Can you still get these in the UK? Wolfcraft and others make them, but I can't find an importer or a source. I really don't want to have to find space for a bench grinder, especially as it won't be appropriate for my primary task (sharpening gardening tools, such as sickles and shears).
And the diddy little shaped grindstones are even less use :-(
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
A diddy grindstone in a die grinder gives you way higher linear speed than a 4" wheel in a drill.
NT
Yeah. So I should buy them by the hundred? They don't last long on rough grinding of that nature.
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
Angle grinder
Flap wheels in a range of grits (Hermes blue ones, and go for 40, 80,
120)Decent vice to hold the workpiece.
This will do pretty much all the "fixed wheel" sharpening most people need, most of the time. Next step from this is probably a geared-down water-cooled wheel.
if youre doing a lot of rough grinding, why not an angle grinder? We can only make useful suggestions if you tell us the situation.
NT
Have you tried an industrial grinding stone supplier, probably listed under grinding and polishing supplies? IME, you can get a very wide range of wheels from stock and, if they don't meet your needs, I have had as few as half a dozen wheels made to order by the Universal Grinding Wheel Co Ltd, although they do have a minimum order charge for specials.
Colin Bignell
I did, in my original post, which is the one you responded to. An angle grinder is not suitable for sharpening shears, sickles and similar implements. Nor is a bench grinder (or at least one with guards).
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
In article , nightjar >
Thanks. I will look that company up, but the solution sounds expensive. What I am looking for is just the ordinary wheels that were available in every DIY and hardware store until recently, and are still made and sold as standard stock - just not in the UK :-(
I may have to order from Europe or the USA.
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
You want a Dremel or similar. A small stone running at high speed will remove metal without wearing itself out. The key is surface speed which is ideally the same for all grinding wheels. Basically an inverse relationship between diameter and rpm. The technical term is SFM (surface speed per minute). I have professional cylinder head porting gear but then that's what I do (did) for a living and a 1 inch diameter stone running at 15000 rpm will sharpen anything to a razor edge with no discernable wear on itself. I use mine on the shears, secateurs and lawnmower blades.
A bench grinder is not ideal as you say because it has too many bits in the way for a long blade like a scythe. Even something as big as a 4" stone in a normal drill is no use because the surface speed is too low. Dremels run at, I think, up to about 30000 rpm so even a half inch stone will do a very good job. An angle grinder is a bit rough for precision work although with care you can sharpen stuff with one. A small stone in a high speed tool gives you much more control though.
Thanks very much. I was hoping to avoid yet more clutter, but it sounds as if the advance of modern technology has done for me :-(
By the look of their description, I shall have to buy something for drill bits, too, which I used to sharpen by hand (not brilliantly, but well enough).
Oh, they work, all right. But they eat stones. Not a problem when I don't do a huge amount, and 4" stones were easily available, but that is no longer the case.
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
I do my drillbits with an angle grinder, they come up nicely. They also drill wood far better due to changing the original angles, which are good for steel but quite wrong for wood. A cutting disc is used to get into the flutes, grinding discs being far too big.
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Crap. You just don't know how to use one!
Hmm. How do you hold the angle grinder so that it doesn't shift? I am not strong enough to hold even a drill motionless with a single hand, so I put a foot on it. The problem about all of these solutions is the space needed for something I don't spend a lot of time doing; angle grinders and bench vices are not small, and I very rarely need them.
grinder. You can also clean the flute by using the bit (that's an ancient trick, predating angle grinders).
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
I put it on its back and hold with one hand. I expect you could use a foot, but I wouldnt be confident doing that. You might also use a bench vise with a rubber wrap or an angle grinder stand.
I dont see how either of those would get far eough into the flute to grind away most of the solid centre section where it meets the tip. Even a grinding disc in an angle grinder cant do that.
NT
I am not strong enough in the wrist to do that reliably, and a bench vice brings in the space problems.
Oh, right - but that's much more than just changing the angles and cleaning off the burrs - it's changing the shape of the point. No, I don't do that.
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
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