Radiused contact wheel... will it work?

REK Knives

REK Knives

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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I read that I can true up a contact wheel w/ a file (or a lathe). What I'm wondering is if I can put a slight radius on my contact wheel, essentially 'crowning' although the purpose isn't for tracking but rather to make grinding steep recurves easier and smoother.

Will this work or would the belt not 'wrap' around the wheel since the center of the belt will be tighter than the outer edges?
 
For your purposes i'd suggest keeping the belt centered and using a thinner wheel than your belts. This way you can crown it radically.
On the contrary you can get by, but you are compensating tracking and always have to find out the right equilibrium for each side...likewise bike riding on a small rake angle
 
i tried it, it made the plunges a little easier and smoother, but it make it harder to fix other stuff because there is no hard edge to concentrate any force in a particular area. i hang a 220 j flex about 1/8"- 3/16" over the edge of the wheel for doing plunges. it rounds over when you push into it and makes a smooth plunge.
 
Thanks guys. Yeah I already have a 1" wheel but would be nice to radius one lightly and keep it as a dedicated recurve wheel. I'll probably go for it with a poly wheel (pretty cheap) and see what happens!
 
Depending on the Belt, yes it will conform just fine. I've done something similar with no problems on a 5 inch radius.
 
JMJones said:
They use one on Man at Arms Reforged, I don't remember what episode.
Click to expand...
Was going to say the exact same thing! That micro belt/radius wheel right? That they use for cleaning up fullers. I've seen it on a couple episodes but forget where they really talk about its uses. Here's some info in their 360 shop tour

Start at 2:20
 
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