Hi,
Over the years I've wanted to hone tungsten carbide tipped tooling and at one point bought an 8" dia green grit grinding wheel but it didn't impress me in the least. Recently I noticed diamond cup wheels on RDG website which looked interesting so I bought a 100mm dia version. As I collected the diamond wheel I was informed customers were buying these diamond wheels but were running them much too slowly on normal grinders hence the diamonds were simply stripped off; high speed being a must?
I gave this problem of high speed a lot of thought considering my options; rig up a belt/pulley system; buy a VFD or even attach the wheel to my Startrite combination woodworking machine; the slot morticer runs at 6,000 rpm? I was still thinking about the options when a couple of months ago I visited Rufforth Auto Jumble; as I wandered around I noticed a brand new boxed Parkside router with a set of 8mm cutters on sale at £25; suddenly it occurred here could be the answer so I bought the router. On the same stall identical sets of 8mm cutters were being sold at £8 per set so in effect I bought the new router for only £17.
I've finally got around to playing around with my idea of an high speed diamond honing machine; the bulk of the work would be straightforward but I would need an adapter to mount the wheel to the router; this isn't a problem at all for me owning two engineering lathes. I chucked a length of BMS bar stock into the lathe and at first intended to completely turn the adapter without removing it from the lathe but in practice and to save playing around changing lathe tooling I turned one half of the adapter then turned it in the chuck but to ensure it ran perfectly true I clocked it using a DTI. For this 100mm dia wheel I consider an 8mm dia adapter to be the minimum to use; I would never try this in a 1/4" dia router feeling it would be highly dangerous.
Mounting the router was easy using just two offcuts of 18mm thick MDF with the joint screwed and reinforced with a length of angle iron. A pair of 6mm countersunk set screws secured the router to the mounting and a couple of short lengths of angle iron were pressed into service as a tool rest. For safety I added a top guard and mounted the wheel using a self locking 8mm nut with washer.
At its lowest speed setting this router runs in excess of the stated maximum wheel speed by about 10% hence the heavy guard for safety. I waited until the guard and tool rest was in place before switching the router on; I had tied string around the router switch locking the switch on allowing remote control from the 13V power socket. I double checked the router was adjusted to slowest speed; as the wheel came up to speed I expected vibration but was pleased to feel just a light tremour on the bench so it was pretty well balanced and the new machine simply sat on the bench without wandering around. Now I clamped the machine to the bench to have a go at honing a chipped TC tipped lathe tool; unsure which way to apply the tool to the wheel I thought it safer to have the wheel running "uphill" and arranged the tool rest for this; eye protection is an absolute must as is hear protection; I was truly amazed as I applied the tool to the wheel with a very gentle touch to see a shower of tiny sparks appear indicating the wheel was doing its job. It took seconds only to hone both cutting edges and to ease the point; inspecting the newly honed surfaces I could clearly see minute scratches where each diamond has been working; the surface is certainly good enough for my home workshop needs and I'm now delighted to have this high speed diamond hone. Where else could I buy such a dedicated machine for around £37?
I've been around machinery for over 50 years and understand the dangers involved; I'm going to take my time and enclose more of the wheel with a guard; any machine at speed commands utmost respect and I don't encourage others to experiment with such projects as these unless they are proficient and fully understand the dangers involved but for me the idea works a treat in practice. Longevity of the diamond wheel is unknown by me but given it's little use I'll put it to I'm sure it will repay for itself many times over honing TC tooling which otherwise would have been discarded. I'm unable to take a decent picture of the honed tooling but it looks impressive.
This story is added just for interest to show another use a router can be put to; I've not seen this done previously it being something I dreamed up as an experiment. Hope its of interest?
Kind regards, Col.
Over the years I've wanted to hone tungsten carbide tipped tooling and at one point bought an 8" dia green grit grinding wheel but it didn't impress me in the least. Recently I noticed diamond cup wheels on RDG website which looked interesting so I bought a 100mm dia version. As I collected the diamond wheel I was informed customers were buying these diamond wheels but were running them much too slowly on normal grinders hence the diamonds were simply stripped off; high speed being a must?
I gave this problem of high speed a lot of thought considering my options; rig up a belt/pulley system; buy a VFD or even attach the wheel to my Startrite combination woodworking machine; the slot morticer runs at 6,000 rpm? I was still thinking about the options when a couple of months ago I visited Rufforth Auto Jumble; as I wandered around I noticed a brand new boxed Parkside router with a set of 8mm cutters on sale at £25; suddenly it occurred here could be the answer so I bought the router. On the same stall identical sets of 8mm cutters were being sold at £8 per set so in effect I bought the new router for only £17.
I've finally got around to playing around with my idea of an high speed diamond honing machine; the bulk of the work would be straightforward but I would need an adapter to mount the wheel to the router; this isn't a problem at all for me owning two engineering lathes. I chucked a length of BMS bar stock into the lathe and at first intended to completely turn the adapter without removing it from the lathe but in practice and to save playing around changing lathe tooling I turned one half of the adapter then turned it in the chuck but to ensure it ran perfectly true I clocked it using a DTI. For this 100mm dia wheel I consider an 8mm dia adapter to be the minimum to use; I would never try this in a 1/4" dia router feeling it would be highly dangerous.
Mounting the router was easy using just two offcuts of 18mm thick MDF with the joint screwed and reinforced with a length of angle iron. A pair of 6mm countersunk set screws secured the router to the mounting and a couple of short lengths of angle iron were pressed into service as a tool rest. For safety I added a top guard and mounted the wheel using a self locking 8mm nut with washer.
At its lowest speed setting this router runs in excess of the stated maximum wheel speed by about 10% hence the heavy guard for safety. I waited until the guard and tool rest was in place before switching the router on; I had tied string around the router switch locking the switch on allowing remote control from the 13V power socket. I double checked the router was adjusted to slowest speed; as the wheel came up to speed I expected vibration but was pleased to feel just a light tremour on the bench so it was pretty well balanced and the new machine simply sat on the bench without wandering around. Now I clamped the machine to the bench to have a go at honing a chipped TC tipped lathe tool; unsure which way to apply the tool to the wheel I thought it safer to have the wheel running "uphill" and arranged the tool rest for this; eye protection is an absolute must as is hear protection; I was truly amazed as I applied the tool to the wheel with a very gentle touch to see a shower of tiny sparks appear indicating the wheel was doing its job. It took seconds only to hone both cutting edges and to ease the point; inspecting the newly honed surfaces I could clearly see minute scratches where each diamond has been working; the surface is certainly good enough for my home workshop needs and I'm now delighted to have this high speed diamond hone. Where else could I buy such a dedicated machine for around £37?
I've been around machinery for over 50 years and understand the dangers involved; I'm going to take my time and enclose more of the wheel with a guard; any machine at speed commands utmost respect and I don't encourage others to experiment with such projects as these unless they are proficient and fully understand the dangers involved but for me the idea works a treat in practice. Longevity of the diamond wheel is unknown by me but given it's little use I'll put it to I'm sure it will repay for itself many times over honing TC tooling which otherwise would have been discarded. I'm unable to take a decent picture of the honed tooling but it looks impressive.
This story is added just for interest to show another use a router can be put to; I've not seen this done previously it being something I dreamed up as an experiment. Hope its of interest?
Kind regards, Col.
