CBN Questions

[Bill Holt]

I am interested in CBN sharpening.  Never thought I would get to this point so never really paid any attention to the CBN posts. 

   1.  Isn't there a guy that sells CBNs that has a good reputation?
   2.  What do I need to avoid?
   3.  Is it ok to stay with the current course stone and use the CBN for the fine cut?

Looking to the brain trust for some guidance.

[Steve K]

I've been using a CBN for a couple years. It is a 180 grit and I got it from Dway tools. There are some good videos on the Dway website about using CBN wheels.  I know lots of people who have gotten their wheels from woodturner wonders and they have several different wheels and configurations. I believe there are also some videos on their website. My CBN does 100% of my sharpening and the only thing I use the coarse stone for is reshaping

https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/cbn-wheels

http://d-waytools.com/

[robo hippy]

I wrote this a couple of years ago, and probably should update it, but most is still current. Main thing I am 'different' on is which grits you need. I used to say 80 and 180 would do every thing you need. Now, I would say that if you are getting one wheel, get the 180. If you are going for 2 wheels, then the finer grit wheels may be in order. I get great burrs for my roughing cuts with scrapers from the 180 grit wheel. I have 600 and 1000 grit wheels which make excellent edges for fine finish cuts, especially on difficult woods, but those edges are not good for heavy roughing. Not sure about the 400 or 320 grit wheels. The difference between the D Way and Woodturner's Wonders wheels is that Dave'e are steel hubs, and Ken's are aluminum. For the steel hubs, you need a full 3/4 hp grinder (1 hp Rikon works fine), but smaller 1/2 hp grinders like the Rikon have to work pretty hard to spin the heavier wheels. 

http://www.robohippy.net/featured-article/

robo hippy

[Bob Atchison]

https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/cbn-wheels