Why a 10" wheel ?

[joneill]

Question..

Does everyone use a 10" wheel for grinding? I have used an 8" wheel since I built my first grinder and am looking at making a change. Almost everyone talks about a 10" wheel and I am wondering if anyone uses something different? I guess that I would be interested in the pros and cons of a larger wheel, say 14" . Something to talk about anyway.

Joe

[MoblMec]

My openion for hollow grinding the larger the better. I bought a 12 inch wheel because I found a used one for $150 and a new 14 inch runs $450. On the larger the wheel you don't have to chase the grind up the blade you just stay in the grove and go deeper and wider. Just my openion.
MoblMec

[Eli Jensen]

The wheel just affects the radius of your grind. I bet if you had a 120' wheel, it would practically be a flat grind!

[timos-]

yes Ive been using a 36" radius platen and it is pretty sweet especially for 2" wide chef blades

[nate d.]

I started with an 8 inch wheel. wanted my grind line to be higher. I bought a 10 inch contact wheel. it may be all in my head but i have made all new hunting and kitchen knives with a 10 inch contact wheel; they cut much better. it will be more important that ever that you lay the knife blank flat on the contact wheel. this is complicated but here goes. Do not have one edge of the contact wheel in contact with the knife and the other edge not in contact. in 8 inch wheels there is some forgiveness; but not in a 10 inch wheel. i made thin spots in many a knife before i learned this.

[John I Shore]

I run 10, 12, 14, & 16 inch wheels. When I was in Germany, most of the makers there run 30" wheels.
With a 30" wheel you can do a full hollow grind on a 1/8" blade that is 1 inch wide??sweet. Of course if you know how to grind you can do it all on an 8 inch wheel.

John I.

[M&J]

Depends what characteristics you want in your bevels. I use the 5" and 8" wheels and wash the edge up higher so that the profile is thinner toward the edge. Though not as drastic, similar to a straight razor grind. Depending how much the blade is sharpened, this allows plenty of life without needing a re-grind when it begins to get thick over the years. YMMV on preference.

[joneill]

Thanks for all the input from everyone. It got me to thinking. Has anyone used a convex plated instead of a wheel? Do you get the same results? I would think a platen with a 10" (or larger) curve to it would be much less costly than a wheel of the same size. What do you think?

[fuzzy]

I'm running a 36" radius attachment on a flat platen and works well 10" may be to tight a radius will genarate a lot of heat from the belt friction

[bob levine]

Hey John, go easy on the newbies LOL

[John I Shore]

Originally Posted by bob levine

Hey John, go easy on the newbies LOL

Oops, my bad.

John I.