CBN Wheel Recommendation

[Tony (Charleston WV)]

I'm thinking of getting a CBN wheel for basic work on chisels and planes (establishing and changing bevel angles, edge repair) now that prices seem to have come down a bit.  Joel has a few choices.    Any thoughts on profile (straight or crowned), size, grit?  I have an 8" (Delta) slow speed grinder that does 1750 RPM.

Thanks

[AHill]

Were it ceramic, I'd say crowned, since a crowned wheel keeps your tool cooler. But, CBN doesn't heat up a tool like ceramic does, so flat is better. For straight edged tools, you'll use more of the wheel when sharpening with a jig or platform vs. using a crowned wheel. I have a CBN wheel I use for my turning tools. I've tried it on chisels and blades. It's very aggressive. You have to be very light with your touch or risk grinding away a lot more steel than you'd like. In addition to grinding cool, one other advantage of the CBN wheels is that they come out of the box pretty much balanced. I highly recommend getting machined bushings for your wheel if you don't already have them. The wheel will run truer with less vibration / wobbling compared to the cheap plastic bushings that come with most grinders.

[Arlin Eastman]

Tony

I have a two CBNs of which they are either or both 180 or maybe 80 CBN of which someone gave me to sell. If you would like it just pm me for the info about the wheel and I will check see what both of them are make by and the grit.

I know for me I would like to find a 400g CBN to use on the other wheel and have a 180 on the other side.

[Derek Cohen]

Were it ceramic, I'd say crowned, since a crowned wheel keeps your tool cooler.  But, CBN doesn't heat up a tool like ceramic does, so flat is better.  For straight edged tools, you'll use more of the wheel when sharpening with a jig or platform vs. using a crowned wheel.  I have a CBN wheel I use for my turning tools.  I've tried it on chisels and blades.  It's very aggressive.  You have to be very light with your touch or risk grinding away a lot more steel than you'd like.  In addition to grinding cool, one other advantage of the CBN wheels is that they come out of the box pretty much balanced.  I highly recommend getting machined bushings for your wheel if you don't already have them.  The wheel will run truer with less vibration / wobbling compared to the cheap plastic bushings that come with most grinders.

I agree with Allan .... a flat wheel is preferred with the CBN. It is different to the composite wheels we have all used in the past.  CBN does not require surfacing. I would go so far as to suggest that a flat surface should be easier to grind a straight edge than a cambered face, because there is less registration in the latter. My set up is a 180 grit (used 90%) and an 80 grit (used 10%).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Alan S]

On a standard wheel the recommendation is to avoid grinding on the side of the wheel for safety.  I would presume that the CBN wheels with a flat grinding surface on the side would be quite useful, and have no risk of breaking apart.  Has anyone used one?

I'm thinking of something like the 4 in 1 wheels here:
http://woodturnerswonders.com/collection...cbn-wheels

[AHill]

On a standard wheel the recommendation is to avoid grinding on the side of the wheel for safety.  I would presume that the CBN wheels with a flat grinding surface on the side would be quite useful, and have no risk of breaking apart.  Has anyone used one?

I'm thinking of something like the 4 in 1 wheels here:
http://woodturnerswonders.com/collection...cbn-wheels

I don't have the 4-in-1 wheel, but I do have a radiused wheel.  I find the radius comes in very handy for my round nose scrapers and for some fingernail grinds on my turning tools.  I really don't see a need for the flat sides for grinding chisels and plane blades.