Quick question for you hollow grinders...

[Winton Applegate]

screw in a plug

you know I think mine may even have a plug.

The tray on the Tormek makes much better sense.
The reason I didn't add a plug or use the one I may or maynot have is the amount of sediment that collects in the water troft. It still needs to be cleaned out regularly or I will wind up having to call a dredging company.

[Winton Applegate]

a great wheel if you want cool grinding, but it is messy

see there is another argument for a wet wheel
or
in my happy world a flat water stone.
I DON'T WANT TO BREATH THE GRIT comming off those highly friable stones.

[Winton Applegate]

PS: NEWS FLASH

I was just down in the laundry room / Tool Crib where I keep the blighter and my Delta does in deed have a factory plug. It is a very small, black, hex head, screw. I have never used it because of the need to get the sand out of the bottom. It isn't just a matter of draining. . . it would involve poring in rinse water and sloshing and then taking the plug out again. If I have to lift it to do all that I may as well more quickly dump it out rather than wait for that quite small hole to pass the sludge.

[Bob Jones]

Diamond dresser is at least as important as the wheel type. The grey wheels dressed often with a diamond dresser will be good, but the white wheels dressed often are better. The 3x is nice, but sheds particles fast. Coarse wheels (60x or lower) are great for tools that you will later hone anyway.

Diamond dresser
coarse wheel
crown the wheel slightly
very very soft touch.

This is what I do on my high speed 8in grinder and I don't burn O1 or A2.

[Jim Foster]

Since no one mentioned it (I don't think it was mentioned anyhow) The trick to using a gray wheel beyond the advice given is not to grind the blade to an edge. Get it square and close, but chances are if you grind to an edge, you'll burn the tool. Also, in the words of a woodworker I follow, if you burn an edge, just hone it and use it, you'll need to grind it again after you hone the hollow off. The first time I used a gray wheel, I burned the tool and spent way too much time grinding below the burn and then honing, so when I heard this advice years later, I thought it made sense.