Serrated or smooth 8" wheel?

Kevin McGovern

Kevin McGovern

Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
3,118
Looking for input. Serrated or smooth, for an 8" contact wheel. Also, should I be looking at a inch? I'm wanting to use it for profiling and handle shaping to start, hollow grinding down the road perhaps.
 
I would get the biggest wheel you can afford. I have an 8" and am wanting a 10" or 12" now for hollow grinds. A serrated wheel cuts more aggressive and will run cooler so if I only had 1 I would choose the serrated.
 
Matt R said:
I would get the biggest wheel you can afford. I have an 8" and am wanting a 10" or 12" now for hollow grinds. A serrated wheel cuts more aggressive and will run cooler so if I only had 1 I would choose the serrated.
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can you finish grit grind with the serrated or is smooth required?
 
I dont like serrated wheels period .. And definiatly dont like it for hollow grinding , Especially with fine grits or something like a J weight backing . Buy as many wheels as you can afford but a 8 and 10 wheel give a nice deep hollow I have a 12 and I dont use it much .
 
I have a 14" I bought for kitchen cutlery but I haven't had a chance to try it. May try to buy a 20" also.
Tim
 
Smooth all the way. Serrated is better for hugging but using both side to side in 8" I couldn't tell a difference, however in finish quality smooth won out by far

Contact George at northridge he just finished a batch of contact wheels in 10". Vulcanize rubber not poly, balanced, spacer in between bearings so you can't seize up the races, and cheaper than Beaumont and finished much nicer.
 
I have a 6 smooth, 10 smooth, 12 serrated. If I could go back I would have bought a 12 smooth. You can feel the serrations with j weight belts when hollow grinding and I don't really see any improvement in aggressiveness or how cool it runs. All wheels run cool compared to a platen. I can and do hollow grind with it but I won't be buying any more serrated wheels.
 
I have three contact wheels, each one for different purposes.

6 inch, perfect for handle shaping and getting the nice waist on the handle
8 inch, hogging out profiles
10 inch, hollow grinding

They are all smooth, I don't find that the upsides of a serrated one outweighs the downsides.
 
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Perfect timing on this question. About to buy my first contact wheel and was about to bu a serrated wheel. Going for the smooth...
 
If you can only buy one contact wheel then I recommend a 10 inch smooth contact wheel. With it you can make smooth hollow grinds and do fine finishing and get excellent results. If you make deep full hollow grinds with an 8 inch wheel you run the risk of getting the center of your hollows too thin and sometimes will burn a small hole when finishing with fine belts going too fast. A 10 inch wheel will allow a higher grind and a shallower hollow and is less prone to problems in my opinion. Larry P.S. In previous forum posts I have said that Bader wheels are the best and worth the money and I truly believe that but in all fairness I have purchased 5 contact wheels from Beaumont Metal Specialties and all five have been well finished, well balanced, and trouble free for the last 7 years. I am fortunate to be financially secure and I will probably buy only Bader wheels in the future as I have two already and they are excellent wheels. Just my opinion. LL



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