Stone Grader Orientation

[RickKrung]

I've been wondering about this ever since receiving my T8 and using the Stone Grader. 

All the videos and the manual show using it with the long axis of the grader perpendicular to the wheel.  I've been using it with the long axis parallel to the wheel.  This makes more sense to me as it seems like holding it perpendicular can lead to tilting the grader, thereby causing the wheel to be made less true (square) (crowning it). It also seems like that uses the center portion of the grader more than the ends.  By holding it parallel and tilting the grader on the long axis, more of the grader surface is used for conditioning the wheel with less likelihood of causing it to become less true. 

Rick

[grepper]

First of all, as you probably have figured out, you need to put a lot of pressure on the stone grader.  Whatever way you can pull that off is just fine.  If you do it perpendicular to the wheel in the center of the stone grader eventually the wheel will wear a groove in the stone grader and conform to the radius of the wheel.   That's OK.  After a while you can then move to either end.

If you do it parallel to the wheel, that works too, but is hard to hold.  Really it's whatever works best for you.

Personally, I went to using the edges of the stone grader and pressing very hard just to get the job done a quickly a possible.  I'm guessing you will just end up using the grader in a variety of positions, just to get the most out of it before it needs replacing.  It's another consumable.

I wouldn't over think it.  Just experiment with it and do whatever works for you and you will be fine.  No matter what I say, that's what you will end up doing anyway. 

[RickKrung]

Maybe I have not yet figured out just how much pressure is needed.  It has seemed to me that not much changed and/or that grading was required (seemingly) too frequently.  I'll try more pressure.  Thanks.

Rick

[wootz]

I and some other members here do prefer grading along with the stone and not across it, as this way it is less likely to apply more pressure on one side only, taking the stone out of square by the end of grading.

[RichColvin]

I do it the same way as Wootz, but that's just because I didn't think there was a different way !   And, like Grepper, I will use the edges, but on the ends, not the sides. 

Thank you for bringing this question up.

Rich

[Ken S]

I confess I don't put a lot of thought into the orientation of my stone grader; I just "plug and play". Actually, I should pay more attention to it.

Another related subject worthy of attention is what causes grinding wheels to become untrue, specifically, what technique factors which may be in our control. I think being aware of this might benefit all of us, at least the mortals, like me, among us. I have wondered if how we use the stone grader might effect the trueness of our grinding wheels.

I did one thing I would recommend to everyone. I tried using the fine side of the stone grader for a much longer than usual time. I was surprised with how much finer the grindind wheel became. I want to try the same thing with the coarse side.

Ken

[canuck]

First of all, as you probably have figured out, you need to put a lot of pressure on the stone grader.  Whatever way you can pull that off is just fine.  If you do it perpendicular to the wheel in the center of the stone grader eventually the wheel will wear a groove in the stone grader and conform to the radius of the wheel...

I bought a used Tormek SuperGrind 2000 recently. It didn't come with a Stone Grader, so I ordered a new one. I've only used the grader 4 or 5 times and was surprised to see it has already developed a shiny spot on it. It looks like it's being polished by the stone. Is this normal, or could this be an indication that I'm doing something wrong, perhaps not using enough pressure?

Thanks.

[wootz]

The coarse side of the grading stone is made of a dense silicon carbide to grind the aluminium oxide SG wheel.
It only may get glazed when trying to restore the coarse grit on the black SB stone, which is also of silicon carbide.
The coarse grit on the SB stone is better restored by light truing with TT-50 rather than with the grader.

Which wheel have you got - SG or SB?

[cbwx34]

I bought a used Tormek SuperGrind 2000 recently. It didn't come with a Stone Grader, so I ordered a new one. I've only used the grader 4 or 5 times and was surprised to see it has already developed a shiny spot on it. It looks like it's being polished by the stone. Is this normal, or could this be an indication that I'm doing something wrong, perhaps not using enough pressure?

Thanks.

Coarse side or fine side?  My  fine side does appear a little "glazed" or shiny, but is still effective at smoothing out the Tormek (SG) wheel.  I don't use the rough side much... so mine still looks almost like new.  The fine side should show a bit of wear over time (probably not after just 4 or 5 uses though, so don't use that as a factor). 

I think the answer is... does it appear to be working?  If not, then I would try a bit more pressure.

(I'm assuming you have the SG stone for this). 

[canuck]

Coarse side or fine side?  My  fine side does appear a little "glazed" or shiny, but is still effective at smoothing out the Tormek (SG) wheel.  I don't use the rough side much... so mine still looks almost like new.  The fine side should show a bit of wear over time (probably not after just 4 or 5 uses though, so don't use that as a factor). 

I think the answer is... does it appear to be working?  If not, then I would try a bit more pressure.

(I'm assuming you have the SG stone for this). 

I have the SG stone and the grader is shiny on the fine side. There's a bit of shine on the rough side too, but it's not as easy to see. I'm still pretty new to this, so it's honestly hard to tell if it's working or not. I don't think I was using much pressure at all, so I'll have to do some more testing and will push harder.

Here's a pic of the grader. Like I said, this is a brand new stone after four or five uses.

[cbwx34]

I have the SG stone and the grader is shiny on the fine side. There's a bit of shine on the rough side too, but it's not as easy to see. I'm still pretty new to this, so it's honestly hard to tell if it's working or not. I don't think I was using much pressure at all, so I'll have to do some more testing and will push harder.

Here's a pic of the grader. Like I said, this is a brand new stone after four or five uses.

I'll be honest... not quite sure what to make of the picture.  Someone else might have to chime in on that.

It does sound like a little more pressure and/or time is needed . You'll see an obvious difference once you get it working right... there'll be no doubt as to the difference... you'll feel it.

I'd give it another shot.

[RickKrung]

I have the SG stone and the grader is shiny on the fine side. There's a bit of shine on the rough side too, but it's not as easy to see. I'm still pretty new to this, so it's honestly hard to tell if it's working or not. I don't think I was using much pressure at all, so I'll have to do some more testing and will push harder.

Here's a pic of the grader. Like I said, this is a brand new stone after four or five uses.

I'll be honest... not quite sure what to make of the picture.  Someone else might have to chime in on that.

It does sound like a little more pressure and/or time is needed . You'll see an obvious difference once you get it working right... there'll be no doubt as to the difference... you'll feel it.

I'd give it another shot.

CB, it sounds to me like you are thinking he is letting the stone just ride on the surface, causing the shine. Is that correct? I don't have a good sense if it would work that way, so I'm not questioning that.  But, these latest comment made me go back and watch whatever videos I could find where use of the grader is shown.  I saw some things that I hadn't noticed before and I believe they are related to my initial question about how the stone is used (orientation [not sexual] in my case ). 

I initially asked about using the stone parallel to the grindstone, rather than as shown, perpendicular.  Unstated but part of my thinking is that I keep the grader moving all the time.  Rocking it lengthwise and sliding it side to side (a little) so as to not put too much of the wear in the same spot.  I do this with sandpaper as well.  If I were to use the grader perpendicular, I'd be moving it all over the place, rocking it down and up and side to side. 

What I just noticed in the videos is the striking lack of movement of the grader (held perpendicular).  A little side to side movement, but no rocking from front edge to trailing edge.  This seems like the perfect formula for causing excessive wear in a very small area and I can imagine it creating a shiny area. (I do recall someone saying the wearing of a depression is not necessarily a bad thing as the grader is conforming to the shape of the stone, but my sense is that is different than having a shiny area).

I also just noticed the bit about resting the wrists on the USB.  Maybe this is the reason for holding it perpendicular, as resting the wrists on the USB does not work while holding the grader parallel (at least when working from the front side of the machine - might be different if working from the back side).

Another thing I noticed is that Jeff held the grader to the stone for a full 50 secs (if that sequence was not edited).  Manual says 20-30s. 

I examined my grader (photos below).  Coarse side had widely and evenly spaced, tiny shiny spots and no evidence of dwelling.  Fine side had some longitudinally distributed shiny areas that spanned the width of the grader that could reflect dwelling. 

Rick

[cbwx34]

CB, it sounds to me like you are thinking he is letting the stone just ride on the surface, causing the shine. Is that correct? I don't have a good sense if it would work that way, so I'm not questioning that.  But, these latest comment made me go back and watch whatever videos I could find where use of the grader is shown.  I saw some things that I hadn't noticed before and I believe they are related to my initial question about how the stone is used (orientation [not sexual] in my case ). 

I initially asked about using the stone parallel to the grindstone, rather than as shown, perpendicular.  Unstated but part of my thinking is that I keep the grader moving all the time.  Rocking it lengthwise and sliding it side to side (a little) so as to not put too much of the wear in the same spot.  I do this with sandpaper as well.  If I were to use the grader perpendicular, I'd be moving it all over the place, rocking it down and up and side to side. 

What I just noticed in the videos is the striking lack of movement of the grader (held perpendicular).  A little side to side movement, but no rocking from front edge to trailing edge.  This seems like the perfect formula for causing excessive wear in a very small area and I can imagine it creating a shiny area. (I do recall someone saying the wearing of a depression is not necessarily a bad thing as the grader is conforming to the shape of the stone, but my sense is that is different than having a shiny area).

I also just noticed the bit about resting the wrists on the USB.  Maybe this is the reason for holding it perpendicular, as resting the wrists on the USB does not work while holding the grader parallel (at least when working from the front side of the machine - might be different if working from the back side).

Another thing I noticed is that Jeff held the grader to the stone for a full 50 secs (if that sequence was not edited).  Manual says 20-30s. 

I examined my grader (photos below).  Coarse side had widely and evenly spaced, tiny shiny spots and no evidence of dwelling.  Fine side had some longitudinally distributed shiny areas that spanned the width of the grader that could reflect dwelling. 

Rick

I'm not really thinking that lack of pressure is causing the "shine"... so much as it's why canuck can't tell if it's working.  Once you get it to work, the difference is pretty evident.

Like you, I started using the stone grader moving it around, thinking that would be better... but now think it works better holding it in one spot.  It does seem a bit counterintuitive to how abrasives are normally used, (and so is the "concavity"), but I get a better result.  Somewhere I read to (mentally) divide the stone in half so you get two areas to work with, so that's what I do now.... hold 1/2 the stone against the wheel and put pressure with the palm of my hand.  I'll "flip" it occasionally to try and keep everything in balance.

I'm definitely not the expert on this... just what I've found to work for me.