robo_hippy
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As to which wheel is the best, well, that is debatable. As some one who has to experiment, it is all my dad's fault, I have owned wheels from D Way, Ken Rizza/Woodturner's Wonders, Cuttermaster, and Optigrind. I have mostly D Way. I would have to say that the Cuttermaster wheels may be the highest over all quality wise as they were made for sharpening CNC bits. The difference is very slight, and probably not noticeable for 99% of the people that would use them. Oh, they come out of Canada. The Optigrind are sold by Cindy Drozda. A very good wheel. The D Way are also very high quality. All of these wheels are on steel hubs, and are heavier than the wheels from Ken. Ken offers wheels on Aluminum and poly hubs. There were concerns that with those materials there could be issues with the bonding process. I have heard of a case or two of the wheels losing some of the coating, but if it was a big issue, there would be a big uproar about it on all of the forums. I haven't heard it. Kens wheels are more affordable than the others.
For grinders, the 1/2 hp Rikon seems to be fairly popular. I wouldn't have one. Main reason is that while they 'can do the job' they are just plain under powered for the steel hub wheels, and almost adequate for the aluminum and plastic hubs. You need a true 3/4 hp grinder. Best 'value' in that range is the 1 hp Rikon grinder, which has plenty of power. It comes up to speed in the same amount of time as my 3/4 hp Baldor grinders, but it does spin a lot longer after I turn it off. They come up to full speed in about 3 seconds. I used to have one of the old blue no name grinders that Woodcraft carried years ago, and it would come up to full speed in about 8 to 10 seconds. If it is a tool that I will be using a lot, I prefer over powered to under powered.
For grits, if you are getting 1 wheel, get the 180. It will be fine for about 90% of all the turning you will ever do. If you get 2, then I would suggest the 600 grit. It produces an excellent edge for very fine finish cuts, especially on woods that want to tear out more than others. For me, I get better results with it than I do with honing. Never was impressed by what I could do with the diamond honing cards. I do get better results with the honing wheel on my Tormek. If I have serious reshaping to do on a tool, I have a 36 grit belt on a 1 1/2 hp belt sander to use. You can also keep the wheels that come with your grinder, which are generally very poor quality.
robo hippy
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