White Grinding Wheel

Thanks Paul

MichaelG.

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So lets look at this logically.

if you are not looking at using HSS which you can regrind you are looking at inserted tips.

Taking the average tip to be £4.00 and you get 3 cutting edges you are getting about 14 cutting edges for £18.00.

I'm damn sure you can regrind a HSS tool more than 14 times before the wheel is worn out. Chances are you will get 500 to 700 uses out of a wheel so that equates at the lowest figure to three and a half pence per use , stretching to two and a half pence.

If you are that tight you could always save the dust and re-glue it up into a new wheel.

John S.

When I said that I was giving up trying to source a white wheel, I meant that I will now replace the old coarse wheel and carry on using it for HSS as I have for the past 18 years. A few weeks ago, feeling flush and wanting to try something new, I rang Abtec and others, but no go. Perhaps the small outside diam is the problem.

Thanks for all the information.

Hi David L and Jason, "Carborundum" is actually a trademark for silicon carbide abrasive. I can remember when I first started working for a living in a Blacksmith shop, where there was a tapered square stick about 12" long with CARBORUNDUM cast into one side. It was used to sharpen knives and the like by hand.

Discounting diamond and any other uncommen grinding wheels, there are two types of abrasive used, which are Aluminium Oxide and Silicon Carbide, but there are a number of different bonding mediums for holding the abrasive. I guess that manufacturers can make thier wheels any coluor they choose, however most AO wheels I've seen are grey, while I can only remember seeing green SC wheels.

There is a standard classification used for grinding wheels and the codes are what you need to get the right one and should be sought. Below is a scan of the codes used on well represented grinding wheels.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 11/08/2012 18:01:40

MEW Issues 48 and 48 have a two-part series on grinding wheels. Issue 4 also has a short, basic article.

(They're fairly old so I don't know if anything has changed significantly in the meantime).

John's comment reminded me of my association with the Sanitary brass finishing trade.

In days of yore brass castings were first fettled and machined as required then manually cleaned up on all the shaped surfaces using a hard felt mop, shaped to suit the particular profile, rolled through a traditional glue pot and then rolled over a tray of carborundum grit. This was then used on a polishing spindle to grind away the cast surfaces and in combination with other wheels, blend the whole surface of the tap or pipe union in readiness for polishing and chrome plating.

Once shaped the mops lasted for ages, a coating of grit was good for a couple of days and the glue pot was always kept at the ready and shared with the pattern maker.

The carborundum grit and the mops, as with many other metal finishing consumables came from Cannings in Birmingham.

Then came hot brass stamping and vibrofinishing.

Bob D

Good God Bob, don't start giving this lot of tight wads any ideas.

I can just image it at a show, queue 17 deep and this Herbert of the front with a purse and a Reliant asking how much for an ounce of grit and how many pieces does it contain to the ounce.

John S.

OK well I don't know the code on the wheel cos I didn't take it. I have called him and said I want an alumina wheel and he knew what I was on about so lets see what he comes up with next.

If he gets me one I'll give you all his phone number lol

I have had no problem with wheels bought of the shelf at Machine Mart - you can pick them up and examine them before taking them to the till.

Neil