Wiley Horne
Hi Phil,

Excellent advice! And straightforward search work I should have done myself.

As it is, I just got through hanging the whole apparatus by the wheel, and hammering the arbor. It worked, though took some force, however the Si carbide wheel ended up with surface fracturing about 3/16” deep on the exit side. Might be usable but I’m not going to fool with it—it’s in the trash right now.

For anyone else: follow Phil’s link to Tormek and pull the arbor with the wheel on it.

The good part: the CBN wheel on Tormek is pretty close to a no-brainer. I just ground a 2-1/2” wide M2 iron with half the hollow gone. No water—the water reservoir has been retired. Ground at about 25 degrees by eye. I took it easy on the pressure, and it took something less than a minute to grind to a strong burr. There was no heat (above body temp) that I could feel. It would have taken me 5 minutes with the Si carbide wheel, because there would have been 1 or 2 stops to run the diamond truer across the wheel to restore cutting (Si carbide cuts fast initially, but is insanely friable).

The 200 grit wheel seems right as a grind stone—I would not want a finer and slower wheel, since all honing is done after grinding to a burr. I used a 1200grit Atoma, then a 8000 grit DMT for the M2. Then hit it a lick with chromium green.

This experience convinces me that if I want another set-up, it will be Derek’s rig—half speed grinder + CBN + Tormek or One-Way tool rest/holder. And if I were starting from scratch, it would be that rig, not Tormek.

Phil, again, thank you for your effort. It is not in vain because I’m sure there will be more Tormeks with stuck wheels.

And thanks to Derek, Jim, David, and Joe as well.

Wiley