contact wheel sizes

D

dmarx

Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Messages
59
What's the recommended size? Used to use a 10 inch but wasn't too happy with the hollow grind off it. (small hunters) I'm ordering my Cootes and aren't sure what to order. It's not made to change wheel sizes readily.

Dave
 
I prefer larger wheels. 12 or 14 inches for hollow grinding. I also shy away from serrated wheels for this application.
 
Wow, I had seen that mentioned on the forum but had also seen people say as low as 6". I guess I'll go with the 10; the largest the Coontes comes with.

Thanks
 
If you are going to do a lot of work on the grinder,get an assortment. I have from a 1/2" small wheel to a 14". I use the 1",3",6",10",and 14" mostly.There are a lot of profiles that need to be ground. Finger grooves,the radius into the guard,thumb notches,etc.
 
I just watched the video yesterday "The Fine Art of Hollow Grinding with Johnny Stout " and the author stated...14" wheel for a 2" hollow cut, 12" for 1 1/2", 10" for 1", and 8" for 3/4" hollow cut. He didn't have the exact formulas in front of him but he stated that this was a good rule of thumb.

Reid
 
I have only had a grinder for a few months, a Coote with a 10 inch wheel. I hadn't heard of that formula before, but it seems to be about what I have found by trial and error.

For those that don't know, the Coote does not have the facility to fit loads of different wheels. If you are adventureous, and a handy machinist type, you could probably make some new holes in the frame to allow you to fit an 8" wheel even if you bought the grinder with the 10" one, but I doubt you could go as far as modifying for the 6" wheel.

Using the 10" wheel is a little frustrating for handle work since my style of handles can be shaped better with an 8" wheel. Also, I am a flat grind fan, so have been using the wheel to hog off most of the material before just truing up on the platten. The 10 is too big to do much flat grinding in line with the wheel, the transition from bevel to ricasso just takes too long, or so it seems, but then on a longer blade you don't get as much of a problem with taking divots out as you would if flat grinding on a small wheel.

I still am not sure whether I would have been better with the 8", only time will tell:rolleyes: I might have a go at modifying my grinder to take the smaller wheel, but probably not this year. I hope you have good luck with whatever you decided on:)

Chris
 
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