Some of you that know me know that I'm pretty crazy about having super-sharp tools. I've been fighting with my bench grinder for a long time because it won't run smoothly with my Norton wheels (or any other). Lots of side to side wobble in the wheels. I've learned that it is because the stamped steel cup washers that go against the wheel don't mate cleanly with the shaft. In my search for a cure I learned about CBN (cubic boron nitride) wheels from D-Way Tools. Some very wise woodturners I know from a woodturning forum really recommended them to me and swore up and down that they would run true, even on my hated grinder.
So I got one.
This thing is great. It is 1-1/2"x8", 180 grit. It is like a big heavy flywheel. They never wear out, never need conditioning, and they run very cool with very few sparks. It runs as smooth as silk and only takes off a whisper of steel. It is much safer because it won't come apart in your face and if your tool slips off the side nothing ugly happens...Not always the case with a matrix wheel. Unfortunately my Norton on the other side still isn't perfectly wobble-free, but I've shimmed and tweaked it to a somewhat acceptable level for now. The CBN wheels are mighty expensive but so was buying a new Norton wheel every year or so. This is the last grinding wheel I'll have to buy (aside from the other side of the grinder, which will have a finer CBN eventually).
The bad news....$180 plus a $12 machined bushing. I was nervous about spending that much right up until I put this thing on and turned it on. Awesome. I know it is a lot to spend but I highly recommend it to those of you that use your grinder to sharpen.
www.d-waytools.com He has some pretty good demo videos for the CBN wheels on his site.
