I'm sure we have all experienced the inevitable "burning" when trying to grind a chisel or plane iron on a high speed bench grinder. It is almost impossible to grind right to the edge without the dreaded "blue" appearing, which means you've ruined the blade. I've tried all sorts of wheels, including the white ones. All have the same problem.
So I bought a Tormek - a wet grinder that never burns an edge. But boy is it slow. And downright expensive. So I am over the moon to have discovered the wonderful new 3X grinding wheels from Norton.
I was told of these wheels by planemaker Konrad Sauer and couldn't wait to get my hands on one. Mike Hancock at Classic Hand Tools has just received a delivery of these and got one out to me pronto. I chose the 6 inch diameter wheel, one inch wide coarse grit (46 grit).
It came complete with a selection of inserts so it should fit pretty much any six inch grinder out there. Fitting was a two minute operation.
Here it is in my cheapo B+Q grinder - I had to modify the tool rest to take the wider wheel. This was modified by slowly rotating it into the grinding wheel to widen the slot-easy. A quick true-up with a devil stone and I was ready to grind.
The wheel cuts fast - real fast! But, and this is a big but, it really doesn't heat the steel much. With sensible use you should never burn an edge again. And I had forgotten how easy it was to grind a simple bevel onto an iron - no messing around with jigs and guides. Just check it with a square and grind. Here is a 6mm thick iron which has had a new 25 degree bevel ground.
As you can see it is a perfect, hollow ground bevel. It only tool a minute (hey - I was scared of burning the thing) but it never got hot enough to feel uncomfortable to the bare hand. And that really gave me confidence. After that success I ran a few chipped chisels through it with superb results.
So, to conclude. This grinding wheel is an eye-opener. It finally allows woodworkers to grind a fresh bevel onto edge tools safe from the fear of ruining the tool. Do yourself a favour - get one of the wheels ASAP. It will make you want to sharpen your tools more often!
Philly
22/03/08