Help....What type of Grinding Wheel for grinding on the side of the wheel?

paulygman

Registered
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2015
Messages
14
I have a vintage AGATHON tool and cutter grinder. Pictures are posted here. I downloaded manuals from vintagemachinery.org. As I understand it this type of grinder grinds on the side of the grinding wheel, I have always been told not to grind on the side of a regular grinding wheel. I want to grind high speed lathe tools, drills, end mills, etc... So what type of grinding wheel should I be using? The grinder runs at 3450 rpm and uses 6" diameter wheels. In my collection of stuff purchased at garage sales I have some cupped wheels, wheels that have a raised rim, a metal backed wheel, a diamond wheel, all shown in one of the photos. I might also want to grind carbide tools....I am pretty sure the diamond wheel I have is what I should use for carbide, but can I also use diamond for high speed steel grinding?
Entire.jpg
closeup toolpost.jpg
gringing wheels.jpg
 
As I understand it:

Diamond is good for carbide but not HSS (unless slow-speed grinding especially with coolant).

Cup wheels are intended for grinding on their end face.

Some people grind on the side of a straight wheel, especially if being careful to be light and not erode away so much of the wheel as to weaken it.
 
The AO wheel I posted is for a carbide grinder machine. AO is good for steel and high speed steel. The style wheel in the link is designed for side grinding. AO = aluminum oxide.
 
no, don't use your diamond wheel for HSS, or you will ruin it. the two white wheels would work well for sharpening HSS bits on your grinder.
the white wheels are soft, and will wear faster than grey regular stones but work very good with HSS bits. just lightly dress the surface often, and when they wear down over time just replace them with a new one. don't throw them away because they are perfect to manually hold against your diamond stone to keep the diamonds exposed and sharp.
Dave
 
The two wheels on the upper right and the center one on the lower row would be appropriate, the center one, of course for carbide only.
 
That is a nice, functional looking grinder. You should be able to do a lot more with it than you initially think! A very useful tool for the shop.

Norton 38A white is the best for all-purpose tool steels
Norton 32A purple is a fantastically cool running rougher that can also grind a nice finish

Some "diamond" and "CBN" wheels can do HSS et. al. without any problem. I learned from Stefan Goetteswinter about "abusing" import bonded wheels. I do it all the time. If you have an uber-expensive name brand wheel, then maybe you shouldn't. But if it's from China, it'll do HSS just as well as carbide. It is not as efficient or as cool running as a vitrified stone, but it'll touch up a tool when you're on the move, no problem.
 
As I understand it:

Diamond is good for carbide but not HSS (unless slow-speed grinding especially with coolant).

Cup wheels are intended for grinding on their end face.

Some people grind on the side of a straight wheel, especially if being careful to be light and not erode away so much of the wheel as to weaken it.
this is true , but many do it. Even Stephan Gotteswinter showed that he does it....

As far as grinding on the side, you can, just don't put pressure on it.. the wheel is not designed to take a lot of pressure from the side. There are a lot of things we are told not to do, and that's because there are a lot of people who don't read instructions or have the ability to understand limitations.
 
Thing is, that diamond is not good for grinding HSS is because that the carbon in HSS reacts with the carbon that the diamond is composed of to the detriment of the of the diamond.
 
Thanks to all for your guidance. I think I understand now. I will save the diamond grinding wheel for carbide tools. And use the other wheels for high speed steel. Thanks To All.
Paul G
 
Back
Top