Thread: Getting started with grinder for tool sharpening

Just get a very coarse wheel - if you have a wheel dresser, it doesn't need to be anything specific. I'm thinking like 36-46 grit (I have a 24 on a larger grinder and it still does a tidy job refreshing a hollow grind - that's a high speed 8" grinder, though, and the coarseness helps prevent burning).

In terms of rests ,whatever works. If the grinder doesn't have a two-piece rest, then getting something that works well and is predictable (i'm assuming the veritas style rest corresponds with bolting both the grinder and the rest down).

T shaped dresser is the easiest type to use (and cheap)- not a domestic high priced industrial one, but just one from china for about $15 aud (they are as cheap as $7 here on amazon).

I have one that I bought about 10 or 12 years ago and it's still the same one and still contours and cleans wheels just fine - never wore out (I do a fair amount of this).

No need to consider CBN at this point, and I tend to use the 24 grit coarse wheel instead of a mostly worn out 80 grit cbn wheel at this point as the coarse primitive wheel is faster. CBN is good stuff, but you don't need to dive in that far off the bat and having a standard wheel allows you to grind annealed steel, etc, if you need to make something.

Grinding can be inexpensive and very effective as long as you have a rest you can tolerate and a wheel that isn't too fine (wheels like 120 grit white wheels make a ton of heat - coarse and cheap is better).

IMO Avoid the $50 universal tool rest the local wood working stores sell. The angle setting part is just ok but the blade ‘holder’ is awful to slide side to side as the groove fills up with gunk and it doesn’t really hold the blade at all so it can still wander around. Just been using it today and was frustrated…

I got this one

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0049RD9YO/

I agree with just getting a sturdy rest at the start.

An option is to buy the Tormek bench grinder mounting system and then use the Tormek jigs. To be honest I found that to be a substantial project.

An advantage in the basic setup with a friable wheel that my experience has made painfully obvious to me, is that if you can true the wheel to the rest with a cheap diamond dresser, that is orders of magnitude easier than squaring up the Tormek jig system to a grinder (where you have to square both vertically and horizontally).

Originally Posted by yoboseyo

I have been using stones to sharpen plane irons and chisels but it's getting to the point I have to grind the primary bevels now. I have gotten a used Abbott and Ashby 150mm grinder. What do I need to get started grinding?

What I have on my shopping list so far:

• Tool rest (found one on Amazon that looks similar to the Veritas one that includes the jig)
• Grinding wheel - which one should I get? Just go by colour (white ones seem to be common)? Specific brand?
• Diamond dressing tool

Anything else?

I found a bunch of affordable CBN wheels on Aliexpress. Buyer beware/too good to be true?

D150*25.4*25mm CBN electroplated diamond wheel,Electroplated grinding disc,|Abrasive Tools| - AliExpress

Originally Posted by yoboseyo

I found a bunch of affordable CBN wheels on Aliexpress. Buyer beware/too good to be true?

D150*25.4*25mm CBN electroplated diamond wheel,Electroplated grinding disc,|Abrasive Tools| - AliExpress

Putting aside whether you need a CBN wheel for the sharpening needs you have identified, with these abrasive products from AliExpress you just have to take the risk and accept the loss if it doesn't meet your expectation. Returning products that you are not satisfied with is not as easy as it is when you are dealing with a local retailer. I have bought some products (not the CBN wheels) in this way via AliExpress and have been happy enough with what I got for the price.

That particular AliExpress seller (Boomking) has been selling since 2012 and has a 100% positive feedback rating. They are unlikely to jeopardise that rating with a dodgy product.


Keep in mind that when we buy from a retailer here in Australia they have done the quality assurance process for us by testing samples of the product for quality and consistency and only offering what has met their standards. On top of that they then have extra import costs. Thus the premium they need to charge us.

Buying via AliExpress is a DIY way of buying gear that can save you $s, but you take more of a risk than buying from a local retailer. If you want ease of mind, faster delivery and after sales service then fork out the extra $s and buy from a local retailer.

PS - check the bore size on that 150mm wheel as it is not clear from the image/dimensions if it is 25mm or something else. You will also need an adaptor for it if your shaft size is smaller than that.

I got a flat steel CBN wheel from ebay, but same thing as on aliexpress (I think same seller). It was $50 with shipping to the US from china and it works fine.

The one thing I've noticed with both CBN wheels, and more because I make a lot of tools, is that it slows down a lot and then stays working slow a long time (a lot like a diamond hone). But slow is all you need refreshing hollows. Both of my CBN wheels (a "good" one and the aliexpress/ebay cheapie) are slower than a 24 grit gray wheel that's refreshed, and both make more heat, but 24 grit wheels do wear kind of fast (Even the hard ones). I'd imagine CBN is a better go for folks who just want to refresh hollows.

I've bought a bunch of stuff from aliexpress and another site....almost escaped my mind. DHGate...may no longer be open. I had some custom guitars made in china and that's a dicey gamble. One sent me a counterfeit fender with decals and all (I requested a similar style and not counterfeit, but I think the seller was just getting counterfeits and figured I wouldn't return it. The guitar turned out to actually be defective and the seller told me repeatedly he was sending another, but never did. It was defective in a stupid way - the strings went over the edge of the frets on the high side - not a cosmetic issue, but a pure unsolvable defect that made it unplayable).

Another guitar was supposed to be cocobolo neck and spalt top with high output pickups (I paid a fair amount for it for what it was). The top wasn't a drop top, it was just cheap thin veneer, the neck was mahogany stained very dark and coated with a thick layer of finish to try to hide that it wasn't cocobolo and I had to fight tooth and nail to get a partial refund. The sellers will offer "you have refund offer, just send guitar back". Our shipping from the US and theirs don't line up - you can get a refund and be out $300 shipping.

All of the mass produced goods that I ever got off of either site, though, even if lacking in quality, were what they said they were. I wouldn't buy any of the sharpening stones, though - the synthetics I got before I stopped buying synthetic stones were chalky and soft and pretty worthless. They were almost good, but that's not the same as good.

Nothing wrong with the $50 CBNwheel that I got, though - except it said it was aluminum and it's steel (so it's heavy). That's the kind of thing that happens - and the listing was unclear - it claimed to be a diamond wheel in parts and CBN in others. Fortunately, it's cBN (Diamond wouldn't hold up at high speed).

I made an MDF base to mount the grinder and the tool rest today. I ran into an issue where the wheel guard has a non-detachable bit sticking out of it where the stock tool rest sits, that's preventing the new base mounted tool rest to go in place. I'm wondering whether the wheel guard is necessary, as I can remove the whole thing instead of cutting off the protruding bit.

20210926_180134.jpg

This is the tool rest I got. My issues with it is that the sliding jig is designed to clamp the blade in place. I don't know why you would ever want to do that - you want to be able to move it deeper, but keep it square. And that's what it doesn't do - keep it square. So I don't know whether to use the jig or not. Is it important to keep it square? Either way, I don't see the point of the jig

20210926_180119.jpg

Originally Posted by yoboseyo

I'm wondering whether the wheel guard is necessary, as I can remove the whole thing instead of cutting off the protruding bit.

20210926_180134.jpg

I would definitely retain the guard with a that type of grinding wheel.

Yes, cut off the protruding bit now that you have the new tool rest.

Howdy,

I'm getting a lot of vibrations coming from the grinder.

Did I not install the wheel properly? The wheel came with multiple bushings and I'm using all of them to reduce it down to the 12mm shaft.

Is this with a friable wheel with plastic bushings?

If so, a couple of quick tips for balancing the wheel...

1. Mark wheel rotation location in comparison to the cupped washer.

2. Iterate the relative rotation of the washers and the wheel. Eg. Without spinning the cupped washers, lightly spin the wheel eg. 1/5 rotation, tighten the nut and see if the vibration is reduced. Rinse and repeat - Could also spin only one washer at a time.

3. If there is still vibration, some people place a small strip of blotting paper on various spots on the wheel. Test after each piece.

Here is a detailed article: Tuning Up a Bench Grinder - Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To

I think a way to test for balance is to manually spin the grinding wheel. It should ideally stop at a different location each time. It may be better to balance one wheel first and then the other.

Originally Posted by yoboseyo

Howdy,

I'm getting a lot of vibrations coming from the grinder.

Did I not install the wheel properly? The wheel came with multiple bushings and I'm using all of them to reduce it down to the 12mm shaft.

If it is a new CBN wheel I would be very surprised if it is the wheel itself that is out of balance.

I assume that the grinder was running vibration free with its previous wheels, so not a grinder or (bent) shaft issue.

That leaves the bushing as a source of the vibration. With the grinder turned off and the new wheels installed with the supplied bushing, is there any side to side lateral play or runout?

To test for axial runout (wobble), clamp something to your new tool rest that almost touches the side of the wheel and rotate the wheel by hand to get a reading with verniers (or a dial indicator would be even better if you had access to one of those) at four quadrant points.

To test for radial runout, bring your new tool rest almost up in contact with the grinding surface and rotate the wheel by hand to get a reading with verniers (between tool rest and grinding surface) at four quadrant points.

Did they give you the right bushing for your 1/2" (12.7mm) shaft. The bushing should be a firm push fit.

Originally Posted by NeilS

If it is a new CBN wheel I would be very surprised if it is the wheel itself that is out of balance.

It's a friable wheel, not a CBN wheel.

The supplied bushings are a firm fit, but there may be a bit of runout - I haven't measured very accurately yet.

I had to use pliers to take the bushings off the shaft for the previous wheel. I hope I didn't bend the shaft doing that.

I have reinstalled the wheel again in case I did it badly last time. It still vibrates enough that I can't leave something on the grinder, but not so much that everything on the bench falls off.

I managed to grind the primary bevel on a couple of irons. I didn't do a very precise job, but I'm going to sharpen the secondary using water stones, so hopefully it's sufficient

20211004_184018.jpg
Does the small amount of browning mean that I ruined the temper, or will it clean up after I put the secondary bevel on?

I was careful to not overheat it, making sure the blade was always not too hot to the touch after every pass, but the edge browned quite easily to any overexposure