What's new
What's new

If you only had 5 surface grinding wheels, what would you choose.

dsergison

Diamond
Joined
Oct 23, 2003
Location
East Peoria, IL, USA
I've searched and read many threads here about wheel selection, but my head is swimming with the recomendations. I understand it's an art, but all I want is "generaly good finishes" on each material.

I have a nice Harig Super 6x12. It will take upto 8 inch wheels. I intend to stock no more than 5 wheel types. I will make up a laminated sheet of which to use for which application and keep it with them. I grind small stuff, infrequently, dry. I am used to grinding for stock removal with .001" downfeed and half a rev crossfeed. I think that is .05" per pass. I could mist cool if needed, I have a good vacuum dust collector.

and I do this so infrequently I wont ever learn by my own experimentation. thanks for rehashing this tired subject.

one for soft steel (a36, 1018 etc),
one for hardened (4140, A-2, O-1 etc..),
one for cast iron (123 blocks etc..),
one for 6061 aluminum,
one for 300 or any stainless
 
If you intend to do rudimentary tool sharpening, then I'd add a cup wheel and a diamond impregnated wheel (with its own dedicated wheel holder).
 
Don't forget having a thin one can be damn usefull at times. Surface grinders can grind in narrow slots too! A cut of type wheel can come in use full now and then too. I have played with finer grits but really its more down to the dress and feed methods - speeds that govern the true finish IMHO. Too fine is definitely very bad though!

That said 99% of everything i have ground has been with a al oxide white 46 grit wheel of either J or K hardness ( i can't notice a difference in use!). Recently i acquired some blue SG type wheels and there's one on there currently, they do indeed cut nicer than the plain al oxide wheel especially in snarly stainless (the difference is not as noticeable in plain mild steel). I do have a few green silicone carbide wheels, but normally ones on the end of the bench grinder for sharpening tig tungsten's. I have never had the need to surface grind anything other than steel, stainless or cast iron though.
 
As an apprentice we were told that if you know what you are doing, you can make almost any wheel do for any material and that specialized wheel selection was necessary for production work. But for that one piece, need it quick, use what's on the machine with exception of diamond or something equally specialized. Everything you listed can be ground with one wheel if you want to keep costs and inventory down.
The SG wheels are great for heavy stock removal and production work. Your description of your usage doesn't sound like that. You may not want to pay over $40.00 for a 71/2 inX1/2 inch wheel either. All of your ferrous materials could be ground easily with one wheel. The hardened steels will set the bar there. For those you will have to consider heat which will result in cracks in some hardened steels. A Norton 38A46I would do those nicely. Finer grits and harder bonds will result in more heat. If you want you could also grind the Aluminum and stainless with it but a silicon carbide would be more appropriate. Maybe Norton 86C46J .If you find yourself doing more grinding then you might be well advised to spend more for SG, CBNs and such. The 2 listed plus a resinoid diamond wheel for Carbides should do everything you need to do with breaking the bank.
 
thanks all. I'll get some of those wheels mentioned ordered. at least a Norton 86C46J, a Norton 38A46I, a Norton 5SG46J

one last bit. the type 5, why is it so popular to get a reduced center? is a 1/2" width considered kinda skinny. because I would have probably gotten 1/2" everything, but the type 5 seems to suggest a 1" width reduced center?

P.S. I've got some white cups and a diamond cup wheel for my Deckel SO. (which fit but are about 4" diameter.) haven't really used them yet
 
one last bit. the type 5, why is it so popular to get a reduced center? is a 1/2" width considered kinda skinny. because I would have probably gotten 1/2" everything, but the type 5 seems to suggest a 1" width reduced center?

I use a 1/2" wheel on my G&L 6x18 -- I thought that was considered nominal for an 8" wheel :scratchchin:

Regards.

Mike
 
I'd like to piggyback a question onto this thread. There was a mention of using the grinder for "heavy stock removal". Does it make sense to use a manual grinder like his and mine on HRS to remove mill scale? And if so, what DOC would make sense?
 
I am going to solve all your problems I just got about 1000 grinding wheels of all kinds and I want to sell them cheap some new some old I am thinking 2 new wheels and 4-5 used in a flat rate box for 10 bucks plus shipping. Now you can stock tons of wheels and not have to worry about the cost. Sorry for the hijacking.
 
SG dressers-Norton tries to sell these as a premium dresser. I cant say for sure but I think for single point it is a slightly larger diamond. They are colored gold as well so they must be better.....

For me I use 2 different grades of wheel for every thing from Inconel to tool steel to A-36 to aluminum.

Basically a SG wheel and then a pink 86A.

Since my standard wheel is 6" wide the big thing for me is different widths.

I have a VFD so I can play with my surface speed.

I always save a couple stub wheels for odd jobs where I need a super soft acting wheel.

Dont say you just want 5 because you will always get that job where you will need the 6th.

Just like saying oh this toolbox will be big enough.....
 
re:SG dresser.
Yeah, a few years back we had a Norton rep come to my workplace and put on a nice demo on the SG wheels and they really pushed the importance of their "special" dresser. I was doing carbide grinding at the time so I didn't have the chance to play with it much, but their insistence on the "special" dresser stuck with me.
 
don't forget about Raadiac wheels. I like their 8BP series just as well as Norton's 5sg. I use them universally on my surface grinders and rarely change them.
 
Radiac Stuff is good.

Right now their problem is with Tyrolite buying them out and getting rid of all their older good reps my new rep sucks.

So unfortunatly they dont get much of my biz.
 
Common problem, Cash. It's not how much these guys know or how much the customers love them, it's how much they are making. They gotta go.
The most honest sales presentation I guess I ever saw was a Kennametal rep. He said " anything I have, my competition has. Anything my competition has, I have. I will give you better service. I have to." So never be afraid to tell a rep " I want the equivalent of..." If he's worth a shit, he'll take care of you. So if a vender dumps on service, look for his real competition. Service.
 
I finally managed to get the clamp thingy off my new/old grinder (had to jury-rig a pin vise) and found that the installed wheel is a Norton 60I. Is this a good wheel for mostly low carbon steel? I also have a large collection of 32A and 80I wheels, plus 1 "ruby" that I think is super hard. Any help with material selection on these wheels?
 
"60I" doesn't say much. That is the grit size and hardness. You need the whole code line to really know what you have. 60 is probably as fine as you might ever need. Your "ruby" wheel is that color because it's dyed that color. Aluminum oxide is white in the pure state. If you list the full wheel codes we can help you.
 








 
Back
Top