Wheels for Grinder? Gee Whilickers. Which ones?

[Phil Mueller]

I bought the mega square CBNs from Woodturners Wonders. As Derek said, the washers may not be needed, but I figured for $7 why not. I have no idea if these wheels are any better than any other suppliers wheels, I’ve just had great customer service from Woodturners and wanted to purchase from them.

[Erich Weidner]

Another question. Does one need the guards with a CBN wheel? I see many of them are 1-1/2" wide which would mean the outer side guard plate could not be installed (I have the 1/2 HP low speed Rikon).

[Curt Putnam]

Another question. Does one need the guards with a CBN wheel? I see many of them are 1-1/2" wide which would mean the outer side guard plate could not be installed (I have the 1/2 HP low speed Rikon).

NO Guards are not needed because CBN wheels are made from a solid block of metal rather than compressed particles. They cannot blow up. The abrasive is electroplated onto either steel or aluminum

[Derek Cohen]

Another question. Does one need the guards with a CBN wheel? I see many of them are 1-1/2" wide which would mean the outer side guard plate could not be installed (I have the 1/2 HP low speed Rikon).

Erich, is that a 6” bench grinder. If so, 1/2 hp should be fine. If an 8”, it is only going to be a little low in power if you use two CBN wheels. One at 180 grit is enough anyway. The wheels are heavier than you expect, and it helps the motor to give the wheel a little push to create momentum.

As Curt mentioned, guards are unnecessary. Also, they get in the way if you are using an angle setter, such one from Tormek (which I use).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Phil Mueller]

I have a 8” 1/2 hp Rikon with two CBN wheels. It does take maybe a full 3-5 seconds to come up to speed. But once it does, works just fine.

[Erich Weidner]

Erich, is that a 6” bench grinder. If so, 1/2 hp should be fine. If an 8”, it is only going to be a little low in power if you use two CBN wheels.

I have the 1/2HP. sounds like I'll just start with the 180 and see where that takes me.

So now that the guard isn't needed... 1" or 1.5" wheel width?

Edit: It is an 8" grinder.

[Derek Cohen]

Go for 1 1/2 inches.

With friable wheels, it was always necessary to clean the face, and this also caused them to be uneven. Also, because these wheels created much more heat, they needed a delicate touch and, frankly, more technique to avoid burning an edge. The CBN wheels, while not foolproof, do not require that ultimate level of care. They never need dressing, and the faces are flat. You can push a blade into the wheel and it will grind evenly. Wider is now better.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Phil Mueller]

Another vote for 1 1/2”

[Erich Weidner]

I ordered a 1-1/2" from Woodturners Wonders. While waiting for it to arrive, I built a platform for the Wolverine jig, dressed the 120 grit whitestone and tried using it. Wow, blued the tip of the gouge in short order. (HSS so should be OK). Then burned my finger when I checked for temp too close to the edge (not a bad burn).

Anyway, wowsers lots of white dust produced. I am not a fan. Not at all.
I'm wondering what dust control options one has when grinding? My 1/2HP Rikon doesn't have dust ports. Given that industry uses dust collection for metalwork, I'm guessing I should be able to accomplish the same thing. Is it a matter of just having a dedicated shop vac for grinding? (So no wood dust/chips in the vac?)

I have a Fein I could dedicate, as after adding the Festool vac to my kit it has just been used as a general purpose shop vac.

[Phil Mueller]

Erich, you’re going to love the wheel you ordered. I’m not certain, but I believe you need to be careful of hot metal dust going into a dust collection system. I’ll let others who have experience in this be more specific, but I have had metal dust “glow”, and it would worry me having it go into a collector with wood dust.

[Erich Weidner]

Erich, you’re going to love the wheel you ordered. I’m not certain, but I believe you need to be careful of hot metal dust going into a dust collection system. I’ll let others who have experience in this be more specific, but I have had metal dust “glow”, and it would worry me having it go into a collector with wood dust.

Yeah, I'm not going to try it unless I'm certain it is safe. So far my googling has left me with the idea that "no" it isn't. Which kind of sucks. My other tools are pretty efficient at dust collection. Yet, explosion is something I don't wish to experience.

So, does everyone else just live with the grit and dust all over the place from using a grinder?

[Derek Cohen]

Erich, my 8" grinder is used without the guards. It throws dust downwards, and this collects on the worktop under the bench grinder .. only. Also, I only find iron filings, not abrasive wheel dust. It is usually easy to tell if there is metal dust in the air - one has wonderful black boogers to snort out! This does not occur in my experience, certainly not for the limited grinding I do ..... the interesting thing about a "good" grinding machine and technique is that the blades can need less grinding.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Joel Gelman]

I am working to setup a sharpening area and learn to significantly improve my sharpening skills. Based on some advice here, I purchased 80 and 180 CBN wheels from D-Way.
I also purchased a Tormek BGM-100 and a OneWay extra platform assembly. I am now changing out the wheels and will make a base to bolt on the oneway and Tormek tool supports.

Anyone have a thought as to which took support should be for the 80 vs 180 wheel?

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[Keegan Shields]

Joel,

For plane blades and chisels, I use the BGM-100 to rough out a hollow grind on the 80 grit wheel based on Derek’s method of hollow grinding then finishing on water stones.

The 220 builds up significantly more heat when removing a lot of material. I have it mainly for turning tools. Ultimately, I went with Tormek tool jigs and have a BGM-100 for each side. They really are awesome. Even the Tormek tool rest is great.

[Edward Weber]

I have a rare earth magnet mounted under the front of the wheel just to help catch the metal dust particles.