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surface grinding wheel recommendation hard and soft steel

Mcgyver

Diamond
Joined
Aug 5, 2005
Location
Toronto
hi,

I wanted to get two wheels for a little 6x12 norton manual surface grinder, one for putting a fine finish on soft steel and the same for hardened steel.

I was thinking of a Carborundum 32AR 60-I or H for the hardened steel and a 60-K for the soft. This is based on nothing more than the 60 seems to be recommended as a finer grit and to use a soft wheel for hard steel etc..... but i don't have a lot of experience in wheel picking so any guidance and recommendations for general purpose wheels is appreciated.

thanks
 
How fine a finish do you need? How much metal do you want to remove?

You might want to try a J wheel which can do either hard or soft if you're not sure what you like.

We would need more specific info to say a whole lot more.
 
rj, you're right, i guess 'fine' doesn't tell you much does it :D ok reading up on surface finishes, I don't have much context as to what any particular Ra or grade number looks like.....if i said I'd like to be able to get a finish like what i see on, say, a new Jacobs adapter - does that help? removing small amounts of material, a few thou at most, more likely less than than a thou, just finish grinding,

Its just for toolmaking for myself - no commercial standard i have to adhere to. I can try a couple of grits and see what i can get. How big a difference does wheel hardness make in going from soft to hard steel? With the wheel I've using, shown in other thread, I'd get a great finish in hard stuff and lousy, wavy, finish in mild steel so I'm thinking on my light little grinder wheel hardness is a big factor? I am using coolant and dress the wheel - I don't think the wavy look is an out of balance wheel as it only shows up in soft steels

if you worked mostly with steel could only take a few wheels to a desert island ....what would they be :)
 
try any grit any bond of 5SG Norton.....NORTON, not the made in USA.... the price will STING but I promise you will throw your other wheels away....
 
rj, you're right, i guess 'fine' doesn't tell you much does it :D ok reading up on surface finishes, I don't have much context as to what any particular Ra or grade number looks like.....if i said I'd like to be able to get a finish like what i see on, say, a new Jacobs adapter - does that help? removing small amounts of material, a few thou at most, more likely less than than a thou, just finish grinding,

Its just for toolmaking for myself - no commercial standard i have to adhere to. I can try a couple of grits and see what i can get. How big a difference does wheel hardness make in going from soft to hard steel? With the wheel I've using, shown in other thread, I'd get a great finish in hard stuff and lousy, wavy, finish in mild steel so I'm thinking on my light little grinder wheel hardness is a big factor? I am using coolant and dress the wheel - I don't think the wavy look is an out of balance wheel as it only shows up in soft steels

if you worked mostly with steel could only take a few wheels to a desert island ....what would they be :)

Like mrclean, I also prefer Norton wheels.

I doubt I'd be doing any grinding on a desert island..:D:D

If the wheel is not out of balance, a different finish on soft steel COULD signify either a bearing problem or a lack of stiffness in the machine. Those are often more noticeable on softer material as the higher pressure needed on harder material can tend to stabilize the setup. Not always, but sometimes.

Most chuck adapter finishes I've seen can be done easily with a 46 grit wheel.
 
I also use 5Sg wheels for just about all my grinding. Mostly cutting tools and hardened tool steels but use 5SG on a large surface grinder to grind large flat pieces of hot ot cold rolled.
 








 
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