CBN Grinding Wheels

Cubic Boron Nitride [CBN] Grinding Wheels basic foundation is a combination of Boron and Nitrogen.

We have been using CBN grinding wheels for sharpening turning tools for years and have found them to be a real asset. The wheels are factory balanced, which makes the slow speed grinders run very smooth. The grinding wheels have 1-1/2" face to use, they don't need any dressing therefore you don't have the mess of truing wheels and  don't breathe the dust related to dressing wheels. There is no bluing of the steel, as these grinding wheels put very little heat into the tool. In a normal sharpening, you can still touch the end of the tool. If you noticed in the pictures of the grinders/videos, Dave has removed the guards. You can remove the guards with these wheels because there is no chance of them blowing up. With the guards off, you have better light and no shadows from the guards when sharpening your tools. You still should use eye protection. We use 180 grit beading tools, skews and spindle gouges. 80 grit for shaping and sharpening any of our larger turning tools and creating aggressive burrs on our Neg Rake Scrapers. They do produce a great edge. The CBN wheels are specifically designed to grind HSS.

There is CBN materials electroplated on edges.

Arbor Hole Details:

• The arbor hole is 1" in all of our grinding wheels.
• Offer custom bushings - 1" to 1/2", 1" to 5/8" , 1" to 3/4", 1" to 7/8" and 1" to 12mm
• If the shaft on your grinder is less than 2” from end of shaft to the inner shoulder we can supply you with one that is counter bored to fit over the inner shoulder. (See photo above)

There seems to be a lot of confusion on acceptable uses for the CBN wheels. Below are the findings offered by the originator of the CBN wheel (used for woodturning) for whatever help they may be.   

"You can grind all magnetic HARDENED HSS, and that includes powered metal and carbon steel.  As a general rule if you can cut it with a file it is not a hardened material.  You will see more sparks off the carbon steel.   I have tested carbide on my wheels and if you want to touch up your carbide tools it is ok. Small sparks will appear right where the cutting takes place.  I have also tested hand chisels and screwdrivers they are good to go. They will also do a good job on drill bits. I have some machine shops that sharpen large and small drill bits on them they do a excellent job.

I have tested aluminum and brass, because there are jigs and fixtures that contain these materials.  I felt in time, some contact with the wheel would happen [don’t panic] it may load the wheels some but the wheel is not destroyed.  Just go over this area with one of your scrapers and in time you it will be back to normal.  The coarser the wheel the less loading, I have some 60 grits that I use and they are not as prone to loading no matter what I tested on them. 

There is a lot of info on CBN wheels on the internet but most of is related to heavy industrial use. We as wood turners are learning as we go, regarding wet or dry grinding in a heavy use industrial situation coolant is necessary to cool the work piece and the wheel as wood turners we don’t have to worry about this so dry grinding is ok.

As wood turners we love to make things – tools and such.  Some have had questions about shaping drill rod.  In the annealed state I would not recommend it, but once you heat treat it you are go to go.  For the annealed steel, I would recommend using a belt sander with 60 or 80 grit belt.

As to cleaning, I have tested a lot of solvents on the wheels and have found none that seem to affect them.  You can use a brush and just about a cleaning agent you would like, and then blow them off with air. To tell the truth, I have only cleaned wheels when I did some testing, for me it is one of the products I just use and get on with life.

Why electroplated wheels?  Electroplated wheels are the most efficient with the steels used in woodturning, in the industry it called free cutting.

Another situation has come up with the newer WC 8” grinders.  Apparently, they are making them with short shafts.  There is a simple fix for this.  Simply drill out the flanged side of the bushing to go over the inner shoulder.  If you check your grinder and find this problem, one can be supplied that is drilled out." 

~ written by Dave Schweitzer. D-Way Tools founder and innovator who created and introduced CBN wheels to the woodturning community.

 Special Notes: These wheels are custom manufactured in a configuration to fit bench grinders.

*** The Arbor hole is 1" and the wheel is 1 1/2" wide and will require one of our bushing kits or you will have to provide one of your own. We can provide bushings for 12mm, 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8" shafts.

********* Each order contains a CBN Wheel Instruction sheet **********