Japanese 800 grit wheel is now available from a German seller

[Ken S]

Very well done, Grepper. (I would expect no less from you!)

Like you, I do not have a CBN wheel. However, I do have a DMT diamond flat plate for flattening bench stones. It is a nice product, but, unfortunately, it has been overhyped in reviews. I made the mistake of believing the "flatten every stone in the shop" hype. It does a great job on water stones and India stones (aluminum oxide oil stones). It even finished flattening my grandfather's cupped Crystalon stone, but only with high casualties. Foolishly flattening that one inexpensive stone worn the diamond plate substantially, shortening its useful life considerably. The moral of this story is the flat plate is a great product for water and India stones. But, do not believe all the media hype.

I suspect CBN wheels are probably the same. If "forever" is rationally interpreted as for a long time, we will be happy. Frankly, if any grinding wheel gives several years of good service, I am content with the investment.

I had a specific set of expectations for the 3X wheels. I wanted them to perform OCCASIONAL use reshaping high speed steel turning tools at a reasonable cost. I purchased both 46 and 80 grit wheels for the project and found that just one, either grit, would be sufficient. At a cost of fifty US dollars, I feel the cost is reasonable. These met my need.

I believe at this point, a user should have a definite need in mind to justify the cost of a CBN  wheel and that the wheel should be considered a very long term consumable item. A very active turner doing a lot of reshaping might be delighted with a coarser CBN wheel. He might be less happy with a finer wheel, which would be ideal for a knife sharpener. The cost involved should warrant careful thought.

I applaud Wootz for being our fearless pioneer. I look forward to his dispatches from the front.

Go, Wootz!

Ken

[Thy Will Be Done]

Good preliminary testing, Wootz.

I really did not use my Tiger wheel enough to fairly comment. At the time, I was sharpening primarily chisels. Being 800 grit, it did not seem to cut as quickly as the SG graded coarse. That's understandable.

In considering the SG-250, it is only fair to remember that until November of 2008, the SG was the only grindstone for the Tormek. It was expected to work with all of the Tormek jigs and different kind of steel.It was expected to sharpen planer blades, including removing nicks. It was expected to reshape and sharpen turning tools, both carbon and high speed steel. It was expected so sharpen tools sized from small carving tools to axes. In conjunction with the leather honing wheel, it was expected to handle the whols sharpening process from grinding through honing and polishing. No dry grinding wheel, bench stone or sanding belt is expected to do so much.

In truth, the SG was not always a speedster at all of these things. Howbever, it did do them. It has also been expected to be long lasting. That's a tall order for any grinding wheel.

I am not surprised that the 800 grit wheel seems a useful adjunct for the Tormek. I have found the two Norton 3X wheels (46 and 80 grit) useful additions. Neither of the 3x wheels will ever be my general purpose wheel. They do help when I have a lot of grinding to do.

The SG grinding wheels are the old reliables which do most of my sharpening.

Ken

What are the Norton wheels you describe here that work with the Tormek?  These may be the ticket for me to quickly reprofile edges for customers.

[RickKrung]

A basic internet search on "norton 3x grinding wheel" turns several hits.  These have a larger arbor hole, so one has to do some adaptation of the bushings to fit the 12mm Tormek shaft. 

There has also been a bit of discussion of these wheels elsewhere on the forum, so search in past messages.  Ken has mentioned multiple times he drilled out PVC pipe for the bushings and used fender washers as flange washers, to fill the extra length on the Tormek shaft.  I machined bushings from SS and flange washers from aluminum. 

At one point, there were commercially available adapters, but I don't know where they were from.  Searching forum posts may turn it up. 

These wheels are trued using the Tormek truing tool.  Again, this has all been discussed in various posts here on the forum.  Look around.

Rick

[Ken S]

Here is a link for the Norton 3X grinding wheels.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/sharpening/wheels-and-wheel-dressers/62012-norton-3x-grinding-wheels

The 3X wheels have both pros and cons. They cut fast. They work wet or dry. (I use them wet with my Tormek. I also have a six inch 46 grit wheel in my dry grinder.) As you can see in the link, they are inexpensive. On the con side, eight inches is the largest diameter. In reality, these eight inch wheels work with the T8 as well as any wheel worn to eight inches (200 mm). Norton supplies a set of reducing bushings from one inch down to 5/8". I cobbled a piece of 5/8" OD plastic pipe and drilled the ID from 7/16" to 12mm or an enlarged 31/64". While not toolmaker accuracy, it is within tolerance for initial rough sharpening.

The 3X wheels are not a perfect choice; they are very workable choices at low cost. They need a finishing wheel like the SG-250 to do the whole job. They will do "the heavy lifting". You don't need both grits. I started with the 80 grit.

Ken

[Thy Will Be Done]

Here is a link for the Norton 3X grinding wheels.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/sharpening/wheels-and-wheel-dressers/62012-norton-3x-grinding-wheels

The 3X wheels have both pros and cons. They cut fast. They work wet or dry. (I use them wet with my Tormek. I also have a six inch 46 grit wheel in my dry grinder.) As you can see in the link, they are inexpensive. On the con side, eight inches is the largest diameter. In reality, these eight inch wheels work with the T8 as well as any wheel worn to eight inches (200 mm). Norton supplies a set of reducing bushings from one inch down to 5/8". I cobbled a piece of 5/8" OD plastic pipe and drilled the ID from 7/16" to 12mm or an enlarged 31/64". While not toolmaker accuracy, it is within tolerance for initial rough sharpening.

The 3X wheels are not a perfect choice; they are very workable choices at low cost. They need a finishing wheel like the SG-250 to do the whole job. They will do "the heavy lifting". You don't need both grits. I started with the 80 grit.

Ken

So if I'm understanding that item through Lee Valley comes WITH the adapter necessary to use it on the drive shaft for the Tormek?

[Ken S]

No. The Norton wheels have a one inch bore and are supplied with one onch to 3/4" and 5/8" reducing bushings. The wheels are also one inch wide, meaning that they also require additional spacers to fit snugly on the Tormek shaft.

This can be accomplished in two ways. Rick, with machinist skills and tools, turned an adaptor himself. This is the preferred method. Any local machine shop can make up an adaptor for you. Just show them your Tormek and the wheel you want to mount.
My "Plan B" was to drill out a short piece of 5/8" Outside Diameter (OD) plastic water pipe to 12mm with my home shop drill press. Lacking a 12mm drill bit, I actually used a 31/64" bit and reamed out the hole a bit. In hindsight, I should have purchased a 12mm bit. 12mm fender washers provided an inexpensive fix to fill in the gap. My homemade method is adequately accurate for initial grinding, although it probably wouldn't pass muster with Rick.

The 3X wheels are not a perfect solution. The best solution is a Tormek DC-250 coarse diamond wheel. For occasional use, a very inexpensive 3X wheel may prove adequate.

Ken

[Thy Will Be Done]

No. The Norton wheels have a one inch bore and are supplied with one onch to 3/4" and 5/8" reducing bushings. The wheels are also one inch wide, meaning that they also require additional spacers to fit snugly on the Tormek shaft.

This can be accomplished in two ways. Rick, with machinist skills and tools, turned an adaptor himself. This is the preferred method. Any local machine shop can make up an adaptor for you. Just show them your Tormek and the wheel you want to mount.
My "Plan B" was to drill out a short piece of 5/8" Outside Diameter (OD) plastic water pipe to 12mm with my home shop drill press. Lacking a 12mm drill bit, I actually used a 31/64" bit and reamed out the hole a bit. In hindsight, I should have purchased a 12mm bit. 12mm fender washers provided an inexpensive fix to fill in the gap. My homemade method is adequately accurate for initial grinding, although it probably wouldn't pass muster with Rick.

The 3X wheels are not a perfect solution. The best solution is a Tormek DC-250 coarse diamond wheel. For occasional use, a very inexpensive 3X wheel may prove adequate.

Ken

What is the price I should expect to pay at a machine shop for this?  Seems inexpensive enough but I have no idea what labor might truly be at a place like this. 

[Ken S]

I don't know.I would suggest you talk with a couple machine shops and get estimates. You can always go with the plastic pipe option.

Ken