Hi Andrew

Good call

I guess most of us have heard of termite and its use to weld rail tracks
and other large pieces, when mixing very fine aluminium and iron oxide
you make a 3500 degree C. flame and its essentially a flash.
It will in my opinion not explode the wheel, however it will give you a
scare as the compounds on your bench suddenly flare, and there is a good
potential for a fire in the case of us wood turners/workers with all the
shavings around.
I have a link to government site if interested.
http://www.hanford.gov/lessons/sitell/ll01/2001-36.htm

Andrew Barss wrote:

Chip wrote:

: The harder the material that you want to grind, the more friable you
: want your wheel to be. When a grain becomes dull, you want it to break
: off and expose a new sharp surface. If this does not happen the wheel
: will glaze over and will not grind anymore. Thus white aluminum oxide
: will be suitable for harder material while brown aluminum oxide will be
: okay for softer material such as mild steel. Silicon carbide will be
: suitalbe for non-ferrous material such as aluminum.



You bring up aluminum. There is a post at Lee Valley's website, stressing
that you should never grind steel and aluminum on the same wheel.
It apparently can create thermite, and the result can be an exploding
wheel.

-- Andy Barss