Tormek Community Forum

Does anyone have a suggestion for where to get a Rock Hard Felt Wheel?

I ordered one from Knife Grinders in December and with Vladim's unfortunate passing, I don't think I will be getting the one I ordered. I've tried emailing, however I have not heard back from any of the email address I have tried. I'm not upset, if the small amount for the wheel will help the family in anyway, then all is good.

I do, however, want to explore the use of a felt wheel, just not sure where to purchase from.


Thanks

http://durofelt.com/image_38.html

+ 1 on DuroFelt. Vadim told me he has also ordered from DuroFelt.

I recently ordered 2 rock hard felt wheels from Durofelt.  The service was great, and I received them quickly.  One of wheels was true, but the other was not.  The felt inserts that are made to work with Tormek had variable quality.  I found that they are not all drilled straight, which results in wheel wobble.  Durofelt promptly replaced the wheel and insert that were defective. 

Quote from: dewarner on February 19, 2022, 07:43:41 PM
I recently ordered 2 rock hard felt wheels from Durofelt.  The service was great, and I received them quickly.  One of wheels was true, but the other was not.  The felt inserts that are made to work with Tormek had variable quality.  I found that they are not all drilled straight, which results in wheel wobble.  Durofelt promptly replaced the wheel and insert that were defective.

Would you mind linking to the wheels you bought?
Do you see an increase in sharpness? Do you need to add anything before use?

I have one of the 10" x 2" Rock Hard Durofelt wheels.  My observation and experience are as follows:

1. The wheel was well made, true and straight (See Image 1)
2. The wheel actual dimensions were 254.6mm diameter and 52.5mm thick
3. Wheel had a mass of 2,004 grams, volume of 2,667 cm^3 for a density of 0.75g/cm^3 (Advertised as 0.80 g/cm^3)
4. The wheel has a 1" (25.4mm) central hole diameter that is adapted to the Tormek shaft (12mm) via two pre-installed felt bushings (See Image 2)
5. The felt bushings fit very nice and snug on the Tormek shaft, so snug that I had to spin the wheel over the threads rather than just push it on the shaft (same upon removal) - I found this quite annoying when placing and removing the wheel, so I replaced the felt bushings with an aluminum bushing (OD= 25.4mm ID= 12.1mm) (Image 2)
6. The excess width of the wheel (52.5mm) meant that it actually could not fit on the Tormek with the standard spacer as there were no exposed threads to install the knurled nut (Image 3)
7.  I therefore replaced the standard spacer with a 12M stainless steel fender washer to gain enough space back to get some exposed threads (Image 4 and Image 5)
8. The wheel has a slight wobble, but nothing that affects the results of deburring.

Beaker.

Beaker,

One of the problems that third parties have with accessories for the Tormek is that they really do not understand the Tormek. Even Knife Grinders initially had a problem with its felt wheels. I purchased one of the initial batch. I had a delay in receiving it because Vadim had to reject the first batch. The Tormek 250 x 50mm grinding wheels have an inset on the outside face. The initial batch of KG felt wheels were 50mm thick with no inset. They had the same problem you have encountered with being too thick for the threads. To his credit, Vadim, who did understand the Tormek, corrected the problem by using 250 x 45mm felt wheels. Problem solved, although I suspect they were a custom size wheel and probably more expensive.

Ken

Hello!
A s I understand, Durofelt has a problem.
There is no problem with the 250 rockhard https://www.mototechnica-shop.de/Schnaeppchen-Fehlserie-Abweichung-einige-mm-Filzscheibe-Grat-Entfernen-Messer-und-Polieren--leichte-Massabweichung---Farbdivergenzen-rockhart-250-x-30.html

There is also

Quotehttps://schleifjunkies.de

International sending

So long
Pietje

Hi there,

during my internet research for felt rockhard i came across the following page.
Discs for "Tormek machines" are also advertised:

You can configure the discs with different bores or inserts.

https://www.mototechnica-shop.de/Filzscheiben-Polierfilz-Grat-entfernen-Messer-Diamantpolitur-Diamant-GelModellbau-Hubschrauber-Modellflugschaerfen-schleifern-Tormek-Scheppach-fuer-Profi-Industrie-Heimwerker-grosse-Auswahl-Durchmesser--Haerte--Bohrung-Loch--Breite/Filzscheibe-Tormek-30-mm-dick-steinhart-auch-fuer-Messerschleifer-Messerscharfe-Messer-rockhard-steinhart-Messer-schleifen-Messer-schaerfen-scharfe-Messer-Messerklingen/

https://www.mototechnica-shop.de/Messer-schaerfen-extra-breites-steinhartes-Filzraad-ca--43-mm-x-250-mm-Durchmesser-Messer-schleifen-Grat-bei-Messer-entfernen-Filzscheibe-Filzrad-steinharte-Filzscheibe-rockhart.html

Can't say anything about the shop!

Best regards
Thomas

Thomas,

Those Moto-Technica wheels also are harder than the Durofelt version (at least advertised as such).  They are listed at 0.9 g/cm³ rather than 0.8 g/cm³.  I know that Vadim (aka "Wootz" R.I.P.) warned that the higher density felt wheels were too hard for mainstream knives, but worked good for very hard "negative burr" steels (see link below).  I can't say if this is true or not as I have only used the durofelt rock-hard wheel at 0.75g/cm³ and can say that it does work good on mainstream knives.

https://youtu.be/5iqnvD8_M2k?t=659 (https://youtu.be/5iqnvD8_M2k?t=659)

Beaker.

Hello Baker,

thanks for your info and the link (R.I.P. Vadim)!

There would also be the possibility of ordering an "Extra Hard" (approx. 0.68 - 0.72) DM 250x30mm.

https://www.mototechnica-shop.de/Filzscheibe-Filzpolierscheibe-Filzrad-Filzscheibe-Filzpolierscheibe-30mm-breit-sehr-hart-glatt--30-mm-breit--Durchmesser-waehlbar-Glanzpolieren-Polierfilz.html

greeting
Thomas

I wonder what the advantage of a rock hard felt wheel has over the standard leather wheel when installed on a Tormek.

Quote from: jeffs55 on March 09, 2022, 01:09:23 PM
I wonder what the advantage of a rock hard felt wheel has over the standard leather wheel when installed on a Tormek.

Felt can do a better job of deburring.  (Do a Google search on deburring with felt... there's a lot of info on it...).  ::)

I too placed an order with Knife Grinders for some felt wheels. Sadly, with the passing of Vadim, it is doubtful I will receive my order. On the advice of Ken (administrator) I have made contact with KG via PayPal, whom I used to pay for the wheels and am waiting on a response.

In the meantime I have read some of the informative feedback through this forum, so thanks to you all.

I have come across this company (China) and am wondering if any of our Tormek Community members have used their felt wheels. Here is the link.

https://www.puruipolishing.com/product/felt-knife-sharpening-wheels/
https://www.puruipolishing.com/product/10-inch-rock-hard-felt-wheel/

Any thought or comments?

I think the density of 65 felt is too small.

Dave,

I have no first hand experience with this company; however, I do have a felt wheel that I purchased from Knife Grinders. Vadim advised me that my order would be delayed because the first batch of fifty was not up to his standards. I believe the problem was the width of the wheel. 50mm was too wide to allow enough threading space for the EZYlock. (The 50mm Tormek wheels are indented on the size.)
The new KG felt wheels were 45mm wide, allowing the EZYlock to work properly. The wheels you are looking at are Australian wool and 45mm wide. My guess is that this company made these wheels for Knife Grinders. They are the closest match I have seen to the KG wheels.

Ken

I have copied and pasted the reply from http://www.puruipolishing.com/ meaning they can manufacture to a harder density.

The density of the felt wheel we quoted you yesterday is 0.65g/cm³, same as knifegrinders KG Australia.

The density 0.8g/cm³ can be made, and the unit price is USD120/pc for size 250mm x 45mm x 12mm arbor hole(square edge type). And the unit price is USD70/pc for size 240mm x 25mm x 12mm arbor hole (double tapered type).

Lead time 15-20 days.

Quote from: Beaker on February 20, 2022, 04:05:26 AM
I have one of the 10" x 2" Rock Hard Durofelt wheels.  My observation and experience are as follows:

1. The wheel was well made, true and straight (See Image 1)
2. The wheel actual dimensions were 254.6mm diameter and 52.5mm thick
3. Wheel had a mass of 2,004 grams, volume of 2,667 cm^3 for a density of 0.75g/cm^3 (Advertised as 0.80 g/cm^3)
4. The wheel has a 1" (25.4mm) central hole diameter that is adapted to the Tormek shaft (12mm) via two pre-installed felt bushings (See Image 2)
5. The felt bushings fit very nice and snug on the Tormek shaft, so snug that I had to spin the wheel over the threads rather than just push it on the shaft (same upon removal) - I found this quite annoying when placing and removing the wheel, so I replaced the felt bushings with an aluminum bushing (OD= 25.4mm ID= 12.1mm) (Image 2)
6. The excess width of the wheel (52.5mm) meant that it actually could not fit on the Tormek with the standard spacer as there were no exposed threads to install the knurled nut (Image 3)
7.  I therefore replaced the standard spacer with a 12M stainless steel fender washer to gain enough space back to get some exposed threads (Image 4 and Image 5)
8. The wheel has a slight wobble, but nothing that affects the results of deburring.

Beaker.

Where did you get the aluminum bushing?  Also, could you have reduced the bushing length and some of the felt, enough to fit the stock spacer?

So, is Durofelt now the best source for the felt wheels or does Schleif Junkies have them in the 2" width?

Don't know if anyone has posted this.  I just had a conversation with Asha from DuroFelt.  He didn't anticipate the need for these wheels and could only fill a couple of orders.  He placed a new order with his supplier, however he won't receive them until June, at the earliest at this point.  He already has a couple of back orders, so if you want a wheel, get your order in now and be patient.  Hope this helps.

Yes, that's it, Durofelt.  Is .80 the same as the KG density?

On YouTube https://youtu.be/5iqnvD8_M2k starting 8:44 min. Vadim explains which felt hardness to choose. 0,6 g/cm³ to 0,8 g/cm³ is fine.

Regards
Drilon

Dave Cummins, I have purchased from http://www.puruipolishing.com/  . Still waiting for product to arrive here to NORFOLK ISLAND though , been about a month now. I dealt with an Alan Chang who was very helpful. I got sick of waiting so have now ordered some from Durofelt. It will be very interesting to compare the two. Both priced about the same.
Hope this helps a little bit.
Regards
Dan