What size wheel

O

Oldquacker

Member
What size wheel do you recommend for a first time hollow grinder? I heard it is easier if you start with a larger wheel. Is that true?
 
Yes,
I mostly flat grind but I do prefer a 10" or larger wheel for the first reason of the arc is taller than a 8' or smaller wheel. Matter of factor I would like to get a 14 or 20" wheel someday.
It also depends on the kind of knives you want to make? If you want to make 1-1 1/4" tall skinner blades a 8" works fine. If you want bigger camp knives 1 1/2" or taller. a 10" or larger is in order.

I know there are plenty of other makers here that make many more hollow ground blades than I do so I'am sure you will get more info from them.

For me the larger wheels were easier to use when I started making.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
that^

i was just watching a video on hollow grinding, and in it the maker explained that you can always grind a small knife with a large wheel, but you can not (read not easy) to grind a large knife with small wheel

so if youre not sure of the size of knives and want to 'hold the stick from the middle' i would suggest the 10" wheel

edit: the maker was johnnu stout btw, was from his hollow grind video tutorial
 
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A little more food for thought. There is a XLS spreadsheet program on Knifedogs Dogs. If you search under grind height calculator you should be able to find it. It uses three variables. 1) thickness of stock. 2) width of edge you want to grind to ( eg. 1/32") and 3) the diameter of the wheel. Unfortunately, its all in decibels. At any rate, the program calculates how high you can grind keeping the hollow the same radius as the wheel. Which is the easiest way to hollow grind.

For example using 1/4" stock ground to 1/32" with a 10" wheel calculates to just under 1" grind height.
 
70% of the wheels sold for a grinder are 8", after that it goes to 10", then 14" and then 12". I think this is because that is the way it was 30 years ago and things tend to stay the same. Personally, starting out now and only had one wheel to choose from, I would pick a 10". When you get above a 10" wheel, they start to get fussy with concentricity, run out, the vibrations and the increased mass they have. All of that can be solved with tighter tolerances and more money when building the wheel. I have a 6, 10, 12 and 14" to chose from. I used to grab the 8" first but now tend to pickup the 10" first. If I am grinding thin stock, I grab the 14" to get the grind line higher on the blade.

most guys will find a smaller wheel easier as the groove tends to be deeper and once the wheel is settled in the groove it tends to stay there.
 
Laurence, if you decide to pull the trigger on an 18"-20" plus wheel let me know and we'll see what kind of deal is available for 2+. I would love to have one.
 
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