Got my contact wheel set-up

Gossman Knives

Gossman Knives

Edged Toolmaker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
9,430
I finally got my additional tool arm to set up my 10" contact wheel I got from Nathan House. That bad boy tracks like dream. Smooth as a baby's butt. :D When I get caught up a little I'll be able to try it out. I'm taking a vacation in April, so I'll have time then.
Here's a pic of it on the KMG.

wheel.JPG


Scott
 
Mike, it looks white in the pic, it's actually yellow. It's a smooth not serrated hard rubber contact wheel.
Scott
 
Ah, interesting. I'd not seen one like that. Thought maybe it was some type of lowrider grinder.
Hard wheels will give you a better finish, but more care must be taken in getting there.:eek:;):D
 
Thanks. ;) It will be interesting to see what I end up with. :eek: :D
Scott
 
That's great! I'm happy that you have it on the new tooling arm and ready to go. Don't forget what happened to me on my new disc. Try some scrap first and get the feel of it.
 
Don't be like me and use a square platen for a while, and got used to holding the blade steady with my fingers wrapped around the back side of the platen to steady the blade. And then put on a contact wheel and "almost" reach to put my fingers back there!!! Close, but no lost fingers yet!!! I can imagine what it could do if you got your finger between the belt and contact wheel!!!
Img0245.jpg
 
HOGCAT said:
I can imagine what it could do if you got your finger between the belt and contact wheel!!!
Click to expand...
I think it'd be a couple weeks before you were grinding again. :D

Scott that's a nice looking wheel. Do you know the durometer?
 
ddavelarsen said:
I think it'd be a couple weeks before you were grinding again. :D

Scott that's a nice looking wheel. Do you know the durometer?
Click to expand...
Dave, don't mean to sound dumb but what's a durometer? Something I'm gonna need?
Scott
 
Hogcat, that's looks like a bad situation. :eek: I'll be sure to watch the ol fingers.
Scott
 
Mike the Wheel is Yellow it was made by Bertie Rietveld of South Africa IMO he makes the best wheels out there,and they do track and run like a dream,All the wheels I use Frequently come from Bertie some of the smoothed wheels I have ever ground on.I am glade you like it Scott :)
 
Razorback - Knives said:
Dave, don't mean to sound dumb but what's a durometer? Something I'm gonna need?
Scott
Click to expand...
Scott, it's a measure of hardness in rubber. I guess the average contact wheel would be somewhere around 70 durometer, and if it's real hard, maybe 90.
You can push a fingernail into a 70 without too much effort, but on a 90, it's getting pretty hard to make the same indentation.

Grizzly wheels are about 60 durometer. Pretty soft, comparitively speaking.

A soft wheel is easier to grind with, but like I said above, you get a better finish with the harder wheel, but more care is needed as they are less forgiving, and can cut a notch real fast where one wasn't wanted.

It's no problem, just use normal precations grinding and you'll be fine.

Bertie Reitveld should have the durometers of his wheels listed on his site, if not, just email him if you really want to know.

It's only of importance if you wish to get another contact wheel, and want it the same as you have, softer, or harder, and need to know which way to go as far as durometer goes. Gives you a baseline, so to speak.

http://www.batavia.co.za/International%20Wheels.htm
 
Thank you very much Mike. ;) I appreciate the info. See, that's what's great about this forum, some much I still need to learn. :) and very helpfull people willing to share.
Nathan, thank you again, I am extremely pleased. ;)
Scott
 
Mike thanks. I can never remember whether mine's 70 or 90, but I think it's 70. I've often thought of getting one harder, which is why I'm always asking that question. I don't think you'd want a serrated wheel like mine to be harder than it is though. Seems like that would just be asking for trouble.

Do you suppose there's any difference in its hogging? What I mean is, would a harder serrated wheel cut faster than a softer one? It's not really something I'm thinking about changing, just curious how durometer affects things like that. I also think any splice bump would be worse on a harder wheel, and maybe more pronounced on a smooth wheel. ?? So a harder smooth wheel might really bump?

One of these days I'm going for a 14 incher and I want it do be juuuusssst riiiighhht...

:D

I'll probably always do profiling on the serrated 10" wheel though.
 
Dave I learned a new term through this thread. Thanks. I had no idea what that meant. A new experience for me, hollow grinding. Quite honestly, I'm not particularly that fond of the hollow grind but I want to be able to offer it to my customers when I feel I'm ready. I like thicker stronger grinds on my knives. Macho thing I guess. :D I think my wife would say the durometer of my head is 90. :eek: :D :p
Scott
 
ddavelarsen said:
Do you suppose there's any difference in its hogging? What I mean is, would a harder serrated wheel cut faster than a softer one? It's not really something I'm thinking about changing, just curious how durometer affects things like that. I also think any splice bump would be worse on a harder wheel, and maybe more pronounced on a smooth wheel. ?? So a harder smooth wheel might really bump?

One of these days I'm going for a 14 incher and I want it do be juuuusssst riiiighhht...
................
Click to expand...
Dave, I've never had a problem with the spliced area bumping on any wheel. You have to get the belts from people that cater to knifemakers, they specify the correct type of splice.;)

Tru Grit, and Pops would be a couple of good places. Many of Tru Grits are finger spliced, and I think that's the best, although you can't really do that with the X weight belts.
It does work well on J weight though.

Higher durometer makes for sharper grind lines/cuts, as it deforms less, but I don't know how it affects speed of cut. Not much I'd bet.

My 10" smooth wheel on my Burr King is about 80 durometer, and I have no trouble at all hogging off material.

My 14" wheel is 90 durometer, but I don't have a lot of experience with it yet. I don't forsee any problems though.:eek::D
 
Yeah, I've been buying my belts from TruGrit for years and they're great. But even butt spliced, the "tape" that covers the joint is enough to make a bump on the thinner belts, especially on the 5/8" wheel. I wonder if it's harder than my 10"? I bought them at the same time from the same place but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Anyway I don't think there's any getting around the bump on the small wheel. It's only an issue on the finer grits and I've just learned to cut lightly and finish by hand. I've never seen finger spliced belts but that sounds like an excellent way to get a good joint.

Thanks!
 
ddavelarsen said:
Yeah, I've been buying my belts from TruGrit for years and they're great. But even butt spliced, the "tape" that covers the joint is enough to make a bump on the thinner belts, especially on the 5/8" wheel. I wonder if it's harder than my 10"? I bought them at the same time from the same place but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Anyway I don't think there's any getting around the bump on the small wheel. It's only an issue on the finer grits and I've just learned to cut lightly and finish by hand. I've never seen finger spliced belts but that sounds like an excellent way to get a good joint.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
No there's no way to get around that on the small wheel. The joint splice is over half the diameter of the wheel, and the joints are notorious for putting divits in your work with a small wheel.
I run a 5/8" wheel very slow, and lift the work off the wheel when the joint comes around.
On VS, it's pretty easy to see the joint approaching, and you just lift the work for a second, and place it back when the joint passes. If you have trouble seeing it, just make a line across the joint with chalk.
It makes a bit of difference.

My small wheels are very hard, harder than my contact wheels.
 
Mike Hull said:
On VS, it's pretty easy to see the joint approaching, and you just lift the work for a second, and place it back when the joint passes. If you have trouble seeing it, just make a line across the joint with chalk.
It makes a bit of difference.
Click to expand...

!!! Of course !!! Man what a great idea! I'll do that and am forever grateful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top