CGW Grinding Wheels from Wholesale Tool - a Great find (value and performance)

[PurpLev]

After being frustrated with the factory wheels hat came with my PC 6" bench grinder (burning the HSS tooling and taking FOREVER to shape them) I decided I wanted something better. being in the age of the internet, I wasn't able to get a hands on experience on anything that on the market, and after doing some research decided to go with the CGW blue and white aluminum oxide wheels. I wanted an aluminum oxide wheel, and was looking for something that wouldn't break the bank and was able to find it on wttool.com (wholesale tool website) which had a good selection of grits at fair prices (as compared to other suppliers that either have a very limited grit selection, and/or high prices). I've seen these wheels (norton equivalent) go as high as 30-40 a wheel, but got them at about 15 each which is a considerable difference.

I ordered a 36 and 60 blue wheels, and a 120 white wheel (did not come in blue) thinking that if the 60 grit shapes quickly enough, I'll just have the 60, and 120 installed most of the time and leave the 36 to the 'if needed' moments. which as it happens - is what I ended up doing.

I've read on some places (amazon) that some suppliers ship the wheels loose in a large box, and they arrive chipped. wttool shipped the wheels packed separately as CGW packs them (tight and protected, individually), and all packed tightly in another box, needless to say, all wheels arrived intact:



I have a 6" grinder, with a 1/2" shaft. Another thing I've read on online reviews is that some wheels do not come with shaft reducers/adapters to fit on different sized shafts, and these are bored with a 1.25" holes. on the website it is not mentioned that they come with reducers, and I figured I'll just make some from UHMW, but to my surprise opening the box, they all came with telescoping reducers all the way down to 1/2":


I've never used any other grinders so my experience is very limited with wheels and all, but compared to the factory wheels these are night and day! I was able to form an HSS toolbit quickly (compared to my old wheels) and easily, without turning it too hot . with the factory wheels I would need to quench VERY frequently and it would still burn the edges, while with this wheels I can really grind it for some time before it heats up (I'm holding the HSS bit ~1" or less from the tip) so I am very pleased with the performance of these wheels especially for the price. I would recommend these to anyone looking for a replacement over the factory wheels of your grinder.

This bit was ground with the 60grit wheel only, I could get a better finish on it with the 120, but with a few strokes on a diamond stone, I don't think I need to bother with it:

 

[Tony Wells]

Good choices. Many new machinists think they need a fine wheel to get a sharp edge. True to a degree, but a coarse wheel will definitely get the shape faster and cooler. I keep a couple of bench grinders with different wheels to suit the job at hand. Sounds like you are on the right track. Some people also place too much importance on a razor sharp tool for roughing. Nonsense! It won't stay razor shop for 60 seconds, and actually the microscopic ragged edge will cut better anyway. Different story for finishing, but for roughing, a 36 grit wheel is good enough.

 

[jgedde]

Nice wheels. Thanks for the info. I like the fact that they come with 1.25" holes since I can use them on the surface grinder. I love wttool! I visited their showroom in Tampa a few months ago.... Had to check my bags going home as TSA wouldn't allow me to bring "mystery tools" on board the plane!

BTW: why are your hands and fingernails so clean? What kind of HSM are you anyway... :lmao:

Mine only seem to get clean after I wash the dog. This is after scrubbing!


Yech - I've seen old ball gloves that look better!

In all seriousness, I get endless flack from a mechanic friend of mine for not wearing gloves. He does, and his hands look like he just came from Wall Street... Then again, I can open any twist off beer bottle without any pain - he can't!!!! He just hands 'em to me... :nuts:

John

 

[Rbeckett]

I noticed them clean nails too. While I was still working my hands only looked that good once. I married my second wife and she demaded I get them fixed by a pro. Sure glad she's gone now... A diamond file and the correct angles for relief and edge and you can chip a lot of metal with great results. I used to whet stone mine, but just stopped after the finest file I had and called it good. They cut just as good as diamond honed store boughts, sometimes even better. The white wheel would also probably work better on a slower motor with a jig to really hone an edge, but thats another project. I saw a degree jig on one of the lathe sites that was perfect for that size tool. I'll look around and see if I can find it again if you would like.
Wheely

 

[PurpLev]

I love wttool! n

yeah, I like them too for certain things, they are sort of the underdog - not heard much about, but do have some good stuff out there.

BTW: why are your hands and fingernails so clean? What kind of HSM are you anyway... :lmao:

In all seriousness, I get endless flack from a mechanic friend of mine for not wearing gloves. He does, and his hands look like he just came from Wall Street... Then again, I can open any twist off beer bottle without any pain - he can't!!!! He just hands 'em to me... :nuts:

John

I noticed them clean nails too.
Wheely

guys - I used a professional hands model for the pictures... gotta make them look good (ok, I use orange mechanics soap to scrub after every machine session - I have youngsters at home and hands need to be clean)

I'm so glad to hear that It's not just my hands that end up being black after 'just a quick truing of the part...'

I just bought a low speed 8 inch grinder. It's a off brand and I got it cheap and used. It had the white oxide wheels. He threw in a fancy little dresser for it. The thing that I can't figure out is when I started it It shook real bad. It turns out the wheel was way out of round and I have no idea how it happened. The dresser looks like a old Bic razor. Now I got to get one. I think I'll check them out. Oh if anyone can give me a reason why the wheel has at least a 1/4 inch bump on I would like to know. I would prefer not to go through another wheel because of idiot factor.

I think I have the same diamong dresser. I am curious as to the 1/4" bump you mention and just how out-of-round your wheel is? got pics?

if you have a dresser, you can true up your current wheel - any reason why you didn't?

 

[Rbeckett]

Mac,
I have gotten some really out of round wheels from the factory, I think once you do a ring test and make sure the wheel is sound you can dress it right up in no time at all. If the wheel had been used, I would venture a guess that it had been abused, but if it is just new dust then ring test it and true it to your machine. Once you get it trued it should stay that way for a good long while. I know how you feel about a wheel flying apaty, been there got fragged a time or two and it is no fun at all. Once it passes the ring test, let it run a spell before you true it, then go to town and turn out some tool bits. Hope this helps.
Bob

 

[PurpLev]

good call on the ring test. an exploding wheel is a definite no-no :nono:

 

[PurpLev]

It passed the test; so I really have nothing to loose. Except an eye. Here goes nothing.

thats why you have 2 eyes... (spares).. jokes aside -be safe.

 

[PurpLev]

thats great news ... well, other than the lost finger to the dog that is - but you still have 9 more of those right?