Diamond grinding wheels

Hello all just a quickie,are diamond grinding wheel suitable for grinding HSS tooling or would I be wasting my money and a wheel?

Regards Mark P.

Hi Mark

I Use one... Very nice finish.

Cheers

John

Mark, nice to have, but if you use HSS only, you might as well stick to a standard wheel on the bench grinder, but if you use carbide as well, yes. I'v only got a Green grit wheel for carbide, and imagine that a diamond one would be an improvement. Ian S C

Yes they are brilliant.

Now wait for the flat earth society to tell you it's a no no because the diamond leeches the carbon out of the HSS and ruins the wheel.

I will not argue over what happens at nano levels and I did follow this advise many years ago when a 6" diamond wheel cost well over £100 and equated to about 5 weeks wages.

However now we have the cheaper electroplated wheels about 6 years ago i equipped the 3 T&C grinders with diamond wheels. The idea being that when this happened I'd change the wheel as a consumable.

So PLEASE will the flat earth society PLEASE tell my T&C grinders this isn't right as the wheels as virtually still as good as the day fitted.

Green grit is old technology, grind a cutter and look at the chipped friable edge under even a low powered glass. Those chips extend back as cracks that are not visible but will chip again under pressure.

I have put one of my angle grinders into an Aldi chop saw stand locked off and fitted one of those 4 1/2" diamond faced discs you get for cutting tiles and the like. Actually bought it from ARC.

I use this for ripping chipped cutters down, far quicker than a green grit, then use the diamond cup wheels for putting the finish edge on. Far quicker and cost effective that the older way.

Edited By John Stevenson on 24/02/2013 12:28:46

I use a fine diamond wheel for putting an edge back on the end of HSS milling cutters a thou at a time. Genuine mirror finish and sharp as a sharp thing from Old Mother Sharp's Sharpe Shoppe as Blackadder might say.

Neil

What everyone else says. I've found them excellent for getting razor sharp results. By all means rough out with a conventional stone but worth dressing with the diamond wheel. Excellent results on tipped tools too.

Apologies to the OP for the hijack but I still use stones of varying types I wouldnt mind shifting to Diamond I do have a question though what would be a reccomended replacement for a pink 60 grit 6" x 3/4" stone do diamond wheels have some form of equivalence/comparison chart?

Paul

Hello Mark, I use 2 of them on my tool grinder. They give a superfine finish to cutting edges on both HSS and carbide tools.

I also use them to sharpen carbide end mills and like tools.

I think there is no advantage really with diamond wheels on HSS apart from cutting back damaged edges. Grade wise I think is D76 is the average type.

Always be careful you dont overload the wheel, it must cut freely and if you can smell it then its overloaded. The diamond wheel will remove metal very quickly so only move the tool about 1 thou at a time. Off hand cutting is not good as its hard to control the amount being taken off, better mounted and advanced in a known manner.

Most of the wheels advertised are suitable for use by the likes of us and seem reasonably priced. Most are Alu. backed and have a fairly long life.

I also have a metal disc with a coating but it is a little too aggressive for fine sharpening and is not truly flat.

Clive

Thanks chaps,that settles it ,a diamond wheel it is then.

Regards Mark P.

Diamond wheels are for carbide ONLY, you should be looking at Borazon type abrasives for High Speed Steel again they should only be used on HSS

Colin,

Could you address this message to my 3 T&C grinders ans they do not know of this information and have been using diamond wheels now for over 6 years on HSS, carbide and even the normal steel tool body when I miss.

I agree with most of the above apart from adding that the diamond is not much good for removal of a lot of metal, more as a finishing operation after using a conventional wheel to shape the tool.

If you try too hard with the diamond it just gets hot and burns the tool.

Phil

Just touched up a tool for a tangential holder a couple of hours ago. Roughed on medium green grit, then polished on the diamond wheel.

Neil

This must surely be a myth. Diamond is pure carbon so if any "leaching" is to take place it would be in the opposite direction. Diffusion concentration gradient and all that.

Russell.

Theres nothing like, 'Suck it and see'. Ive never had a problem with diamond wheels as long as you are not trying to hack off large portions of hard steel. Gently does it all the time. Watch a diamond polisher at work and see how careful they are to achieve the right pressure and time on the facets.

Clive

If you need to "hack" off large amounts, CBN appears the way to go.

Precisely, iron has an affinity for carbon above a critical temperature, around 800°C.

Andrew

I only ever take light 'cuts' and have never left the tool warm too the touch, unlike with ordinary grinding wheels. I uised to use paraffin as a lubricant but cut dry now. I don't use it a lot and haven't seen any degradation in the wheel (one of Arc Euro's diamond cup wheels).

Neil

Hi Mark, if you are a DIY fan they are useful for sharpening masonry drill bits.

Use them dry.

Clive