Set Up a CBN Grinding Station

[ken hatch]

Reading about Derek's grinding station and rational for a dry sharpening system made me want to at least try the CBN wheel. I already use a Spyderco stone for my finishing stone unless I feel the job needs the Shaptons.

I decided to go the easy way and ordered a Tormek BGM-100 kit. The kit makes it easy, you just need the kit, a couple of hunks of ply, and about thirty minutes if you are old and slow to have a working grinding station.

[Michael Peet]

Looks good, Ken. I am thinking of a similar setup. Did you go for a 1" or 1-1/2" wheel?

Mike

[ken hatch]

Mike,

It is a 1" wheel. It's 120 grit and a little aggressive, I think I've going to go with a 220 grit wheel. I'll say this, it is fast and minimum heat while grinding. As to is it better than a T-7? We will see.

ken

[Michael Peet]

Thanks Ken. I was thinking of an 80 grit wheel. What's the downside of the aggressiveness, if I might ask?

[ken hatch]

Mike,

I'd like to go directly from the CBN wheel to the Spyderco and with the 120 wheel it's a little rough to do that. The 120 grit is fast I can't imagine needing 80 grit unless you are taking raw blanks to bevels. Maybe someone with CBN experience can jump in and give the real skinny.

ken

[Reinis Kanders]

I have 180 grit wheel and it seems to be fast enough and usually go to spyderco brown and then white stones afterwards. Sometimes I use diamonds instead. I am no expert, but it seems to work.

[Kees Heiden]

I am watching this with great interest. All that grit dust from my friable wheel can't be healthy indeed. But I wonder, diamond plates always start out very coars, then quickly loose that initial oohmp. Would something similar happen to these CBN wheels? I really need something coarse for all the restoration work I like to do. Anyone some long term experience with these wheels?

[Tom M King]

I've been using a 180 grit D-Way wheel for a little over a year on a high speed grinder, and it still cuts just as fast as it did the day I took it out of the box. I have no need for a coarser wheel. I still grind lawnmower blades on a friable wheel grinder, and don't do it often enough to justify the cost of a CBN wheel for that job. For chisels and irons, I can't imagine needing to cut any faster than my setup does. After grinding a bevel, I can go right the a 1,000 water stone, or a Washita oil stone.

[ken hatch]

I'm going to order a 170/220 grit wheel today, more once it arrives.