Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
Bill, I am replying to your post as you raise a few pertinent issues.

Regarding the Norton 3X wheels ...

These are wheels sold by Joel (the guy you do not know) at his store, Tools For Working Wood. I do not recommend them. They are touted as friable and cool-grinding, but I say they are a health risk since they create clouds .. CLOUDS .. of dust. To a lesser extent, the same goes for all the white and grey wheels I have used in the past. I have not used pink wheels, so cannot comment here. CBN wheels do not create dust from the wheel, per se.

Regarding the despised wavy edge which needs straightening ...

I, too, avoid this like the plague. The advantage of my grinding set up is that it creates a straight grind every time, and the edge off the CBN wheel is very clean (as per the Tormek) ... so much so that it is possible to start honing at 6000 grit (waterstone) and forgo the 1000.

Grinding to the edge (safely) - and stopping as you feel a fine wire - uses up as much steel as one would if using a 1000 to remove the wear bevel (one has to do this sooner rather than later anyway, but I say this for illustration purposes). Wheels like these are easier to develop control on.

I am not suggesting that you change your method, or that everyone should switch to CBN wheels, but you asked for other advantages of CBN over pink wheels that were not due to wear, change of wheel shape, and coolness (which are present). The initial cost of a CBN wheel is a factor. They can be very daunting for many to consider laying out for. Woodworking does not need to be expensive. I ground on a cheap 6” bench grinder and 36 grit (too hard) white wheel for many years before affording a Tormek. What Dave and I have both written is that the CBN wheel offers advantages. So does my Hammer K3 slider over the contractor saw I had, but I do not expect everyone to purchase this machine.

Regards from Perth

Derek