General points on Grinding 

As can be seen, from the above pictures, there are many different type of grinding wheels  and this is not even scratching the surface. I am not going to explain the ins and outs of grinding,as there are plenty of websites, that can do that a lot better then yours truly, but a few general point I would like to touch upon.

When you buy  a bench grinder,it comes with two usually gray wheels, a course and a finer one. Economic reality teaches us, that these wheels are the cheapest of the cheap, and are good enough to grind the board of the garden spade, but that about sums it up.

If you want to do some serious grinding, on expensive and cherished tools, you would be advised to buy yourself  a good quality wheel.          

The red ones in the above part of this page, are softer then the gray ones that came with your machine. The particles are not as firmly attached to the stone, and they break away more easily.This keeps the "edge" of the wheel sharp, and very important, this helps in preventing overheating the tool. These wheels don't glaze over as fast as the cheapies.

You need to be aware of the fact, that the color of a grinding wheel, is not an indicator of its properties. So check the small print!  

The colors are entirely a matter of the manufacturers choice, and there is no real convention on it.

The silicon Carbide wheels, are the ones that we use for the grinding of the TCT tips, as these wheels are extremely hard. They are commonly know as "Green Grit Wheels" 

But they don't HAVE to be green!

The white Al Oxide wheels and the Carborundum wheels are the standard wheels for very general use. It is not something we would have great need for in a workshop, where precision items are made. 

The diamond grit covered wheels are  used for the grinding of hard things like TCT and other tool steel items, usually to be found on the tool post of a metal lathe;but more on those in the relevant section. Needles to say, that anything that involves diamond will cost you a pretty penny!

Another point to think about is load. This means, that if at all possible, use a stone of similar weight  and size on both ends of the grinder. (not on the wet and dry type!). This will help in preventing excess vibration, and will prolong the live of the spindle bearings                           

 

Grinding lathe tools for metal lathes.

 

Grinding wood work tools