- Joined
- Sep 4, 2010
- Messages
- 2,896
Before I picked up my 1x30, I read about the many potential benefits of water cooled grinding. I see them as:
-Much harder to burn the edge, ruin temper during sharpening/regrinds
-Grind longer without having to dunk blade in water in between passes or stopping to allow blade to cool
-Less chance of any thermal shock due to rapid heating/cooling cycles
-Belt throws fewer sparks
-Less dust, etc. in the air
-Less mess, easier clean up
-Belts cut more efficiently, last longer
It sounded promising enough that I decided to come up with something for wet grinding on my 1x30. Here is a very simple solution that works for me. It literally only cost me a few dollars as I already had most of the stuff on hand.
Materials:
Standard 1/4" airline/vinyl tubing
1/4" barbed micro shut-off, adjustable valve (paid $2.79 for a 5-pack)
Optional shut off valve.
Soda bottle with lid
Tape/sealent...
The idea is just a gravity fed drip line. I decided to set the line by drilling a hole through the spark shield. I know a lot of folks take this off and throw it away, but it seemed ideal for what I wanted to do.
Drill a 1/4" hole in the shield (I may drill another hole so that the water hits the belt closer to the vertical drop, but it works fine where it is):
Install in-line barbed micro valve and feed into previously drilled hole, should fit snugly:
Install the second in-line shut off valve (I had the one pictured below already, but a second micro valve would also work). I use it as an on/off so I can set the micro for fine control and leave it:
Drill another hole into the bottle cap and feed the other end of the tubing through the hole, (total tubing length will vary depending on the individual set-up). Seal connection as desired. I grabbed some electrical tape as the first thing I saw and just left it because it works. The few drips of water that leak from the connection while ginding have never bothered me, (but I did take care to ensure I don't allow any water to drip directly on or near the motor). Also, not having a perfect seal helps relieve some of the negative pressure that builds up in the bottle as water flows through the drip line. This could also be resolved with a second hole near the bottom of the bottle, (on top once inverted,) but it hasn't been necessary for me.
Full rig:
Finally, the bottle just has to be suspended, inverted, above the 1x30 so that once the valves are opened and set at the desired drip rate, gravity will do the rest. I grind in an unfinished shop room in my basement and just wedge the bottle up in the exposed floor joists.
This has worked out quite effectively for me and I realized the majority of the benefits I had read about with very little cost or effort. I can't imagine I'm the first person to do this, but couldn't find anything similar on the forums or youtube, so here it is.
Practice regrind done on the water cooled 1x30:
Thanks for reading and I hope it's helpful to somebody!
:thumbup:
-Nate
-Much harder to burn the edge, ruin temper during sharpening/regrinds
-Grind longer without having to dunk blade in water in between passes or stopping to allow blade to cool
-Less chance of any thermal shock due to rapid heating/cooling cycles
-Belt throws fewer sparks
-Less dust, etc. in the air
-Less mess, easier clean up
-Belts cut more efficiently, last longer
It sounded promising enough that I decided to come up with something for wet grinding on my 1x30. Here is a very simple solution that works for me. It literally only cost me a few dollars as I already had most of the stuff on hand.
Materials:
Standard 1/4" airline/vinyl tubing
1/4" barbed micro shut-off, adjustable valve (paid $2.79 for a 5-pack)
Optional shut off valve.
Soda bottle with lid
Tape/sealent...
The idea is just a gravity fed drip line. I decided to set the line by drilling a hole through the spark shield. I know a lot of folks take this off and throw it away, but it seemed ideal for what I wanted to do.
Drill a 1/4" hole in the shield (I may drill another hole so that the water hits the belt closer to the vertical drop, but it works fine where it is):
Install in-line barbed micro valve and feed into previously drilled hole, should fit snugly:
Install the second in-line shut off valve (I had the one pictured below already, but a second micro valve would also work). I use it as an on/off so I can set the micro for fine control and leave it:
Drill another hole into the bottle cap and feed the other end of the tubing through the hole, (total tubing length will vary depending on the individual set-up). Seal connection as desired. I grabbed some electrical tape as the first thing I saw and just left it because it works. The few drips of water that leak from the connection while ginding have never bothered me, (but I did take care to ensure I don't allow any water to drip directly on or near the motor). Also, not having a perfect seal helps relieve some of the negative pressure that builds up in the bottle as water flows through the drip line. This could also be resolved with a second hole near the bottom of the bottle, (on top once inverted,) but it hasn't been necessary for me.
Full rig:
Finally, the bottle just has to be suspended, inverted, above the 1x30 so that once the valves are opened and set at the desired drip rate, gravity will do the rest. I grind in an unfinished shop room in my basement and just wedge the bottle up in the exposed floor joists.
This has worked out quite effectively for me and I realized the majority of the benefits I had read about with very little cost or effort. I can't imagine I'm the first person to do this, but couldn't find anything similar on the forums or youtube, so here it is.
Practice regrind done on the water cooled 1x30:
Thanks for reading and I hope it's helpful to somebody!
:thumbup:-Nate
Last edited:
