I have been looking offhand for a while for a large grinding stone. Maybe 3" to 4" wide by about 18" to 36" in diameter. Slow speed stone, 300 RPM or slower, to be used in a wet trough. I know sandstone wheels are pretty common to find in antique stores or the like but dose anyone still cut them out today? I see many videos of Asian smiths forging tools and they seem to have many large stones, often using the stone in the opposite direction we in America do, grinding away from themselves. Are all of these stones sandstone? or are they cast stones smiler to a small alumina oxide wheel one might find on a 6" bench grinder?

I would like to find one of these myself. If nonexistent perhaps make one? If hand cranked maybe a polyester resin and aluminum oxide mix? I wouldn't trust that to any speed though.

14"x2" big enough for you? Or here is a 24"x 3" wheel. It has a large bore but at the speeds you are talking about you could make a wooden mandrel.

I was fortunate to get this one it came with a sawmill that was bought and moved from Pennsylvania to western N.C. late 30's early 40's It was run by a foot peddle its 4"x 36" gona try to get a frame built for it this summer just wish I had a picture of it when it was set up so I could build it back close to original. also got the steam whistle that was on the boiler.

Stone can be cut by waterjet, really.

I suggest you do this:
http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=15046&view=&hl=grinding%20wheel&fromsearch=1
"old world grinding meets the modern west" under tool making category...in case the link fails.

If you intend to make a large wheel grinder I think this is the way to go, but if you wish to kit a period shop out then it is not.

I thought about making one about six feet in diameter....or maybe ten.....
Never got past the thinking stage.

Ric

Well there is about a dozen of them in the river below the old anvil works in Columbus OH. Water & freeze cycle have probably ruined them though. (Place is now condo's after being an edible oils plant after being the anvil factory...)

That massive contact wheel is awesome.

Phil

One word of caution on this subject: bigger stones must run slower. If you run 'em too fast they can basically explode, with potentially fatal consequences.

I know you said you were planning to run it slow, but others might not realize how big a deal that can be.

I suggest you do this:
http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=15046&view=&hl=grinding%20wheel&fromsearch=1
"old world grinding meets the modern west" under tool making category...in case the link fails.

If you intend to make a large wheel grinder I think this is the way to go, but if you wish to kit a period shop out then it is not.

Ric

Mr Furrer -Please give us a heads up if you get an update on the Bladesmith's Form. That is quite the machine. -tks grant

I suggest you do this:
http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=15046&view=&hl=grinding%20wheel&fromsearch=1
"old world grinding meets the modern west" under tool making category...in case the link fails.

If you intend to make a large wheel grinder I think this is the way to go, but if you wish to kit a period shop out then it is not.

I thought about making one about six feet in diameter....or maybe ten.....
Never got past the thinking stage.

Ric

alright! I love it. I will look into this possibility for my shop, No I am not looking for anything historical, Just useful to me. And I would absolutely run large solid wheels slow, I don't want to die, I know our friend Sam S tried to run a large wheel fast and he was vary lucky nothing bad happened to him, his wheel blew up.

Many sandstone wheels came from Ohio quarries. The grit size varies widely and sandstones get soft when left in a water resulting in uneven "out of round" wear. If you like the historical aspect of the old sandstone grinding stone then there may be stone companies that can make them for you via a stone lathe. Don't expect to find them on the Internet. I saw a stone dealer in Springs, MD a few years ago that had the equipment but no orders.
I have several sandstone wheels that I have picked up over the years at auctions but never use them. Delta Machine tools sells a water stone wheel grinder that is far superior to any natural stone quarried in the U.S.

Mr Furrer -Please give us a heads up if you get an update on the Bladesmith's Form. That is quite the machine. -tks grant

Will do Grant.

I thought the "best" on that thread, other than the guy actually doing it, was the suggestion of a motorcycle wheel....off the shelf parts.
I would think a wheel could be cast with urethane around the it and trued for OK money...and then you can run any belt you can fit.


Ric

brief googling returns this.
http://www.xinfa-abrasives.com/5-2-recessed-grinding-wheel.html
largest diameter is 900mm
for you 'mericuns thats 35.4 inches

image below with a guy in the background



im sure they have more styles available but i got lazy.
and i bet the shipping on a block of stone like that would be crazy!

There is an old ranch out where I used to live in CA that had one that was 6"-8" wide and around 48" in diameter IIRC. It sat in a building all byitself, and had a cast iron trough to run in.

For a wide wheel, contact a centerless grinding shop, and see what they do with their old wheels. They run several inches wide. MSC Industrial sells new ones,and that may be an option too dependiong on budget.

I have these, If your interested in any let me know .Ill give you more details.

Is that a wet grinder setup? Your location would help and how the heck did you ever upload a 2.95mb pic??.... :D

There's this video on youtube of a similiar idea but just the wheel with a treadle:

Hope it helps

Rubén

I suggest you do this:
http://forums.dfoggk...el&fromsearch=1
"old world grinding meets the modern west" under tool making category...in case the link fails.

If you intend to make a large wheel grinder I think this is the way to go, but if you wish to kit a period shop out then it is not.

I thought about making one about six feet in diameter....or maybe ten.....
Never got past the thinking stage.

Ric

Only 30 1/2" diameter but ? The wheel has a slight crown but could be re-ground easily enough.

14"x2" big enough for you?grinding wheels Or here is a 24"x 3" wheel. It has a large bore but at the speeds you are talking about you could make a wooden mandrel.

John I did not see the second link to the 24" by 3" one?

I don't know, I thought I had made a second link last year. I am sure a little looking online would find one or calling your local industrial supplier they would find one.

I just clicked on a link at the bottom of this page here is someone who makes up to 40" dia wheels http://anchorabrasives.com/index.php/products-and-services/roll-grinding-wheels/

I am thinking about making a slow speed wheel such as has been described here.  One idea that attracts me is a 24" diameter or larger HDPE wheel about 4.5 inches wide, to which I could attach wet/dry sandpaper of my choice of grit.  Match the gearing to get about 20" per second perimeter speed.  Attaching the sandpaper is problematical.  But here's what's available:  http://www.onlineindustrialsupply.com/weblplbasaro.html

HDPE is quite expensive, but HDPE cutting boards are not. 

Traditional grinding of scythes, knives etc in my corner of the world used to be a sandstone wheel 2-3 feet in diameter hand cranked and running in a through of water. Since you do not want it to throw water all over the place the RPM will be fairly low so even if it were motorized there is no risk that it will fail. I have the parts to one and one day I will set it up but I usually grind edges on my Tormex which is also running water. 

Where is the inertia in your HDPE wheel?  Needs to be as heavy as a stone wheel to work like one.  Not that 24" is not very large as far as these wheels went industrially The anvil manufacturer in Columbus OH by the river north of downtown, (just north) used to discard their grinding wheels when they got down to around 4' in diameter, there was still a bunch of them sitting in the river shallows when I checked the place out, we moved before I worked out a method to clean the industrial waste from that river...