I need help deciding - CBN vs Oxide for sharpening HSS lathe tooling...?

benmychree said:
Have you ever had a wheel explode? In over 50 years in the trade, I never have, if you don't count accidents running into parts on the surface grinder, there, it was not so much explode as break.
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YES! My original Sears grinder wheel went on me. Good thing all the guards were in place. And it was not a new wheel. Scared the crap out of me. I used that same grinder for years afterwards but always with trepidation.

I changed to a belt sander because it is better for tool grinding for ALL the reasons I mentioned.
 
Used belt sanders are not expensive in my area. I paid $40 dollars for my used delta 2x42. I have spend another $20 or so on belts. The work horse is a 36 grit ceramic. Then 80 grit AO, 300 grit AO and I have a leather strop belt for finishing the edge on a knife.

I started grinding HSS freehand with my high speed 4 inch makita grinder. Those bits didn't work too well. Next came a dunlap 6" bench grinder. Big improvement over the makita but still a struggle. Next came the delta. No comparison to the bench grinder. With no practice whatsoever I was able to grind whatever shape or angle I wanted. Having truly sharp tool bits with the correct geometry increased my skill level more than anything else that I have done.

A bench grinder has its place in a shop. But I would get a belt sander before a bench grinder.
 
pontiac428 said:
I wouldn't prefer CBN for HSS at all. Too slow, too hot. Norton 32A (white) for general work and 32AA (purple) for cool, heavy removal. I do use CBN for carbide, though.
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Hello..
CBN running hot is the opposite of everything I read and seen... If you don't mind I would like to hear more about your experience with CBN.
 
mickri said:
Used belt sanders are not expensive in my area. I paid $40 dollars for my used delta 2x42. I have spend another $20 or so on belts. The work horse is a 36 grit ceramic. Then 80 grit AO, 300 grit AO and I have a leather strop belt for finishing the edge on a knife.

I started grinding HSS freehand with my high speed 4 inch makita grinder. Those bits didn't work too well. Next came a dunlap 6" bench grinder. Big improvement over the makita but still a struggle. Next came the delta. No comparison to the bench grinder. With no practice whatsoever I was able to grind whatever shape or angle I wanted. Having truly sharp tool bits with the correct geometry increased my skill level more than anything else that I have done.

A bench grinder has its place in a shop. But I would get a belt sander before a bench grinder.
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Hello sir...
Exactly what DELTA are we talking about here... Photo or Model # please, You have my attention...Thanks.
 
benmychree said:
Have you ever had a wheel explode? In over 50 years in the trade, I never have, if you don't count accidents running into parts on the surface grinder, there, it was not so much explode as break.
Click to expand...

Hello Sir..
I have never personally had a wheel break, but a few years ago on the news here in town there was a young man that was killed when a wheel fractured and penetrated his front forehead, Im guessing there were no safety guards in place like so many...
 
Aaron_W said:
I've been using the AO wheels that came on the grinder. They work well, but my plan is to eventually replace them with CBN.

I like the idea of a belt grinder but it seems unless you spend $1000+ that is a project. Either DIY from scratch or modify an existing $300-500 machine to make it suitable. Mikey has an older Craftsman that he likes but that one seems to be a unicorn, and very hard to find in the wild.
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Hello...
Would something like this not work if a CBN replaced the AO on this Grinder...? Link to grinder with a belt from Eastwood company 150.00

I would appreciate your feed back.. thanks.
 
I'll have to go home to see what grits my CBN wheels are, WoodTurnersWonder did the selection, one course one fine. I did not feel that it took any longer to touch up the angle I needed. My main shaping is done on a 2x48 Jet combo sander. Will had a great addition to improve the platen on his machine.
 
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