Reply To: Advice on grinders – slow/fast, wet/dry?
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In another thread, a grinding wheel that does not generate very much heat (or explodes) was mentioned. Unfortunately, I can’t remember neither the thread, not what the wheel was called.
If it was a stone, the ones that run coolest are blue colored boron, followed by white oxide.
One mistake people make is using too fine a stone. The only grinder I own now is a hand cranked model with a 36 grit stone on it. It’s hard to beat for removing metal.
Sharpening is still rubbing on a diamond plates followed by either an Arkansas or 8K water stone, defending on the tool. And I swear the 8K water stone cuts the fastest.
And knife makers like 2×72 belt grinders to shape and sharpen.
The new hot thing is CBN ( cubic boron nitride) impregnated metal wheels. They are touted as the coolest running, and they don’t seem to wear out. A local knife maker, Carter Cutlery, has 2’ diameter CBN wheels made special. Large diameters run cooler because the CBN has a chance to cool down before it sees an edge the second time. In this video he starts with a CBN wheel, I think.
CBN wheels were frightfully expensive but are coming down in price.