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Best griding wheel for lathe tools

entoffice

Aluminum
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Location
new york
I have grey aluminum oxide wheels for grinding my lathe tools. I have been told that the white and ruby ones are much better. I would appreciate any comments. Thank You
 
I use a camel brown aluminum oxide wheel for the rough grinding of the lathe tools. Then i do the last bit of grinding on a green silicon-carbide wheel. I find that the silicon-carbide leaves a much better finish and will produce a mucher keener edge than A/O alone. But take it for what its worth - i'm essentially a newb ;)
 
Depends on what kind of tool you are grinding. HSS can use a low cost a/o wheel with adequate results. Go after you tools with a hone afterwards to make they really finish nice. Correct angles is the most important part.

The green silicon carbide wheels are better suited to harder carbide tools. Those wheels are soft so they provide more sharp cutting surface on hard materials, more expensive and wasteful on the wrong tools. The a/o wheels barely touch carbide tools.

Fine grit wheels like the white and ruby make a fine edge but generate a lot of heat that can quickly ruin a tool so use care on the fine wheels. A tool grinder with water drip is good if you dress tools a lot.

There are also diamond and CBN wheels that are basically extreemely hard materials bonded to a solid flat surface. Expensive but keep their flat shape longer and hold up to hard materials. Grits and finish still apply. Correct choice to tool being ground is also essential.
 
it's a compromise of hardness, bond , grit size and density.

hard , dense wheels last
a long time in some situations , but can load easily and must be dressed often. for dry
freehanded grinding of hss , they can burn the tool pretty fast.

the super soft toolgrinding wheels have an open structure = big spaces between the grits.
less bond.
they pretty much dress themselves. not the best choice for grinding weld undercuts
or sharpening that old mattock. fast rate of atrition , so expensive for the wrong purpose.
they are really nice for grinding drills and lathe tools . bench grinders are cheap when
compared to the cost of nice stones, so i have 2 . one for dirty ,ugly jobs , and 1 with
a soft wheel on one side and a s/c on the other. so i have 2 $20 wheels on a $60
jet grinder

you usually have to go to the right store to get the choice of wheel . if you go to
sears or the local hardware store , they MIGHT have 6" 8" and 80,120 grit stones.

msc or rutland will have every grade imaginable..so for tool grinding you might get
an A-80 grit with an H or i bond, or an A-60 with an L or M- for plow bolts and such.

there's a whole science to abrasives , grinding media, and such ,but to me
its mostly personal preference and habits. i prefer coarse wheels,
using a non-woven scotchbrite or beartex wheel for the final polish. a 120 grit wheel takes
forever and creates lots of heat.

a 4x36" stationary belt sander makes for swell
touch-ups on drills and for rounding the corners of endmills. it takes a very predictable
bite with each pass ,making easy results.

its not the color , but the bond that makes it cool cutting .some just happen to be white
or pink. a blue wheel with a similar composition should cut the same.
 








 
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