radiused contact wheels for smooth plunge lines...photos of radius?

LARRYZ10

LARRYZ10

Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Messages
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I want to radius my 8 inch contact wheel and David Sharp of Sharpwerks e-mailed me a description of how to do it. I am ready to try it but I would feel more comfortable if I had a photo of a contact wheel that has been radiused. Do any of you have a photo of a radiused wheel without the belt on it? Any advice on this subject would be appreciated. Thank you, Larry
 
Unless you have a way to radius the belt edge, it won't really solve your problem. In my opinion, it will just create another problem.

Most folks just use a less stiff belt type and track it a tad off the edge of the wheel....and a carbide grinding guide/jig clamped to the blade.
 
I use the way bladsmth recommended a less stiff belt type and track it a tad off the edge of the wheel....and a carbide grinding guide/jig clamped to the blade. I recently got a carbide guide from Bruce Bump its an awesome tool for the shop and I swear less now.
 
I have been using 60 grit blaze and a Norton blue belts to rough out my hollow grinds which also cuts the plunge line. Lately I have been 80 grit Cubitron and also 80 grit ceramic belts in place of a 60 grit . I grind one side at a time with a belt overlap of about 1/16th of an inch. My plunge lines look good but I seen very stylish curved plunge lines that look killer and I wanted to try a radiused wheel. I think I will just continue the way I have been doing it since you all have recommended just using a thinner belt. Thank you all for your comments. Larry Lehman
 
Maybe try a radiused platen first and see how you like it. I rounded out the corners on mine and like it very well.
 
If you get closer, it's easy to clean the plunges up and even them out with some of those tizact belts. I'm saying to use a 30, or a 22, or even a 16, and these are long lasting belts that won't wear out just doing a few of these. Frank
 
Frank, Are the Trizact belts the same as the "gator" belts. I have been using them but the ones I use have a grit size on the back. What is a 30,22, and 16. Are these microns? Are we talking about the same belts. Mine have a raised surface with little geometric rectangles on them. Where do you buy yours? Thanks, Larry Lehman
 
Most gator and trizac belts have the grit size marked in microns. A300-200-200-60-30-16-9-A6 which is roughly 60 grit to 2000 grit. The fact that micron size and grit size go in reverse size order can be confusing. Micron is a measurement of how large the particle is. Grit size is a measurement of how many particles fit in a certain area. To complicate that even more, the CAMI ( US grit measurement system) and "P" ( European system) also don't match. US grit size ( marked as just a number) is not the same, but often are purchased without knowing that fact.
Thus ( roughly):
P50=60grit=A300
P100=100=A150
P240=240=A60
P400=320=A30
P800=400=A22
P1000=600-A16
P2500=1200=A9
 
the fact that gators cut much smoother then the grit rating also makes things fun. i hog with 50 and then clean up with 120 then work my way down the gators starting from 300 and going down to 65 before using a scotch brite belt for belt finish(the scotch belt is loaded with a grey buffing compound )
 
Stacy, Thank you for taking the time to list the grit equivalents to these belt types. I will print it and sleeve it in plastic along with my tap and die chart and fractional to decimal conversion chart. I was a white collar guy all my working life but I always wanted to learn the skills of blue collar guys who I envied for most of my career. Finding out which belts I can use really helps. I have received 2 different opinions about the grits of Norax belts that Tracy Mickley likes but I pretty much know to start at X100 after 120 grit and work down to X16. The guys on this forum are a valuable resource and make my hobby much more enjoyable. Thank you all. By the way I had just registered as a gold member when the differences in subscription were explained to me and I will be subscribing to the forum as a knife maker when the time comes up. I found out I was a knife maker when I started buying sandpaper a hundred sheets at a time. When someone says "get a clue" I guess they are talking about me. Thanks, Larry Lehman
 
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