"DejaVU" wrote in message
...
Harold & Susan Vordos scribed in
:

wheel in the process. Use it sparingly, you don't want to destroy
the diamond wheel, which is especially true if you run a resinoid
wheel. That's the proper choice of wheel matrix type for use on
cutters.

uh oh. I have some diamond wheels that are solid steel with a
diamond coating that seems to be embedded directly into the steel.
I'm planning to use one in the grinding jig I have in my head...
I know these wheels are from a CNC leather cutting machine and are
part of the automatic sharpening device and spin fast. the
autosharpen hits the cutter about every meter of cut length.
so they were sharpening HSS so I figured they'd be good for a tool
sharpener?

Interesting. The use of diamond on steel is not generally acceptable.
Diamond in contact with hot steel does the same thing that silicon carbide
does, it dissolves into the steel. When that happens the diamond has very
short life, gets dull quite fast.

Diamonds, when properly applied, do not abrade grinding wheels, they
actually cut them much like a turning tool on a lathe, or side cutter on a
mill. The only difference is that they are almost, without fail, cutting
with negative rake. Most holding fixtures for diamonds hold the diamond
at an angle so all you have to do is rotate the diamond in the holder to
expose what to a grinding wheel is a sharp edge. Once a diamond gets
dull, while it will still dress a wheel, it no longer properly seasons the
wheel so it will cut well. In effect, it dulls the grain instead of cutting
it.. Don't lose sight of the fact that grinding wheels actually cut, they
do not abrade. Wheels lose the ability to cut well by improper dressing.

I'd be pleased to take a look at the wheel you have and give you my opinion
if you're interested. Feel free to email me a pic if you desire. I'm not
sure I will be of service, but I'm willing to try. Be advised that the
type of wheel used for carbide sharpening of brazed carbide tools is *not* a
typical type 1 wheel. Wheels for sharpening lathe tools are the type with
the grinding face on the side, usually with a diamond face that is about
3/4" broad and flat. Other wheels do not work well for hand sharpening
carbide.

My mention of wheel types for cutters in my original post was intended as
information for grinding carbide exclusively. It is very unusual to find
diamond wheels used on high speed grinders intended for steel for the reason
already mentioned above. Yes, I know that some of the drill pointers use
a diamond wheel. They shouldn't. Not for HSS or carbon steel drills,
anyway. The lone exception is if the wheel runs so slow that it doesn't
generate red heat. Low speed diamond lapping wheels are used for steel
with success.

The diamond wheels in your possession may have a very shallow deposit of
diamond. That may or many not be true, however. There are wheels made with
metallic matrix, too, identical to wheels with resinoid matrix. In this
case they would also have a steel body instead of aluminum, commonly found
with resinoid bonded wheels. That would be pretty evident by a color
differential where the diamond ends, plus the difference in wheel thickness.
Generally the diamond portion is wider than the base material that
constitutes the wheel body. High quality diamond wheels are available with
considerable depth of diamond and diamond concentration. High quality
wheels will have as much as 1/8" thick layer of diamond, which is easily
seen by the different color of the matrix and the wheel body.

Harold