Large Japanese grinding wheel construction.

[bennypapa]

I have been watching knifemaking videos on youtube and the large water cooled grinding wheels common to many shops have me curious. Most look like wagon wheels with abrasive tires. Does anyone know how they are constructed? Are the abrasives indeed wheels or are they pieced together in segments?

 

[osakajoe]

Cement ceramic or resin bonded stone wheels. There are different types and each usually weigh 150kgs.

They will be set into a shaft and wheel clamp. That then gets set onto a tank and machine that spins it.

They do not look like tires brand new. They are smooth. The hash markings come from hammering or cutting into the stone to create grooves in order for the stone to grip and remove steel. If the stone is smooth it will tact just like a smooth tire on water road, will slip.

 

[bennypapa]

Thanks.

I didn't mean a tire like a tire tread but rather the wheel on the shaft is metal and has spokes and the abrasive surface at the edge is like a tire on that wheel.

So the abrasive is one piece?

 

[osakajoe]

Comes off for the stone to be placed on and then clamped in again.

Yes it’s one giant round stone, just like a wheel

 

[bennypapa]

Wow! Thank you for the great pictures!