SchleifJunkies Rock Hard Felt Question...

[darita]

So I just got my rock hard felt wheels from SchleifJunkies.  They are about 1 1/2" wide.  The wheels from Knife Grinders are about 2" wide.  Does that make any difference in their effectiveness as stropping wheels?

[Ken S]

Your 1 1/2" felt wheel should work fine. My felt wheel was an early one from Knife Grinders. Vadim originally ordered 50mm thick wheels. If you look closely at the 250mm x 50mm Tormek wheels, you will see that the outer face is inset. A straight 50mm wheel doesn't allow enough thread length for the EZYlock to secure properly. Vadim solved this problem with his felt wheels by reducing the thickness to 45mm.
1 1/2" thickness is actually thicker than paper wheels and should serve you well.
Ken

[cbwx34]

So I just got my rock hard felt wheels from SchleifJunkies.  They are about 1 1/2" wide.  The wheels from Knife Grinders are about 2" wide.  Does that make any difference in their effectiveness as stropping wheels?

I can't think of any reason it would be any different.  Wider might be slightly faster, but doubt it would be a significant difference.

Just like sharpening on the wider 250 wheels vs. the 200 wheels... stone width is a minor variable.

...
1 1/2" thickness is actually thicker than paper wheels and should serve you well.
Ken

The paper wheel analogy is a good point.

[darita]

CORRECTION...on the width of the wheel.  It's actually 1 1/4" thick.  I mistyped.  That said, it's still the same idea and from what you're saying, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.  Hanns told me that he could get the 50mm wheels, however they would cost around 200 euros, rather than the 129 euros for the narrower ones.
My second question is, can the Felt Wheels be reused with a different size micron spray? 

[cbwx34]

...
My second question is, can the Felt Wheels be reused with a different size micron spray?

In general no.  You can move to a more coarse micron spray, if, for example, you didn't like a finer one.  But you can't switch back and forth between sizes, unless you had some way of completing cleaning off the more coarse micron spray, because it will be the "dominant" abrasive.  (And probably not practical to try cleaning a felt wheel).

The basic rule is one abrasive per wheel.

[darita]

Got it.  Thanks.  That's what I figured, but I thought I'd ask anyways, just in case. 

[Ken S]

Regarding the 1 1/4" wheel thickness: Remember that dry grinder wheels are frequently 1", or even 3/4" for the older members. 

Ken

[3D Anvil]

And, FWIW, the leather honing wheel is just under 1 1/4" wide.

[RickKrung]

The only felt wheel I've ever used, which happens to be rock hard, is 1" wide and I see not down side to its width.  Other than needing to fill the extra space on the Tormek shaft, but you have that challenge with what you are talking about. 

Rick

[Ken S]

I use 12mm x 38mm fender washers as spacers. A pack of three was less than $5 US. Place them on the same side as the Tormek spacer.

Ken

[Alston]

CORRECTION...on the width of the wheel.  It's actually 1 1/4" thick.  I mistyped.  That said, it's still the same idea and from what you're saying, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.  Hanns told me that he could get the 50mm wheels, however they would cost around 200 euros, rather than the 129 euros for the narrower ones.
My second question is, can the Felt Wheels be reused with a different size micron spray?

I've been looking at felt wheels recently. Difficult to compare as different manufacturers use different terms for hardness but €129 sounds like a lot for a 250x31.75 wheel.

[3D Anvil]

I've been looking at felt wheels recently. Difficult to compare as different manufacturers use different terms for hardness but €129 sounds like a lot for a 250x31.75 wheel.

The Durofelt wheel mentioned in another thread is $150, but that's 2" wide.

[Drilon]

Some days ago I received a felt wheel with the following data from China:

10 Inch Rock Hard Felt Wheel for Knife Sharpening
Material: 100% Australia wool
Color: Natural white
Diameter: 250MM
Thickness: 45MM
Arbor hole: 12MM
Density: 0.65g/cm³
sales@puruipolishing.com

Contact person is Alan Chang.

This felt wheel looks and behaves identical to the felt wheel I got from Knifegrinders. Same diameter, same weight. Price was 100 US$ including the shipment to Germany. I received it about three weeks after I placed the order.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Drilon

[Alston]

Hard felt wheels seem to be sold as 66SG, sometimes written 0.66SG. The SchleifJunkies Rock hard ones appear to be 0.9 (at least that's what the website says) so maybe they're much harder. Hard to be sure, I suppose you'd have to compare the weight? Here in the UK you can get a 250x40 Hard Felt (66SG) wheel for about £85.