Contact wheels... rubberized or not,? hard or soft?.....

[rfrink]

Hello all,

First, I must apologize, I'm not a knifemaker, I'm just a machinist. I make belt grinder wheels and rollers and I'm looking for some insight from the people that use them.

As far as contact wheels go, what are the performance differences between, say a solid 10" aluminum wheel and 10" rubberized wheel? Why use one or the other?

How hard or soft on the rubber (shore A durometer)?

How about serated wheels? Smooth rubber -vs- serated rubber?

I just made my first prototype and it is a 3" dia X 2" wide. Rubber hardness is 70 durometer.

What are the most common sizes as I'm nearly ready to build more molds for different sizes?

I sincerely thank you in advance for any time responding.



Rob Frink
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/beaumontmetal/index.html">Beaumont Metal Works</a>

 

[george tichbourne]

Rob as a metal polisher/knifemaker I always use rubber covered contact wheels. The rubber eliminates chatter caused by belt splices. My preferance is 60-70 durometer but I have used as low as 50 and as high as 90 without too much trouble. The softer wheels work better with fine belts while the harder ones stand up to hogging off material longer.

Plain surface is just fine as is a "V" groove but angled grooves tend to chatter if the groove to flat ratio exceedes 40%.

Your photo seems to show a round hole in the surface of the wheel, is it for a set screw?
If so try to keep it as small as possible to reduce chatter. Better still you could put the set screw in an extended lip.

Good luck with your venture.

------------------
george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com

 

[magnum .44]

the most common sizes i hear of are 8" dia. 2" wide and 10" dia 2" wide. i agree with george about the durometer.

 

[Nathan House]

Rob
Hi,about your question i agree
with george about the hard wheel are
good for hogging metal and the softer
ones are good for fine belts
the serated wheels are good if you are hogger metal,they seem to let the heat not build up,I founed with a serated one I can't get a fine a finish with them,I like the smooth myself,that is what I learned to grind on,Love the protype can't wait to try mine
for the contouring work.
Nathan House

 

[Possum]

Howdy There.......!
I like your prototype...! But, I also have a concert about the hole in the center of the rubber, would be better for a smooth finish wheel to not have the hole. Smooth finish wheels are great for finishing blades to get that "slick" for a mirro finish. The serrated are as George said used for profiling and first setting your hollow girnd line. Most makers use a 8"x2" or 10"x2" wheels some go up to a 14"x2", the rubber is used for reducting the chatter. The solid wheels would be great for idlers or drive wheels. Good luck with the business and I checked out your website also great...!
"Possum"