What durometer to recover contact wheels?

[Tom Militano]

I need to have a 2" x 4" and a 2" x 10" contact wheel recovered. I'm going from serrated to smooth wheels. Is 70 durometer about the best for knifemakers? I'm changing over to a variable speed motor on my Bader 2. Who do you recommend to recover them? Thanks.

 

[tmickley]

70 is what most wheels are for knifemaking according to Bader and Rob Frink.

 

[Tom Militano]

I thought that sounded about right. Thanks.

 

[bchast]

Tom... Who are you getting to recover your wheels Bill

 

[Tom Militano]

I was thinking about Contact Rubber. They trued up a couple of wheels for me and did a good job. Do you have another source that you'd recommend?

 

[Mike Hull]

I was thinking about Contact Rubber. They trued up a couple of wheels for me and did a good job. Do you have another source that you'd recommend?

Whatever you do, don't go to that place in Winchester KY. I could tell you a horror story about that place and a 10" wheel of mine they screwed up. They ended up buying me a new Burr King Factory wheel as mine was beyond repair after they got done with it. But in the meantime I was out my wheel for 2 months.

the worst part is, they sent it back to me in that condition, I guess thinking I'd gone blind in the meantime. They didn't even want it back, just had John at Tru Grit send me a new wheel, so they knew what condition it was in when they sent it back to me.

I made rubbing blocks from the other wheel after having the center cut out on a lathe and cutting up the circumference into usable pieces and splitting them lengthwise into 1" widths. I then made them for all diameters of wheels I own. Damn nice rubbing blocks, but a nasty wheel.