I went a bit excentric when I up graded my grinding system. I bought a
set of CBN (cubic boric nitride) grinding wheels. They are made to
order, so I had an 80 grit made for scrapers and minor reshaping, and a
320 grit wheel made for the gouges and skews. The wheels are VERY hard
and are made to grind steel, but not carbide. They run about $300 per 8
by 1 inch wheel. I have had them for about 2 years. The 320 grit wheel
is about half gone (the wheel is aluminum with 3/16 inch of cbn bonded
to the wheel).The 80 grit wheel shows very little wear. I do like the
finer edge on my gouges, and they do last a lot longer. It is a lot of
money to put down, but over the life time (I am a full time
woodworker), it seems like it will save me money, not to mention the
cleaner cuts. For a grinder, I got a slow speed Baldor through a local
bearing company for about $550. I had the slow speed model from
Woodcraft. Differences: I can leave it on all day without bolting it
down, and it won't move from where it sits. If I apply some pressurs
when grinding, it doesn't slow down even the slightest bit.
robo hippy