What's new
What's new

Glendo Accu Finish diamond wheel alternatives

radiocontrolhead

Aluminum
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Picked up a Accu finish series II which i'm in love with and now I've come to a point where I want to order new wheels but before spending the serious coin on the original wheels i'd like to explore other cheaper alternatives.

Glendo sells aluminum wheel blanks that fit the machine and are well machined and true. Could I take the Chinese diamond lap discs found on ebay and attach them to the aluminum wheels for a much cheaper assembly?

Has anyone done this before and if so, what could be used to adhere the two discs together if anything is even needed at all?


lap discs on ebay

3X 6-inch Diamond Coated Flat Lap Wheel Jewelry Lapidary Polishing Grinding Disc | eBay

Aluminum wheel blank to fit accufinish

Aluminum Wheel Blank | Accu-Finish
 
Picked up a Accu finish series II which i'm in love with and now I've come to a point where I want to order new wheels but before spending the serious coin on the original wheels i'd like to explore other cheaper alternatives.

Glendo sells aluminum wheel blanks that fit the machine and are well machined and true. Could I take the Chinese diamond lap discs found on ebay and attach them to the aluminum wheels for a much cheaper assembly?

Has anyone done this before and if so, what could be used to adhere the two discs together if anything is even needed at all?


lap discs on ebay

3X 6-inch Diamond Coated Flat Lap Wheel Jewelry Lapidary Polishing Grinding Disc | eBay

Aluminum wheel blank to fit accufinish

Aluminum Wheel Blank | Accu-Finish

Assuming the grinder has a 1/2" center hole and 6" diameter, the flap discs will work. They are stiff enough to stand up to moderate grinding pressure even without a backer. The flap disc carrier seems to be flat enough by itself for the most part. The diamonds are embedded in the electroplate, and I yet to wear out one of those wheels. I have many of them, yet to find one that is a potato chip.

dee
;-D
 
Assuming the grinder has a 1/2" center hole and 6" diameter, the flap discs will work. They are stiff enough to stand up to moderate grinding pressure even without a backer. The flap disc carrier seems to be flat enough by itself for the most part. The diamonds are embedded in the electroplate, and I yet to wear out one of those wheels. I have many of them, yet to find one that is a potato chip.

dee
;-D

I'll have to check the center hole diameter. This is good to know. then maybe i'll only need one blank aluminum wheel that stays on the machine and only the discs will be interchangeable.
 
I've used two alternatives on a similar Glendo grinder. These are magnetically attached disks.

One is to machine cast iron backing plates (old frying pans) and use diamond paste. Works fine for final polishing.

The other to machine steel backing plates and use a high grade self-stick zirconium abrasive. These do well for initial shaping.

Spent the $$$ for an OEM diamond wheel as well -- 200 grit or so.
 
Picked up a Accu finish series II which i'm in love with and now I've come to a point where I want to order new wheels but before spending the serious coin on the original wheels i'd like to explore other cheaper alternatives.

Glendo sells aluminum wheel blanks that fit the machine and are well machined and true. Could I take the Chinese diamond lap discs found on ebay and attach them to the aluminum wheels for a much cheaper assembly?

Not really the same thing at all, nor for the same purpose, but there are tons of these out there, in several varieties, too, and they can do "something" useful on that spindle that expands its utility for your small space:

5'' 125mm 12� - 24� Grit Cup Shape Diamond Grinding Wheel For Carbide Metal | eBay

You may want to make-up several bushings, some in inch/mm.
 
Note that some sellers now have 5" lapping disks. That will save you having to cut the disks down. Turn the aluminum plate to leave a 1/2" hub (only need .030 or so) to locate the disk and bore a couple of holes and loctite in some magnets. It makes for quick and easy changeovers.

I did that with my old Grind-r-lap and it works a treat.

bob
 
Thanks all for the suggestions.

I've been gearing up to go full carbide and have Sandvik inserts in the mail. I think i'll just end up buying 3 legit wheels (rough, 600, 1200)knowing they'll last me forever instead of trying to half ass it. I figured i'm pretty much committed at this point. next on the list would be a power scraper... ugh oh.
 
Radiocontrolhead: Many people make the mistake in assuming that the Sandvik blades are ready right out of the box. This is not true, since they're ground with an extremely large radius and you need to reshape them to the correct curvature and angle. This translates to a lot of grinding, especially for 60mm and shorter radiuses.

Probably, it's worth investing very few bucks buying a couple of rough (80-150 grit) lapidary disks to take care of most of removing most of the material.

Paolo
 
No. It runs at about 60rpm, so going to have extreme difficulty to get steel up to a temperature high enough to dissolve carbon.

Especially since you are supposed to use a water spray with a little bit os soap in the water to let it "stick". Keep the wheel wet as you use it and there will be no issue at all.

I picked one up years ago, and it is the best. Mine is very old, the company tried to tell me they never made it, but it is obviously pre-series 1, but definitely a Glendo product. I have several wheels for it and none have worn out yet. Not sure you need to worry about wear.
 
Radiocontrolhead: Many people make the mistake in assuming that the Sandvik blades are ready right out of the box. This is not true, since they're ground with an extremely large radius and you need to reshape them to the correct curvature and angle. This translates to a lot of grinding, especially for 60mm and shorter radiuses.

Probably, it's worth investing very few bucks buying a couple of rough (80-150 grit) lapidary disks to take care of most of removing most of the material.

Paolo

i reground quite a few of them on 400 grit, but 150 would be a bit faster.


dee
;-D
 
Radiocontrolhead: Many people make the mistake in assuming that the Sandvik blades are ready right out of the box. This is not true, since they're ground with an extremely large radius and you need to reshape them to the correct curvature and angle. This translates to a lot of grinding, especially for 60mm and shorter radiuses.

Probably, it's worth investing very few bucks buying a couple of rough (80-150 grit) lapidary disks to take care of most of removing most of the material.

Paolo

Yep, I knew ahead of time about having to reshape them which was going to be another challenge. My understanding is that using a green wheel (silicone carbide?) to rough shape an insert to the correct radius is the fastest method.

Can the Glendo actually do rough shaping in lieu of a bench grinder/green wheel without taking forever? Have you done so successfully?
 
Radiocontrolhead: Many people make the mistake in assuming that the Sandvik blades are ready right out of the box. This is not true, since they're ground with an extremely large radius and you need to reshape them to the correct curvature and angle. This translates to a lot of grinding, especially for 60mm and shorter radiuses.
"Some" grinding needed, probably.

But I thot that in another thread - or more than one thread - the issue with the Sandviks showing up most often at good prices was that they were factory-ground to too SMALL a radius?

Eg 15, 20, 30 mm, way less than 60 mm.

Mind -Sandvik makes a LOT of stock radii, so perhaps the "remaindermen" are getting only the leftovers / slow-mover extremes at BOTH ends of the useful range?

2CW I'm not even a "rookie" scraper, after all...
 
"Some" grinding needed, probably.

But I thot that in another thread - or more than one thread - the issue with the Sandviks showing up most often at good prices was that they were factory-ground to too SMALL a radius?

Eg 15, 20, 30 mm, way less than 60 mm.

Mind -Sandvik makes a LOT of stock radii, so perhaps the "remaindermen" are getting only the leftovers / slow-mover extremes at BOTH ends of the useful range?

2CW I'm not even a "rookie" scraper, after all...

I picked up a 5 pack of 25-20s for 40 bucks brand new on ebay. I'll report back with what the radii are on these inserts since each insert wasn't pictured on the listing. Hopefully they aren't less than 40mm which was what i was going after with the 20mm width.

I also picked up some 25-25s but NOT at that great price, but was able to verify the radii on each insert and they all looked very very large requiring a reshape.
 
I picked up a 5 pack of 25-20s for 40 bucks brand new on ebay. I'll report back with what the radii are on these inserts since each insert wasn't pictured on the listing. Hopefully they aren't less than 40mm which was what i was going after with the 20mm width.

I also picked up some 25-25s but NOT at that great price, but was able to verify the radii on each insert and they all looked very very large requiring a reshape.

The "real issue", then may simply be my not grokking Sandviks' SKU coding scheme.

I ass u me'ed it contained radius in mm and never bothered to measure - given that I'm not active at using them anyway.
 
Yep, I knew ahead of time about having to reshape them which was going to be another challenge. My understanding is that using a green wheel (silicone carbide?) to rough shape an insert to the correct radius is the fastest method.

Can the Glendo actually do rough shaping in lieu of a bench grinder/green wheel without taking forever? Have you done so successfully?

In my opinion, don't waste money on a silicon carbide wheel, if it is just for reshaping these carbide blades: the wheel wears out pretty fast and makes a lot of mess (if you really want to try it, do it outside). You're much better off with ~150 grit diamond wheels and/or lapidary disks.

Silicon carbide wheels excel when you're grinding steel and carbide at the same time (e.g. shaping a brazed-carbide tool bit).

thermite said:
...But I thot that in another thread - or more than one thread - the issue with the Sandviks showing up most often at good prices was that they were factory-ground to too SMALL a radius?

Eg 15, 20, 30 mm, way less than 60 mm.

Mind -Sandvik makes a LOT of stock radii, so perhaps the "remaindermen" are getting only the leftovers / slow-mover extremes at BOTH ends of the useful range?
...
Bill,
At least on eBay, I've never seen any of these blades sold directly by Sandvik ground to any specific radius. I believe Dapra does, likely starting from Sandvik blades.

Paolo
 
Why waste time continually bringing up this subject. It comes up once a year it seems. (I was thinking that some of these dumb questions are from fake members who were banned and come back with new names) Back in 2015, I had BIAX Germany get me the contact info for Sanvik Poland and Sanvik USA who supplies Biax with Carbide for their inserts. I wrote Sanvik Poland and they told me they grind the blades to 150 radius because they do not know what the customer is going to scrape. I suggest and teach to buy a diamond Chinese Ebay disk or Glendo wheel 260 grit for roughing, 600 grit for finish and 1200 for super sharp finish. Go to post 60 and 61 on this old thread. I think some keep bringing up this subject to try to show how smart they are. And the old timers (bugs) try to answer to look like they know WTF they are talking about but are just showing experience scrapers like Paolo and I how dumb they are. Green wheels are to coarse and leave nicks in the blades, diamond wheels or these Chinese wheels are the best way to go. Also don't waste your time with a hand diamond lap file as I have seen several claim how great they work toss them in the garbage after they use a lapper machine they built or bought!
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...on/sandvik-scrapers-blades-306093/index4.html
 
Last edited:
Bill,
At least on eBay, I've never seen any of these blades sold directly by Sandvik ground to any specific radius.

Thanks, Paolo

I had more than one SKU, still in the dispenser pak, but hadn't even looked at the radius.

A bit of Google fu just now, and I find that Phil had covered that sometime after I put these in the drawer and went off to other tasking.

The length and width of the blank is what is different and embedded in the SKU number, not the radius.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...raper-inserts-324908-post2829467/#post2829467

Extract:
620-2530 would be rectangular'ish, 25 x 30mm nominal. A 620-2525 would be 25 x 25mm.
 








 
Back
Top