Grinder recommendations for tool sharpening

[fishingreg]

Hello,

I am just getting my feet wet and I have a couple of tools that are HSS that need sharpening. I have been given some good advice on here on the process of sharpening and the angle and such. My issue is, all I own right now is an old 8" bench grinder. I have bought a Norton white wheel which has plastic bushings to get down to the 5/8" arbor and it is horrible. When I put the tool to it, I feel like a machine gun operator (prior service, shot plenty of machine guns) I don't care for my grinder to feel like that. I am thinking that can not work very well for sharpening. I then bought another white wheel that is solid down to the arbor and while it is much better, it still is not what I would call smooth or good. It still has a lot of bounce. I am not looking to spend $600 on a sharpener and I want to focus what little time I have on learning my lathe not building a tool grinder. If I stopped learning how to turn, face, and thread so I could learn the art of tool grinding and building all the supporting items to a lathe, I might as well sell the lathe, there would be no time left to use it. That day will come but not today.

Are there any suggestions for either a bench grinder that runs smooth or a belt sander or anything that is turn key that someone recommends? I don't mind spending a couple hundred on something that will work well but I'm only sharpening a couple tools right now and some of these are outrageous in price. I would like something if at all possible with an adjustable tool rest so I can set the angle and not free hand it quite so much but if not, I would settle for anything that is not bouncing all over the stone when trying to sharpen it.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[mmcmdl]

Sounds like you're using a carborundum stick to dress the wheel ? Norbide stick ? Get yourself a wheel dresser and see if it helps out . Maybe try a 32A-46 Norton wheel .

HFS(R) Dresser For Bench Grinding Wheels, 10-1/2-Inch | eBay

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Funny you brought this up , I just sold my 8" and kept my 6" grinder . My lathes are quite a bit smaller now than they used to be .

 

[T Bredehoft]

I would settle for anything that is not bouncing all over the stone when trying to sharpen it.

Bouncing is due to the wheel (either one or both) being 'way out of balance. I found that I had not tightened the nuts enough, the wheels kept moving after I'd dressed them. I really cranked known on the nuts, dressed the wheels until they stopped bouncing. It took a lot of wheel. Next time I'll static balance them before starting up.

 

[fishingreg]

Sounds like you're using a carborundum stick to dress the wheel ? Norbide stick ? Get yourself a wheel dresser and see if it helps out . Maybe try a 32A-46 Norton wheel .

HFS(R) Dresser For Bench Grinding Wheels, 10-1/2-Inch | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for HFS(R) Dresser For Bench Grinding Wheels, 10-1/2-Inch at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Funny you brought this up , I just sold my 8" and kept my 6" grinder . My lathes are quite a bit smaller now than they used to be .

Good question, I might have forgotten to mention I am new at this..... J/K.. I am using the rectangular gray stone looking thing my chain saw sharpener came with to dress the thin pink wheels it has. And actually it is I think more to shape the wheels to a certain round end. Not sure but it works great for that... I have no idea what it is called but I can say with confidence it is nothing like that long item you mentioned above. I would not even know which way to hold that to use it but what I am taking from this is if I dress both wheels correctly it will smooth out the unevenness and it should run smooth? I have never dressed the other wheel, it has all kinds of grooves in it from me grinding metal that I am welding on.. That would make sense I suppose. Thanks and I will try one of those dressers if they work well.

 

[fishingreg]

Bouncing is due to the wheel (either one or both) being 'way out of balance. I found that I had not tightened the nuts enough, the wheels kept moving after I'd dressed them. I really cranked known on the nuts, dressed the wheels until they stopped bouncing. It took a lot of wheel. Next time I'll static balance them before starting up.

The nuts are plenty tight but after reading about dressing the wheels, I suspect the wheel I am not using is very out of balance, I have never dressed it and I pretty roughly grind metal on it to shape the metal and it has groves all in it.

 

[f350ca]

You don't need white wheels for HSS, the white Aluminum Oxide wheels cut cooler and are great for High Carbon wood working tools, but they wear quickly, to stay sharp. The grey Silicon Carbide wheels that were probably on your grinder are beter suited to HSS which is relatively unaffected by heat, till you get it red hot. Both need dressed to clean the face and run true.

Greg

 

[fishingreg]

You don't need white wheels for HSS, the white Aluminum Oxide wheels cut cooler and are great for High Carbon wood working tools, but they wear quickly, to stay sharp. The grey Silicon Carbide wheels that were probably on your grinder are beter suited to HSS which is relatively unaffected by heat, till you get it red hot. Both need dressed to clean the face and run true.

Greg

Thanks and currently that’s where my issues lie is getting it to run true. I ordered a dressing tool which I assume I just kind of grind on it until it’s smooth and hopefully running smooth. I’ll update after that.

 

[benmychree]

Either grey or white wheels will preform adequately if they are the right hardness and grit size, I had a Delta pedestal grinder that I bought used about 20 or 25 years ago, and used daily, it still has the wheels on it that came with it.

 

[mickri]

My vote is to get a belt sander. I am still a newbie at this even though I have had my lathe for over a year. I started trying to shape tool bits with a hand held makita high speed 4" grinder. Not good. Moved up to a 6" bench grinder. A lot better but still not easy to get the right angles. Then I picked up a 1x42 belt sander in a thrift store for $40. Wow is all I can say. With the tilt table and an adjustable square I was able to grind any angle that I wanted. Do yourself a favor and get a belt sander. Your tool bits will come out better in a fraction of the time. Here is a link to how I grind tool bits on my belt sander. https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...ing-hss-lathe-tools.62111/page-33#post-654305

 

[Richard King 2]

when I used to grind HSS bits Ilearned early on I needed a grey wheel for roughing and a white wheel for finish and making a chip breaker, Then I bought a Baldor angle table grinder for carbide and a green wheel on one side and a diamond on the other. I also like Benmy (John). Also when grinding HSS wet it or cool it in water ever 5 seconds. if the get blue you just screwed yourself. Another thing now-a-days is a 300 RPM Glendo Accu-finish lapper with diamond wheels. I sharpen HSS steel on mine all the time. Slow diamonds don't plug the way the do on 3450 rpm wheels. I figure john has forgot more about grinding bits the many of us have ever know. He could be teaching machining in a Tech college in my opinion.