CBN tormek wheels

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cap'njake

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Aug 15, 2016
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I'm looking at buying a tormek t8 and found out there are people making cbn wheels for the tormek. I was kinda hoping somebody could tell me how well the cbn wheels hold up and how well they cut. So does anybody have these wheels and use them for sharpening?
 
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What I can tell you is that the woodworking hand tool community really goes for these. You might want to check out those chat rooms. For knives I have never really felt the need for power tool grinders for a regular touch up sharpening method . . . for the once in a great while hard core reprofiling maybe . . . nah . . . the last hard core knife I reprofiled, S110V, I just did on a DMT 220 bench stone, the 10 inch stone. Went really well and surprisingly fast. Absolutely no need for electric power.

I know of one woodworking bloger person who is all about the CBNs and the Tormek.
I will go look for a link. If I find it I will post it here.
 
CBN is better then diamond for sure if heat is going to generated when working with the diamond or CBN,diamond gets soft when it get's hot where as CBN has a higher threshold before it get's soft from heat,CBN when used in power grinding stay's harder then diamond because of it's better heat threshold.

I also got some Metallic Bonded CBN stones for my K02 you want to read that thread I created.
 
Wowbagger said:
What I can tell you is that the woodworking hand tool community really goes for these. You might want to check out those chat rooms. For knives I have never really felt the need for power tool grinders for a regular touch up sharpening method . . . for the once in a great while hard core reprofiling maybe . . . nah . . . the last hard core knife I reprofiled, S110V, I just did on a DMT 220 bench stone, the 10 inch stone. Went really well and surprisingly fast. Absolutely no need for electric power.

I know of one woodworking bloger person who is all about the CBNs and the Tormek.
I will go look for a link. If I find it I will post it here.
Click to expand...
The need arises when sharpening the quantity that I am sharpening. If I was just touching up my own tools then I sharpen on a stone. I am curious because I sharpen on belts for a lot of people and I have saved up a pretty good chunk of money and want to upgrade my sharpening set up because I also sharpen more than just knives. I am more curious on the use of cbn wheels for knives and if there is any reason people aren't using them. I can find a ton of reasons to use them with little to no downside besides cost. And really they should be cheaper in the long run because they last longer. Also now you can get up to 1200 grit wheels which for the average person is a good place to stop for most knives.
 
The only thing I read when researching Metallic Bonded CBN witch is most likely what your wheel will be made of,I read in a woodworking article online that the person said he had different CBN wheels and some only lasted a year and some were only half worn out after 6 years,from what I understand Poltava diamond tool's is supposed to be the leader in making Metallic Bonded diamond or CBN stuff,the only I can say is check out the wheel your going to be getting and see if you can find who makes the wheel and then see what their stuff is like if you can because I know the guy who got the one CBN wheel the that wore out after a years was not impressed with it and it was the same grit as his second wheel that leasted years so far and still has ton's of life in it,he was using his CBN stuff to sharpen chisel's and said he used them almost everyday.
 
We've been using CBN wheels with Tormek T-7 & 8 over 2 years, and probably i can help you avoid some issues inevitable with them.
But as soon as you sort those out, knives sharpening on Tormek equipped with CBN wheels comes to an unprecedented precision, we now routinely return customers knives sharper than razors

Issue #1 - rust; countermeasure - get all-aluminium wheels, we get ours from https://woodturnerswonders.com/
Issue #2 - wheels surface is not always flat and this is a real trouble, as the manufacturing process seems to load a thicker CBN layer at the wheel corners ; countermeasure - ask a trusted seller to check the wheel for flatness before dispatching to you - Ken from the above has been extremely helpful.
Issue #3 - warranty voided if run wet; countermeasure - run wet only at low speed, and do not let the wheels sit in the water in between sharpening.
We actually use with CBN wheels on Tormek not the water but a metalworking fluid dissolved twice (e.g. if recommended is 1:20 we dissolve 1:40).
Finally, the CBN wheel grit selection - this is different for woodworking tools vs knives; ask us
 
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The Tormek forum has a few threads on them us and others sharing their experience, feel free to ask here or personally if any uncertainties left
 
wootzblade said:
The Tormek forum has a few threads on them us and others sharing their experience, feel free to ask here or personally if any uncertainties left
Click to expand...
Thank you for the info. Is there any idea how many sharpenings you get out of a wheel? It seems like nobody ever wears one out.
 
I can't tell you how long they will last for sure but from it seems like hey will out last a standard water stone many times over,I don't think wearing them out fast is going to be a problem I think the bigger problem will be is if you get a CBN wheel from a company that makes good wheels,remeber my comment before about the woodworker who has gotten 6 years out of one and use's it almost everyday to re-sharpen files.
 
I can only join to that said by Mr wade7575 - CBN wheels outlast the Tormek stock stone wheel while costing less. The newer generation of electroplated CBN lasts longer.
I haven't replaced mine in 2 years yet, though do see the cutting speed lessening.
The Tormek stock stone wheel lasts for 1000 knives; we've sharpened on our CBN wheels x10 times that.

As in Australia we do not have a stripped Tormek offering, I have a problem disposing those stone wheels that came with Tormeks we bought recently
 
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