Wet grinding

Stromberg Knives

Stromberg Knives

strombergknives.com
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Jan 3, 2015
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I'm looking into getting some sort of wet grinding setup. I like to grind post HT and it would speed things up to have such a system.

I've been reading a lot and got interested in fogless-systems (MQL, like for example the Fogbuster) which seem to have several advantages over mist-systems (like Kool Mist etc).

I do have a couple of questions, if any of you have experience in setups like this I would really appreciate your input.

The system I'm looking at:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/322352348636
http://www.dynacut.eu/schmiersystem_mve.html
http://www.dynacut.eu/dynacut_mve_anleitung_1.pdf

Yeah, I know it's in german. But I hope the specifications gets through anyway.

It's rated for 0-100 ml/h and I'm wondering if that's enough cooling for grinding blades on a belt grinder?
 
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The water accumulates on the belt and does the job. I have found that, in the end, it doesn't matter how you get the water on the belt. I simply drip it on the top of the belt with a small pump.

You will find that damp grinding leads to rapid platen wear. It needs to be totally wet, or totally dry, otherwise gunk builds up on the inside of your belt and cuts the platen.

The key to staying reasonably dry while grinding wet is the application of mud flaps and catch trays in strategic spots.

I use plain water now. I used to use coolant, but it made a gummy mess.

When I put a fresh dry belt on the grinder I pour water on it at low speed to wet it, then run it up to speed. The drip simply keeps it wet.

Some belts have a dry lube on the inside of the belt that causes trouble when wet. Avoid these belts, or clean it with a towel while running. A good example would be the 3M Regalite Polycut 707E. These are great belts, but you have to wet the inside and clean the lube off before grinding.
 
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I use a clone kool mist system. I can adjust the amount of water to air, I use very little water my blades stay cool how does this system have advantages??
 
I use water like Nathan does, I just feed it to a sponge from a bottle controlling the flow with a plastic ball valve. I now have a pan uner the grinder that catches the water runoff. This does the job and keeps blades cool without too much of a mess.

[video=youtube;FLB_Em9Mxjw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLB_Em9Mxjw[/video]
 
I spoke to the German supplier which sell both fog and fogless systems. They recommended a fog/mist type system for belt grinding.

The MQL systems were primarily a better choice when lubrication was more important than cooling.

So I ordered a fog system like Kool Mist, but it's made and available here in the EU.
 
NC Biker said:
I use water like Nathan does, I just feed it to a sponge from a bottle controlling the flow with a plastic ball valve. I now have a pan uner the grinder that catches the water runoff. This does the job and keeps blades cool without too much of a mess.

[video=youtube;FLB_Em9Mxjw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLB_Em9Mxjw[/video]
Click to expand...

That looks like an interesting rig Chuck! And it blocks some spark too I bet. I love simple solutions.
Do you find that the sponge gets gummed up with fragments?
How long does that sponge last?
 
Brock47 said:
That looks like an interesting rig Chuck! And it blocks some spark too I bet. I love simple solutions.
Do you find that the sponge gets gummed up with fragments?
How long does that sponge last?
Click to expand...
Mark, originally I was looking to set up a cool mist system and ran across an article in an old blade magazine that talked about using a sponge to keep the belt wet. I scrounged up the items you see in the video from my garage and gave it a shot. It works so well I can't imagine needing a cool mist system now.

The sponges do wear out, so I have switched to using 2" thick foam rubber as it lasts longer. I'm guessing I replace a 2"x2"x4" block of foam about every 3-4 knives. I get free cut off pieces from a local upholstery shop. You do get some residual particles that come off the foam, but it's not too bad. I just wear a shop apron as some of it is sheared off by the blade and end up on my hands or gut.

To feed the sponge I have a 2 liter soda bottle reinforced with another 2 liter bottle upside down hanging above the grinder. There is a tube from the bottle that slides into a slit I cut into the foam. The water flow is controlled by a small plastic ball valve that screwed right onto the bottle. It was a toy store find as the kids use it to fill water balloons. If you can't find one, I'm sure you could rig something from the plumbing section of the hardware store.

I'm doing most of my grinding post HT now. so keeping things cool is essential and this set up does a great job inexpensively.
 
NC Biker said:
Mark, originally I was looking to set up a cool mist system and ran across an article in an old blade magazine that talked about using a sponge to keep the belt wet. I scrounged up the items you see in the video from my garage and gave it a shot. It works so well I can't imagine needing a cool mist system now.

The sponges do wear out, so I have switched to using 2" thick foam rubber as it lasts longer. I'm guessing I replace a 2"x2"x4" block of foam about every 3-4 knives. I get free cut off pieces from a local upholstery shop. You do get some residual particles that come off the foam, but it's not too bad. I just wear a shop apron as some of it is sheared off by the blade and end up on my hands or gut.

To feed the sponge I have a 2 liter soda bottle reinforced with another 2 liter bottle upside down hanging above the grinder. There is a tube from the bottle that slides into a slit I cut into the foam. The water flow is controlled by a small plastic ball valve that screwed right onto the bottle. It was a toy store find as the kids use it to fill water balloons. If you can't find one, I'm sure you could rig something from the plumbing section of the hardware store.

I'm doing most of my grinding post HT now. so keeping things cool is essential and this set up does a great job inexpensively.
Click to expand...

Very nice. I'll look into getting this set up.
 
I like the sponge set up, as for it accumulating in the belt I keep an air hose handy, give it a shot of air now and then. I keep the sponge wet with a spray bottle

Ken.
 
I too am interested in some sort of system like this. I will say, that i didn't think the temperature of my dip bucket makes much of a difference. Last night i had to break the ice in my bucket to grind the nakiri i'm working on. Freezing cold water does in fact keep everything else much cooler. I guess that is the silver lining for an unheated shop.
 
I have the Kool mist. I like it a lot. You really have to grind on the blade for a long time to get it hot.

Sent from my LG-K450 using Tapatalk
 
Have the Kool Mist as well. I went cheap and got the basic model with no extra's from Amazon, used a 5 gallon bucket and lid with holes drilled in it for the water supply. Had to wire a lead weight to the suction end to keep it from floating. I don't use it for rough grinding, but for finish grinding and grinding of heat treated steel it's a nice to have. Really makes it very hard to overheat the metal while grinding, and really helps when I do stainless as I don't grind before heat treat with them. Recently found it works very well when hollow grinding a straight razor as well due to the thinness. Would I buy it again? Not sure, but it is handy to have.
 
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