Tormek or MKII Sharper

Re: Cratex

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Thanks, Bob. They appear to have some wheels, too; but they appear to all be precoated.

Pam

Re: Cratex

Bob Hackett

>You`ll find that the Cratex wheels are just like a regular grinding wheel with rubber as part of the binder.The abrasive is all the way thru them as opposed to being a surface coating.

The thing I like about them is that you can shape them to whatever profile you see fit,just like a conventional grinding wheel.They cut cleanly but will still burn small carving tools if used on a high speed grinder DAMHIKT.

I was looking at some of the other grinding products I have and I came across a cotton bond flat wheel that I had forgotten about.It also cut very fast and clean and left a finish far more refined than the 60 grit it was rated at.I remember the rep saying something about carvers using a finer grit mounted on a lathe mounted mandrel to hone.If you`re interested I`ll try and find either the box or another wheel with a readable label to get more info.

Mainely,Bob

Re: rhetorical question

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Joel, please explain to this slowhead why turning a buffing wheel away from you is asking for a lawsuit. I just don't understand. In fact, right now, I'm recovering from a deep wound in the end of my thumb from an accident which also resulted in the destruction of a carving gouge and a felt wheel, all because I wanted to see the buffing work in progress. Luckily, it was a small gouge, and it didn't kill anyone, much less one of the venerated shop cats.

I don't mind hand shaping, grinding, sharpening and polishing my carving and turning tools, but sometimes it would be better if I could please the master cabinetmaker and get the job done a bit quicker, an dkill a few electrons in the process. However, that would require a buffing wheel that turned in the opposite direction from the grinding wheels.

Re: rhetorical question

joel

>It's pathetic but for some bizzaro reason you can't buy a polishing wheel that turns away from you that has UL and osha approval AND has the opening in the guard on the top.

As near as I can tell all the units sold here have the wheels turning towards you like a grinder and have the opening in the guard on the lower half.

This works great for polishing jewelery and other industrial uses. but for sharpening you can't really see what you are doing.

The companies I spoke too refused to sell me a modified machine that goes away from you - siting tons of possible liability problems.

In the UK Ashley Iles buys and reverses their own machine (which immediatly negates any safety certification) but in the UK if there is a problem there is less likey a chance of getting sued.

So unless I can get a company to make a unit that goes away from you and has the necessary UL approval - It's just something I cannot risk.

As an individual shop we modified a unit for ourselves, and you can too, but just because you and I will use the machine safely I can't gurentee someone won't use it the wrong way and get hurt.

It might actually be for the better - as I would think that anyone modifing a machine themseelves would I hope have an understanding why they are doing in, but with a fully assembled unit who knows what will happen.

With the iles system the rubber wheel also turns away from you. If you had it go towards you the chisel or gouge could dig in and --- I don't want to think about what could happen.

With the opening on the bottom you can't see the shadow.

Re: Cratex

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Thanks again, Bob. How much do these wheels cost? I hate it when I need a password to access a price list.

Pam

Re: rhetorical question

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I don't really know, but I suspect it's because the inertia behind a wheel spinning away would tend to project a broken wheel into your face vs into the table.

Pam

Should be momentum, not inertia

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>

Prices

Bob Hackett

>I couldn`t guess about current prices as it`s been at least 10 years since I bought one.Did I mention these things have long lives?

MB

Cratex sources *LINK*

David Barnett

>Most industrial suppliers carry Cratex, NuLine, and so on. There are some newer generation products, too, such as silicone abrasive wheels. Cratex is fine on steel, though, although it runs a bit hot. You can get sets of Cratex points for Foredom flexshafts, too, and these are what I like for touching up moulding plane irons after reprofiling.


Cratex wheels from MSC

Re: Cratex sources

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Thanks, David and Bob. I don't do any power carving; but MSC does carry the larger wheels, at least in coarse. I'll check out the big, printed catalog.

Pam

Re: Cratex sources

joel

>if you are trying to duplicate the Iles system you need about a 4" wheel - anything else will go too fast.

Thanks, Joel

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>