Wanted: 6" aluminum wheel for surface grinder

Bruce Bump

Bruce Bump

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Dec 2, 1999
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I want to convert my surface grinder to an abrasive belt system so I need a wheel with a 1 1/4" bore. I will also need an adjustable tracking system.
 
Hi Bruce,

Might I make a couple of suggestions? First I suggest a wheel with a hard rubber tire or a steel one. The reason that I say this is that the aluminum wheel I first tried would get little marks in it from the belt splice when it came around and hit the piece I was grinding. If you could get a wheel made with 7076 T* aluminum this may not happen. The second suggestion is to get a second hub to mount you belt wheel to so that if you need/want to got to a stone for accuracy then you just switch out the hub with the wheel for the one with the stone. in this way you dont have to redress your wheel when you remount the wheel. I used rob frink traking assembly and idler wheel on my conversion and a grizzley contact wheel.
 
I'm with Bill on the wheel. All the surface grinders using belts I've seen, are using hard rubber wheels. You can get the wheel from Bader. The belt splice is going to be a pain and most guys will scrape the grit off the splice to give a better finish on fine work. Also a 1" wheel with split belts seems work very good. I'm stickin with the stone :)
 
Yea, Don

I am sticking with the stone too. After I used the belt system for awhile I found that a stone is way more accurate than the belt setup.
 
I should just get a better stone I guess. What do you all suggest? Norton? Grit? I dont have a coolant system.

My surface grinder is actually a Cinnicatti tool post grinder that has been modified by Boing back in 1977. Its really universal. I can leave the stone on one end and the rubber wheel on the other end and simply rotate the whole head around the other way.


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Bruce,

No one stone will work for everything. I like the norton stone best myself especially the 5sg seeded gel stones but these are really expensive about 80 bucks from a standard supplier. I have bought a few off e bay for about 25 bucks apiece. You will want at the very least a soft stone for hard steel and a hard stone for soft material. I find that a 46 grit will leave a finish that I can see my reflection in. and a 80 grit will leave a good enough finish on damascus to go right into the etch.
the down side to stones is that you are linited to taking small cuts <.005 at a time. I normally take no more than.002 at a time when HOGGING off material and .0002 or less when finishing. I in feed about .020 at a time and work across the piece from one side to the other before setting down for the next pass across my work. I have my table set for the fastest x feed that it will do. on the last pass let the stone "spark out" that is keep going back and forth across the piece without using any down feed until you can detect no sparks from the stone.

good luck if I can help feel free to give me a call.
 
You know your stones Bill. I've never studied their intended use. This grinder came with one stone and it works OK but theres no way I can go right into the etch no matter how slow I go or light on removal. I will look for the seeded gel stones. Thanks man.

Its not as precise as yours I would imagine it made for hogging metal. My dials have .001" incrediments and I can split that but once in awhile it seems to hop past and grab more steel. I suspect its more of a heating problem than mechanical on the down feed screw though. Without a coolant system it can make the work grow and grab the wheel. I just use koolmist in a spray bottle. Someday I can get an auto feed like yours.
 
Bill Burke said:
Bruce,

No one stone will work for everything. I like the norton stone best myself especially the 5sg seeded gel stones but these are really expensive about 80 bucks from a standard supplier. I have bought a few off e bay for about 25 bucks apiece. You will want at the very least a soft stone for hard steel and a hard stone for soft material. I find that a 46 grit will leave a finish that I can see my reflection in. and a 80 grit will leave a good enough finish on damascus to go right into the etch.
the down side to stones is that you are linited to taking small cuts <.005 at a time. I normally take no more than.002 at a time when HOGGING off material and .0002 or less when finishing. I in feed about .020 at a time and work across the piece from one side to the other before setting down for the next pass across my work. I have my table set for the fastest x feed that it will do. on the last pass let the stone "spark out" that is keep going back and forth across the piece without using any down feed until you can detect no sparks from the stone.

good luck if I can help feel free to give me a call.
Click to expand...

I take about .015 to .020 deep at a time and get excellent results.
feed is about .02.
I know that sounds strange and unusual but do a search on www.practicalmachinist.com for details. it works and I get a great finnish.
Michael
www.adammichaelknives.com
 
adammichael said:
I take about .015 to .020 deep at a time and get excellent results.
feed is about .02.
I know that sounds strange and unusual but do a search on www.practicalmachinist.com for details. it works and I get a great finnish.
Michael
www.adammichaelknives.com
Click to expand...

Hi adam,

I am a member there I go by steel pounder. I have tried taking larger cuts with my machine and found that it just don't work well for me I even put a cooler on and still get poor results with that large of a cut. the smallest set over Imy machine wil go is .016. probably my stone selection.
 
Bruce a good stone makes all the difference. I'm using a Norton 46 induced porosity? (I can get the numbers of a stone tomorrow). May be the same stone Bill uses but seems the last I got were $40+ from MSC. Is the only stone I use.
 
Michael
You are getting .015 a pass with a stone??
I can not get more than .002 or so. But I am only using the stone I got w the purchase of the surface grinder.
Don Definitely interested in what stones you are using. Maybe its the stone I am using.
I have read guys who converted their surface grinders to work w a belt getting .015 per pass though.
Chris
 
Good link, Michael. I grind the same way but dry and take .005" down, with a .025"+/- infeed. I get a pretty nice finish with a 46 grit wheel, when I drop back on the infeed.
 
Don Hanson III said:
Good link, Michael. I grind the same way but dry and take .005" down, with a .025"+/- infeed. I get a pretty nice finish with a 46 grit wheel, when I drop back on the infeed.
Click to expand...

Don, there are several Norton 46 grit wheels on ebay right now. Did you get a chance to find that part number from MSC? Is you wheel 1/4" wide? These are 1/4" grey colored.
 
Bruce, the wheel I use is a Norton 32A 46-GVBEP. 7"dia. X 1/2" wide. Grey color.

I get em from MSC but watch for their 30-40% off sales, they've been doing that alot lately.

I grind all the parts for 4 or 5 folders before it needs dressing. One wheel last me about a year, if not a little longer.

I never had any luck with cheaper wheels or finer grit wheels. Might work fine with coolant but I grind dry.
 
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Don Hanson III said:
Good link, Michael. I grind the same way but dry and take .005" down, with a .025"+/- infeed. I get a pretty nice finish with a 46 grit wheel, when I drop back on the infeed.
Click to expand...

Have you ever tied .015 down, .015 infeed? Give it a try if you get a chance.
Michael
 
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