Dressing a diamond grinding wheel

[earlgo]

I may have asked this question before, but I have failed to remember the answer.
How do I dress a diamond grinding wheel on a grinder that has no capability to slow the wheel speed down?
I have read that if the wheel is turning slowly(?) it can be dressed. From experience I know that using a dressing brick on a fast spinning diamond wheel cuts nice grooves in the brick but does nothing to the wheel. I bought the recommended Silicon carbide and Alum oxide dressing sticks.
Any suggestions?
--earlgo

[earlgo]

Well DUH. I was walking the dog and it occurred to me that I should just make a centered spindle arbor to mount the wheel and adapter on and then I can turn it with the lathe at slow speeds and get the dressing done that way. I was stuck on using the grinder.
Oh well, I do have "oldtimers" disease.
--earlgo

[Harold_V]

It should be noted that dressing a diamond wheel should be restricted to only very unusual cases, as the layer of diamond is generally very shallow, so a respectable portion of the useful life of the wheel is lost. The dressing sticks in question are more about restoring the surface than actually dressing the wheel. They do a surprisingly good job of doing that, virtually without altering the layer of diamond. You can see evidence of that if you use a stick on a wheel that has been dulled by grinding on steel (not uncommon for those who use brazed carbide). The wheel surface gets cleaned of contamination, and, I suspect, a few dull diamonds are released from the matrix. Performance is restored to that of a new wheel, with very little wheel lost. I run my dressing stick at full wheel speed, and do that sparingly.

Unless you have a situation where the wheel is no longer functionally flat, or it was a permanent uneven wear pattern, causing the wheel to bounce the part being ground, I'd suggest you not dress the wheel. All it will do for you is shorten its useful life.

When I mount a diamond wheel (which I never remove once installed), I use a dial indicator on the wheel, revolving the wheel such that the indicator point (carbide) trails. The wheel is turned very slowly, with a minimum of contact pressure on the indicator. I do not dress the wheel.

H

[earlgo]

Since I have a Delta Toolmaker grinder, the wheel adapters are very hard to find. Delta chose to use a different taper than the 'normal' grinders, and spins the wheel CCW so the nut is RH and not LH. I have only 2 adapters: 1 that came with the grinder and 1 purchased from SOPKO in 1989 or so for $85. (That is a bit steep for me today.) So I am stuck changing wheels instead of adapters. E-bay has been no help with the adapters. (Of course having said that, a half dozen will show up and prove me wrong.)
But thanks for the info Harold.
--earlgo

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

Since I have a Delta Toolmaker grinder, the wheel adapters are very hard to find.

I feel your pain. I also own one of these. From your
description, you have the old model (I have that model
too). The new model used a LH threaded adapter but
the same 14° taper. A while back, I got a PDF file with
a blueprint of the adapter so I can make some more (someday).
I also have collected several of the new style adapters
and I hope to find a good condition Rockwell Toolmaker
New Model.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

[tetramachine]

I have used a Norton Brake wheel dresser, with an SG wheel, does a nice job on Diamond wheel. Clean and flat.

[earlgo]

If you could conjure up a picture it would help. I am not at all familiar with that type of dresser. Many thanks in advance.
--earlgo

[TimTheGrim]

We would carefully wrap the wheel in a single layer of Scotch Tape. Lightly roll the wheel on a flat plate to assure even adhesion. Use a dial indicator with a tip that had the ball end ground half flat over the tape. Once the wheel was as close to concentric as possible and tight on the adapter, we would remove the tape, power up the grinder and let it run for a few minutes and then finish things up by making a few light passes over a pure Molybdenum block or rod end. The tough chewiness of the Moly tears off the highest points from the matrix. The ones that make those annoying tracks. The finish you get on the Moly will then pretty much be what you’ll see on your carbide.

[jpfalt]

The aluminum oxide dressing sticks are made for diamond wheel dressing and shaping. You will go through them fairly rapidly, but they are made cheap for just that reason. They work by eroding the binder between the diamond grains and releasing the grains. The dressing stick gives off a lot of grinding swarf that flows around the diamond grains to erode the binder.

[easymike29]

If you could conjure up a picture it would help. I am not at all familiar with that type of dresser. Many thanks in advance.
--earlgo

http://www.diamondtooling.com/catalog/b ... ce_01.html

Gene

[earlgo]

Oh, thanks for the catalog cut. It is a bit steep in price for my garage shop. One could buy a couple of new diamond wheels for the price of the dresser, but if one had a commercial shop, it would have a manageable ROI.
Thanks again.
--earlgo

[fourjc]

As stated in previous posts, try to keep the wheel on the adapter. Otherwise Dial the wheel in as close as possible turning by hand, A slight run out is no problem. The only way I know how to dress diamond wheels is using a brake controlled dresser. This short video shows how I dress when the face of my wheel when it's absolutely needed. https://1drv.ms/v/s!Av7bHPiazEVKsg8BJw0tLvWhrtiN.
Hope the link works, if not let me know.