silverson]

I have the Rikon 1 HP with the 80 and 180 wheels. I drew lines on the rest and that made it easy to freehand grind nice and square using the rest, I don't expect you'll need a jig. Love it and sold my Tormek.