"Kevin(Bluey)" wrote in message
...
Ignoramus13611 wrote:
Has anyone tried freehand grinding of lathe bits (those with inserts
and without). The use would be a diamond wheel that cuts on the side.
I tried it with simple bits and it seems to work well, but maybe I am
missing some finer points of grinding. i


I've always ground my lathe tools by hand ,neverhad any fancy jigs or such
.
As far as brazed on carbide tips go ,use a silicon carbide wheel (Green)
to sharpen ,it doesnt matter if some steel get ground with this wheel.

Ah! But it does! Just like diamond is dissolved in steel, so, too, is
silicon. Silicon carbide wheels are NEVER intended for use on steel. The
big difference with the green wheels is they are bonded so softly that they
slough away too fast for you to recognize that they are dull. No harm to the
steel, just a waste of the wheel.

You should move to a diamond wheel, one that runs wet. Today's diamond
wheels are but a tiny fraction of the cost of diamond wheels early on. A
wheel that cost more than $600 in the 50's now costs under $100. Considering
the loss of buying power of the American dollar, they cost about 5% of what
they used to. A single diamond wheel, roughly a 220 grit, will see you
through your entire lifetime, unless you use it for commercial
applications, and will prolong the life of your cutting tools. In the end,
a diamond wheel is so cheap to use that a silicon wheel makes no sense,
especially when you consider the miserable surface finish they yield on
carbide.

Think diamond. You won't regret the decision. Be sure to run it wet.

Harold