Freehand honing - 8" grinder OK or 6" better?

[Rick Schubert]

I am interested in trying to sharpen freehand like the recent article in FWW described. (July/Aug issue) The author recommends using a 6" bench grinder because the smaller the wheel, the deeper the hollow. I assume a deeper hollow is easier to balance on the stone during freehand honing.

I have a Woodcraft slow speed 8" grinder and am thinking about getting a Norton blue wheel. Or should I switch to a 6" grinder to make honing easier? Has anyone compared honing with a 6" hollow vs an 8" hollow? I wonder if the difference is noticeable??

Or am I being annal about the whole thing?

Thanks, Rick

[Joel Goodman]

Use what you have -- some folks will argue for 8", some for a 6" diameter wheel. Either will work. Also the thicker the blade the easier it is to freehand so start with your thickest blade to get the hang of it.

[Michael Sobik]

I've got an 8" bench grider that I use to set bevels and do rough profiling. I specifically got the larger size instead of the 6" because there's LESS of a hollow. Although in reality I doubt there's much of a difference. Also, I think you get a wider wheel with the 8" which is a little nicer for chisels and such since you can get the whole blade on the wheel at once.

[Frank Drew]

Unless the edge is nicked, I don't find much need to use a grinder on bench tools like chisels and plane blades. But turning tools, where you're using a grinder all the time, are different, and I prefer a larger wheel just because the hollow isn't so small.