Grinding Wheel Decisions.

[stopdroplol]

So I recently found out a friend of mine works for Mcmaster carr and gets a 50% discount on most items. I've had a 6" grinder sitting in the corner for months trying to find a deal on wheels and now's my chance.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with wheels so i'm hoping you guys can let me know i'm getting what I want. 90% of the time all I use grinders for is cleaning up tools I get from swapmeets. Mostly I just use a crimped wire wheel as my loaded grinding wheel is way too coarse. But even the wire wheel can be too aggressive for a lot of things (like protecting chrome) so I was gonna try one of those flexible nylon wheels. Anyone know how effective those would be?

So far my shopping list looks like this:

44611A593 Premium Alum Oxide Bench & Pedestal Grind Whl 6" Dia X 3/4" Thk X 1" Arbor, 100 Grit
4901A56 Flexible-Bristle Abrasive Nylon Wheel Brush 6" Diameter, 2" Arbor Hole, 320 Grit
4844A28 Snap-in Arbor Hole Adapter, Reduces 2" to 1/2"

4988A214 Silicon Carbide Economy Grinding Wheel 6" Diameter X 1/2" Thick X 1" Arbor, 120 Grit - Might get this in case I ever need it for something nonferrous

Also, they sell Tampico wheels, which I've never heard of but googling says they're good for chrome which would be really handy for a lot of my motorcycle parts as well as tools. What do you guys think?

 

[Lomotil]

I bought an older B&D 5" dual-grinder that had a polishing wheel on one side that I've never been able to find a replacement for. It's similar to the Cratex type of impregnated rubber bits that I've found for my Dremel, but much finer. If you can picture a wheel made out of some material that looks like a "gum eraser" but a bit more stiff, that's what it is.

I don't have the item number handy, but searching for it yielded no results, not even from the B&D website.

I'd love to find a source to buy replacements, as mine has steadily shrunken in size. It's a great wheel, could make stripped chrome on tools just as shiny as the chrome next to it, with no dressing or polish.

 

[terryo1965]

I would skip the Silicon Carbide wheel altogether unless you want to sharpen tungsten. A regular A/O wheel will grind non-ferrous okay, it might load the wheel a little bit, but it dresses right off. Tampico and other cloth buff work well if you are polishing metal for plating, but you will need multiple wheels and compounds. For general light cleaning and polishing I would use a 3M Scotch-Brite or Norton Bear-Tex wheel. They will polish and lightly debur parts without gouging or removing any base metal. I am not really up on the Bear-Tex specs, but for 3M I would use a EXL Deburring 9S-FN wheel. The 3M options can get pretty overwhelming, this is a great general purpose wheel. Once you start using it you will wonder how you got along without it. I think you are on track with wire wheels. I am a big fan of wire for heavier deburring or cleaning nasty parts. Big burrs will tear up a 3M wheel and heavy crud will load them up, it's always good to have wire wheels, just stick to heavier wire diameter, .016 or larger.

 

[Kestas]

I like the finer wire wheels, such as 0.008" wire diameter. It's better for cleaning up rusty threads and brake parts, and can put a polish on brass. Coarser wheels, though more aggressive at removing rust, cold work the metal substrate surface. Too rough for my tastes. Find what suits your needs best.

 

[woody 73]

I picked up a fine brass wheel and it cost three arms and two legs it did a fantastic job of cleaning the rust off the tool without doing to much damage.

Ok now for the fun part (you can laugh), when the wheel gets a lot of use those wire bristles start to fly off into your body at high speed. I washed my clothes and a few days ago my son tells me that something is hurting him. Come to find out those tiny brass wires came out into the washing machine and went into my families clothes.

 

[stopdroplol]

I bought an older B&D 5" dual-grinder that had a polishing wheel on one side that I've never been able to find a replacement for. It's similar to the Cratex type of impregnated rubber bits that I've found for my Dremel, but much finer. If you can picture a wheel made out of some material that looks like a "gum eraser" but a bit more stiff, that's what it is.

I don't have the item number handy, but searching for it yielded no results, not even from the B&D website.

I'd love to find a source to buy replacements, as mine has steadily shrunken in size. It's a great wheel, could make stripped chrome on tools just as shiny as the chrome next to it, with no dressing or polish.

Are these what you're talking about? http://www.mcmaster.com/#4824A63

I would skip the Silicon Carbide wheel altogether unless you want to sharpen tungsten. A regular A/O wheel will grind non-ferrous okay, it might load the wheel a little bit, but it dresses right off. Tampico and other cloth buff work well if you are polishing metal for plating, but you will need multiple wheels and compounds. For general light cleaning and polishing I would use a 3M Scotch-Brite or Norton Bear-Tex wheel. They will polish and lightly debur parts without gouging or removing any base metal. I am not really up on the Bear-Tex specs, but for 3M I would use a EXL Deburring 9S-FN wheel. The 3M options can get pretty overwhelming, this is a great general purpose wheel. Once you start using it you will wonder how you got along without it. I think you are on track with wire wheels. I am a big fan of wire for heavier deburring or cleaning nasty parts. Big burrs will tear up a 3M wheel and heavy crud will load them up, it's always good to have wire wheels, just stick to heavier wire diameter, .016 or larger.

I have a small FS-WL wheel that's meant for deburring inside diameters. It works well but not sure I wanna pay the full price for a 6" wheel. I've been watching ebay but it's not much better. Right now i'm just looking at Mcmaster Carr options for something that will work better than what I've got so I can start using this other grinder which is nicer than what i'm currently using. But not sure if I should bother with some off brand grinding wheel or not.

What I really want though is some kind of bristle disc that's not as abrasive as wire and I can really sink a part into to clean out all the little nooks without overloading the motor. I know 3m makes a product like this but again, it's expensive. I'm hoping the nylon wheel I picked out will work in this fashion. I've already got a selection of large and small wire wheels so I'm not too concerned with them.

 

[terryo1965]

3M makes a product called "Bristle Discs" that look kind of like wire wheels but they are made of some sort of composite material with abrasive impregnated in it. They are available in coarse grades all the way up to extremely fine for polishing. The biggest problem is they are so expensive and they don't last very long. Some other guys suggested brass wire wheels and that is a pretty good option too. Brass wire will work very nicely on cleaning threads were a Scotch Brite wheel really can't get into the threads. What size wheels are you looking for? I know its 6" diameter but what is the width and shaft size. I sell industrial abrasives for a living and I will dig around and see if I have a sample something I can shoot you to try out.

 

[Lomotil]

Are these what you're talking about? http://www.mcmaster.com/#4824A63

Not the exact wheel, but these might be about the closest thing I've seen yet. Certainly a bit more expensive than I was expecting, I doubt the original wheel would have been that expensive, as it was sold under the Black and Decker name (might have even come with the grinder when new, I don't know.)

Thanks for the link.