Anyone tried the WoodRiver Diamond 8" Grinding Wheel (120 grit)?

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REK Knives

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I was thinking of purchasing the WoodRiver Diamond 8" Grinding Wheel, 120 Grit but am just not sure if this is what I'm wanting or not... Right now I use the paper wheels, but since I run a local knife sharpening business, I have to re-grit my wheel every month or two, plus I have to deal with the silicon carbide dust (which I wear a mask anyway), but I was just wondering how you think this would hold up... how much use I could get out of it before I wore it out, etc.

I would use it in combination with the slotted paper wheel to remove the burr. also if anyone knows of another source to get something like this from let me know. i need the diameter to be 8" probably. thanks for any suggestions....

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razor-edge-knives said:
I was thinking of purchasing the WoodRiver Diamond 8" Grinding Wheel, 120 Grit...but am just not sure if this is what I'm wanting or not... Right now I use the paper wheels, but since I run a local knife sharpening business, I have to re-grit my wheel every month or two, plus I have to deal with the silicon carbide dust (which I wear a mask anyway), but I was just wondering how you think this would hold up... how much use I could get out of it before I wore it out, etc.

I would use it in combination with the slotted paper wheel to remove the burr. also if anyone knows of another source to get something like this from let me know. i need the diameter to be 8" probably. thanks for any suggestions....
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SiC dust is the main reason I am not using my paper grinding wheel much - it blows around during & after use, bad for the lung. Diamond wheel seems perfect for fast metal removing with less heat than SiC; however not knowing exact abrasives (what else beside diamond?), make me wonder. Plus the product description stated "The biggest perk is the aluminum body that works as a heat sink, making it difficult to burn an edge" - woah marketing nonsense, yet another red flag.

When time permits, I plan to buy 20grams/100carats of each 100,600,1200 grit diamond powder (all 3 for about $160), mix in resin and recoat my paper wheels. I did tried various sizes (0.1u moved up to 8u) of diamond suspension on the slotted wheel, worked well for around 10 knives or so, not cutting so well after that - fly away diamonds :p. Whatever the outcome, these diamonds powder will get use somehow.
 
lol, good idea. I didn't think about that! yeah, the dust is a major factor for me... i heard SiC dust is horrible for you, and my kids play in the room after i'm done =( so i gotta come up w/ another solution for sure.
 
bluntcut said:
SiC dust is the main reason I am not using my paper grinding wheel much - it blows around during & after use, bad for the lung. Diamond wheel seems perfect for fast metal removing with less heat than SiC; however not knowing exact abrasives (what else beside diamond?), make me wonder. Plus the product description stated "The biggest perk is the aluminum body that works as a heat sink, making it difficult to burn an edge" - woah marketing nonsense, yet another red flag.

When time permits, I plan to buy 20grams/100carats of each 100,600,1200 grit diamond powder (all 3 for about $160), mix in resin and recoat my paper wheels. I did tried various sizes (0.1u moved up to 8u) of diamond suspension on the slotted wheel, worked well for around 10 knives or so, not cutting so well after that - fly away diamonds :p. Whatever the outcome, these diamonds powder will get use somehow.
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How did you charge the wheel ? If you used the powder as is or over some wax/compound theres no way for the diamond grit to stay in place.

You should try melting some very fine compound and add some diamond powder to this, it will stay on the wheel as well as any other compound.

I've done this to make my own 400grit sic compound, using red rouge as a base to be sure the original grit won't interfere much, red rouge isn't very abrasive to hard steels.

Edit, I misread I didn't see you talked about suspension, anyway the idea is still valid I think, wax compounds are better for power stropping than liquid suspensions IMHO
 
I have had fair results from 8 inch 120 grit pink wheel from woodcrafter....get it well balanced and use the wax...also 17-1800 rpm...no worse heat than the paper wheel...Results were quite satisfactory. I plan to cut a strip from a 120 grit sanding belt and glue it to the wheel to try for a longer lasting grit in the near future...Herb
 
just ordered it... will let you all know how it goes =) hopefully i can get some microscope pics up of some edges
 
I am truly interested in the results. The only reason I had not tried the diamond wheel was a fear of being too agressive because of my experience with diamond coated "stones" seeming so much more agressive than silicon carbide. Thanks for trying this out...Herb
 
Got it in and here are the results!! Liking it so far... it was true and not out of alignment, which is very important when sharpening knives.

As to your concern about it removing too much metal Herb, I don't believe it is a problem - at least not any more than any other powered system (i.e. the paper wheels). I measured a specific point on the blade and matched it up to a specific point on the caliper before and after sharpening... I used a semi light touch and just removed enough metal to get a full, complete burr on both sides of the edge. I then removed the burr with the slotted paper wheel. I removed .002" with it after it was all said and done - obviously I would have to remove more if there were nicks and dings in the edge, but I didn't in this test. This was just a normal sharpening =).

Furthermore, I found that it created a nice toothy edge (which I love). I used the wheel dry... but I am curious if I can, or should, use a lubricant as this lady says in her youtube video. Do diamonds really like a lubricant to be effective? It appears in her video that she gets a nicer mirror-like finish on her blade than I did... don't know if that was because of the lubricant or not though. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

So here are the USB microscope photos...

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The edge pops hairs off of my arm without issue as well. Hope this helps! Oh, I did find this... hope I didn't make a mistake lol. Hope it helps you out!!

"Diamond and CBN basics

Diamond and CBN wheels come in several bond types: Resin (most common), vitrified, metal and electro-plated. Resin is used in most tool room and production applications. Vitrified and metal bonds are newer bond types with specific applications (We won't go into a lot of detail with these as they are somewhat rare and more expensive and almost always are custom made special order items). Electro-plated wheels are very common and are typically found in cutoff wheels and low demanding abrasive grinding such as for plastics.

Resin wheels are made much like a traditional grinding wheel with a thick bond/grit layer usually between 1/16" and 1/4". Electroplated wheels are a much thinner thickness. In both cases, the bond layer is applied to a hub which is either aluminum or steel made to the specific profile required.

Like traditional grinding wheels, Diamond and CBN wheels are used in a variety of processes and with a variety of materials. Typically, diamond wheels are used strictly on carbides and CBN is used on steels. Some manufacturers produce a 'hybrid' wheel which is a special grit that will grind both steels and carbides (Typically used on parts that require grinding of carbide and steel at the same time). Plated diamond wheels are used on non-ferrous materials such as plastics, rubbers, nylons, fiberglass, etc."
 
I'd be curious about a couple of things,,,,

If they "break in" and smooth out a bit

How long it lasts. (I know this may take a while to answer.)

Also, do you know if the wheel can be resurfaced if/when it wears out?

Thanks

cbw
 
I have no idea if it can be refaced...i imagine it will take a while :-) but i do keeo track of how many knives i sharpen so ill def. Report back! I think it will smooth out with the use of oil, but well see :-)
 
If you notice, the little "blurb" you found points out a mistake you made. Diamond grinding wheels should not be used on steel. You are going to find that your diamond grit will rapidly disappear as it migrates from the wheel into the sparks of red hot steel coming off of your blade. The only way to avoid this outcome is to slow the speed of the wheel to the point where most of the heat is kept out of the process or use a constant water drip while grinding and use a very light touch while grinding. You should have bought a CBN wheel, which is made just for grinding hardened steels. This isn't a problem with hand honing using bench stones or strops with diamond grit since the process with those doesn't occur at a high enough speed to elevate the temperature enough to perpetuate the chemical reaction that dissolves the carbon from your wheel and migrates it into your knife's former steel that is coming off as red hot sparks while you grind.

Moral of the story: Lower the speed, use a water drip, and don't push the knife into the wheel with any real pressure and it will last a while. Continue as is and kiss your wheel goodbye. The wheels can be replated but it is often cheaper to just replace the wheel unless you have a large quantity of wheels to be replated at the same time.
 
eKretz said:
If you notice, the little "blurb" you found points out a mistake you made. Diamond grinding wheels should not be used on steel. You are going to find that your diamond grit will rapidly disappear as it migrates from the wheel into the sparks of red hot steel coming off of your blade. The only way to avoid this outcome is to slow the speed of the wheel to the point where most of the heat is kept out of the process or use a constant water drip while grinding and use a very light touch while grinding. You should have bought a CBN wheel, which is made just for grinding hardened steels. This isn't a problem with hand honing using bench stones or strops with diamond grit since the process with those doesn't occur at a high enough speed to elevate the temperature enough to perpetuate the chemical reaction that dissolves the carbon from your wheel and migrates it into your knife's former steel that is coming off as red hot sparks while you grind.

Moral of the story: Lower the speed, use a water drip, and don't push the knife into the wheel with any real pressure and it will last a while. Continue as is and kiss your wheel goodbye. The wheels can be replated but it is often cheaper to just replace the wheel unless you have a large quantity of wheels to be replated at the same time.
Click to expand...

where were you before I ordered this blasted thing!!?! lol. I will be contacting woodriver about a return I guess... I believe they have a 90 day return policy. I will probably see how much that second company, which I listed the "blurb" from, will charge to make a custom CBN wheel 8"x1" with a 1/2" arbor. We'll see how much this is... their 7" CBN wheels are $156. I'll keep ya posted!
 
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