another use for CBN wheel

[John K Jordan]

I occasionally grind off the point of a hypodermic syringe needle to make a precision oiler. This is a pain with a file, a mess with a grinding wheel that is too coarse, and trouble to get out the Dremel with a fine cut-off wheel. Regardless, it would then need time with the diamond hone or stone to smooth the tip.

Today I tried the CBN wheel for this - wow, about 10 seconds and it was done, clean and smooth with no burrs. This was easier and quicker than other methods.

This one was for a little TriFlow with teflon to lube shafts on some optical equipment.
oiler.jpg

If you work with miniature mechanical things or just need to get a tiny drop of oil in a tight spot and haven't used a syringe for this it might be worth a try.

Note, certain oils may eventually degrade the rubber plunger tip in disposable syringes which is why the better oilers I use have a glass body and plunger. I'll throw this one away after a bit. (There are hundreds more in my medical cabinet in the barn.)

JKJ

[Tom Stenzel]

+1 on using hypodermic needles for oilers. When I worked in instrumentation they were invaluable for inking the capillaries in chart recorders. Well, before the world went paperless anyway.

No CBN wheels here, I blunted the needles the Dremel and stone way and it does take some time. Still, I'll keep in mind that CBN wheel can grind and leave the surface really clean. That might be helpful for other projects that pop up.

Thanks for the tip .

-Tom

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

I use them occasionally when I need a tiny drop of CA glue.

[Kev Williams]

I don't have (or want!) access to syringes, so I buy these things--
needlebottles.jpg

From left- alcohol, more alcohol (once used for white paint), black paint, thread cutting oil, water soluble machining oil, and the 2 smallest are used for acrylic glue and enamel thinner. I have others with acetone, xylene, and mineral spirits, among other things.

I get them from Regional Supply, they're only a few bucks, come in different sizes and different tube sizes, and they come with caps. I only wish I could get them with longer tubes! (and that's where syringes would come in handy)

[John K Jordan]

Those bottles look great! They appear to be standard hypodermic needles (unsharpened) twisted onto a lid made to fit. I found Regional Supply and these bottles are only a couple of bucks each - I'm going to order some. If the needle will come off the lid I could use any size needle. I see they use 18 to 23 gauge; most of my needles are smaller, 26 gauge and up.

Have you seen the tiny plastic capillary tips made to fit CA glue bottles? I use them all the time in woodturning to control where the glue goes.

I first saw hypodermic oilers in the mid 50s when visiting an uncle who was a watch and clock repairman. I have some with fairly big needles for dispensing grease.

BTW, I keep a lot of medical things like syringes for animal care. Over the last several weeks I had to give four shots of antibiotic to a friend's llama. They don't like that.

JKJ

[Tony Zona]

A fisherman friend wanted a hypodermic needle and syringe to inflate worms. Honest.

Nobody I checked would hand out a hypodermic and syringe without a prescription. Nobody had any spares or seconds to hand out.

Where red do you get them?

[John K Jordan]

Nobody I checked would hand out a hypodermic and syringe without a prescription. Nobody had any spares or seconds to hand out. Where red do you get them?

Hypodermic syringes and needles are available at any farm store, farmer's co-op, etc, no prescription needed. These stores sell medicines such as ivermectin which is given by injection so they always carry the syringes. Whether they will sell them to you if they don't know you is up to them. A clerk told me of one guy who comes in and buys a couple every friday...

I bought syringes from this animal products supply company, no prescription needed. Search for "syringe". They are very inexpensive by the box. I bought extra boxes to give to other farmers and to use in the llama rescue organization where I volunteer.
https://www.llamaproducts.com

I also have a bunch a woman gave me when their physican's business was closed. I have others other farmers gave me. And I still have a box I left over from self-administered allergy shots 30-40 years ago; I bought those at a local drug store. (The doctor also gave me a bottle of adrenaline in case I had a life-threatening reaction - I don't think this is common practice these days!!)

We hypodermic syringes to give animals shots for illness, annual vaccinations, dewormers, and to administer oral medicines (with the needles removed.) The very large syringes are great to administer medication in paste form. You can't give a spoon full of medicine to an animal!

Syringes are also good for injecting acetone into the edge of double-sided tape when removing a turned blank from a faceplate to accelerate the release.

JKJ

[Ole Anderson]

And I still have a box I left over from self-administered allergy shots 30-40 years ago; I bought those at a local drug store. (The doctor also gave me a bottle of adrenaline in case I had a life-threatening reaction - I don't think this is common practice these days!!)

And insulin to animals, like our diabetic Westy years ago. And a previous allergist of mine required his patients to have an EpiPen (basically adrenaline) with them when thy came to get their shots.

And is someone going to make me look up CBN on Google?

[John K Jordan]

And is someone going to make me look up CBN on Google?

Gads, the horror, NO!
It's a new reality show.

CBN is Cubic Boron Nitride
Almost as hard as diamond, it is reportedly better than diamond for many abrasive uses.
"it is softer than diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride
I was told that diamond will actually react with carbon in steels on a molecular level and degrade over time. I have not researched this myself.

The bits are electroplated onto a machined steel or aluminum wheel that will fit into a standard bench grinder for a wheel that never needs dressing and never goes out of balance. Safer since it can't fly apart. Does not get smaller with use. Expensive but it should only have to be bought once. Not good for soft steels or non-ferrous metals like aluminum or brass but great for any hardened tool steel, HSS, V10, etc.

These wheels took the woodturning community by storm, slowly at first then accelerating as the price/benefit/education curves crossed. I was one of the last holdouts among the better woodturners I know but I have an excuse - I was distracted while building a new shop! But I'm catching up with two at the moment and another coming.

I also ordered a couple of CBN hones, flat plates like the diamond hones.
CBN is also used to dress traditional grinding wheels. Norbide is the brand name version.

Reed Grey wrote an excellent article on CNB grinding wheels which might be worth a read:
http://www.robohippy.net/featured-article/

JKJ

[Myk Rian]

+1 on using hypodermic needles for oilers. When I worked in instrumentation they were invaluable for inking the capillaries in chart recorders. Well, before the world went paperless anyway

Same here. We called the shop, Land of the inky fingers.
The felt tip markers were very welcomed.

[Ole Anderson]

Gads, the horror, NO!
It's a new reality show.

CBN is Cubic Boron Nitride
Almost as hard as diamond, it is reportedly better than diamond for many abrasive uses.
"it is softer than diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride
I was told that diamond will actually react with carbon in steels on a molecular level and degrade over time. I have not researched this myself.

The bits are electroplated onto a machined steel or aluminum wheel that will fit into a standard bench grinder for a wheel that never needs dressing and never goes out of balance. Safer since it can't fly apart. Does not get smaller with use. Expensive but it should only have to be bought once. Not good for soft steels or non-ferrous metals like aluminum or brass but great for any hardened tool steel, HSS, V10, etc.

These wheels took the woodturning community by storm, slowly at first then accelerating as the price/benefit/educational curves crossed. I was one of the last holdouts among the better woodturners I know but I have an excuse - I was distracted while building a new shop! But I'm catching up with two at the moment and another coming.

I also ordered a couple of CBN hones, flat plates like the diamond hones.
CBN is also used to dress traditional grinding wheels. Norbide is the brand name version.

Reed Grey wrote an excellent article on CNB grinding wheels which might be worth a read:
http://www.robohippy.net/featured-article/

JKJ

Thanks John, so much better than what I might find on Wikipedia!