im planning to make a KMG-style grinder and i just wanted to know how the different wheels looks like in profile? (how the should be machined). how does the drivewheel look like? and the top wheel where the spring is? ive read one of the wheels should be thicker at the middle, which one should be thicker in the middle?
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question about different kinds of grinding wheels
- Thread starter M Wadel
- Start date
- it is considered beneficial to have drive and tracking wheels "Crowned" a bit - where the middle of the surface is elevated in relation to the edges.
1 degree angle is what some use . This helps with tracking
- the edges on both driving and tracking wheels are sometimes recessed (rounded off). It also helps with tracking
- you want all the wheels to be as light as possible, as long as you don't sacrifice strength. Spinning extra mass is just a waste of energy. So you commonly see the outer (contact area) rim and inner (spindle) area left strong, while other areas are "shallow"
And some more on wheels :
- there're serrated contact wheels out there. They cut more aggressively,
stay cooler and give some extra life to belts - but you woudn't use them
for final finish, only for hogging
- tracking and driving wheels are "bare" most of the time, exposed metal surfaces. Steel and Al are used most of the time
- contact wheels are typically rubber-covered, as it gives you much smoother
grind
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1 degree angle is what some use . This helps with tracking
- the edges on both driving and tracking wheels are sometimes recessed (rounded off). It also helps with tracking
- you want all the wheels to be as light as possible, as long as you don't sacrifice strength. Spinning extra mass is just a waste of energy. So you commonly see the outer (contact area) rim and inner (spindle) area left strong, while other areas are "shallow"
And some more on wheels :
- there're serrated contact wheels out there. They cut more aggressively,
stay cooler and give some extra life to belts - but you woudn't use them
for final finish, only for hogging
- tracking and driving wheels are "bare" most of the time, exposed metal surfaces. Steel and Al are used most of the time
- contact wheels are typically rubber-covered, as it gives you much smoother
grind
-
I've got a bunch fo pretty detailed photos and explainations in my grinder build thread at another forum. There are probably a couple good photos of the drive and idler wheels I bought from Rob Frink as well as some photos of the idler wheel spring setup and tracking setup.
I need to actually post some final pictures and explainations of wiring....maybe this weekend.
Hope it helps.
-d
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,500
This brings up a question I've been wondering about lately: can a contact wheel be used as a drive wheel?
I have one of those Sears Craftsman 2x42 grinders, and would like the ability to hollow-grind. I've tried grinding on the drive wheel, but it's VERY rough going; the work bounces all over the place. Then I saw that link to the SunRay custom wheels, which got me to thinking...
gryffin -
use my "CrazY" advise - apply 5-10 layers of duct tape to that wheel,
nice & tight, and give it a try. It should now grind like a champ.
Apply it as a continious strip, keep it aligned (use edges as indicators).
Make the end stop just before the starting point - this way it will have
uniform thickness all around.
If it doesn't work, removal won't take long at all. Wipe off gooey residue,
if any, with some WD40.
When you fire it up 1st time, stand to the side for a min, just in case.
To answer your question - yes, Grizzly, for example, uses the driving-contact-wheel design. Coote too ?
use my "CrazY" advise - apply 5-10 layers of duct tape to that wheel,
nice & tight, and give it a try. It should now grind like a champ.
Apply it as a continious strip, keep it aligned (use edges as indicators).
Make the end stop just before the starting point - this way it will have
uniform thickness all around.
If it doesn't work, removal won't take long at all. Wipe off gooey residue,
if any, with some WD40.
When you fire it up 1st time, stand to the side for a min, just in case.
To answer your question - yes, Grizzly, for example, uses the driving-contact-wheel design. Coote too ?
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,500
Thanks for the tip, Rashid! I'd try it, but... the housing around the wheel doesn't have enough room for duct tape! It's not a great design, that way.
(Heck, it didn't have room for the 40-grit belt, either. I fixed that by doing something similar to your advice, but with thin masking tape, and the 80-grit belt. Kept building it up in one spot, then running the 80-grit to remove a little off the inside of the housing, lather, rinse repeat. Took about a half hour, but the 40-grit belt fits now. Barely!)
The Sears 2x42 runs damn fast, too; I'm thinking of getting a SunRay wheel in a smaller diameter, to slow things down a bit, and avoid that clearance problem.
(Heck, it didn't have room for the 40-grit belt, either. I fixed that by doing something similar to your advice, but with thin masking tape, and the 80-grit belt. Kept building it up in one spot, then running the 80-grit to remove a little off the inside of the housing, lather, rinse repeat. Took about a half hour, but the 40-grit belt fits now. Barely!)
The Sears 2x42 runs damn fast, too; I'm thinking of getting a SunRay wheel in a smaller diameter, to slow things down a bit, and avoid that clearance problem.
