What speed Grinder..?

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Well before everything goes kablooey here, I thought I'd ask some questions.

I see a great griding jig on this site.....

Hints

Which I'm going to try to copy, but I was wondering if the speed of the grinder makes a big diff.

I have a cheap grinder I bought years ago.....



I'll have to build a whole new stand and stuff for it, but is it worth building a grinding stand around this grinder?

The speed of the grinder is 3000 rpm

Cheers!



Cheers!

[Bob Noles]

Stu,

The 3000 will work, but I think you will find a 1750 will work better.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Stu mine is 3450 rpm. It works just fine. Just need to be a little more careful.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Thanks guys, I'll build it first, and if the grinder is not good, I'll just have to upgrade

[Jim Becker]

OneWay says that for HHS, the higher speed grinder is better, but plenty of folks use 1725 rpm grinders with great success. My opinion is it doesn't matter that much as long as you are grinding HHS...it's more about technique and touch. So...your existing grinder will be fine if equipped with AO wheels. My preference is a 60 grit and a 100 grit, but supply sometimes means 80 and 120.

For the record, both of my grinders are higher speed units.

[Charlie Plesums]

If you don't go with Torkek like I did (and I feel like I am supporting the entire country with the cost of the unit and accessories), then a regular grinder with a wolverine jig (or homemade equivalent) seems a more economical way to go. Lots of messages I have seen suggest that the 1700 rpm is better, but many do use the higher speed.

I can never remember which abrasive wheel is which, but I can remember the colors. Aluminum Oxide (as Jim recommended) is white or pink, not the dark grey silicon carbide in your picture (which is too hard and will burn too easily)

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

OK, so the grinder I have will do, now I need to make the jig thing for holding the tools to be sharpened. The link I put in my first post has a jig, it looks really good.

Charlie, the Tormek system is available in Japan, but I'd have to sell one of my trucks to buy it

The wheel on my grinder is the correct one, here in Japan the colors are different, they don't have white wheels, unless they are imported ones (read expensive), I know, because I looked for about 6 months, and could not find the "Right" wheels, finally I explained it to a Japanese woodworking friend, he told me to buy the one I have. I also have a Blue wheel, but it is WAY too hard for anything except a lawn mower blade....

Cheers!