Thread: Wet stone grinder

Has anyone ever tried using a wet stone grinder to regrind something like an old wedge or grind from scratch? I recently got the idea from watching a vid on youtube of Meastro Livi making a razor from the ground up and noticed he used water cooled grinding wheels rather than the belt grinders I see so many using. So I looked up wet stone grinders and they seem like they would be WAY easier to control and manage spinning at an average of only 120 RPM. It seems like they are primarily marketed to and used by fine wood workers to put super sharp edges on their tools. My only thought would be (I know speed isn't a good thing with old razors) but would that low of RPM be suitable to grind a razor. Being water cooled and super low rpm would benefit in that you would never come close to overheating the steel. I know they can be expensive for the better ones, cheapest I found was still almost $200. Just wondering if it would be worth the investment if I wanted to start making razors in the BIG-OL-WEDGE style lol.

I have used both a Harbor Freight 8-inch and Craftsmen 3 inch wet grinders as far as I'm concerned they really are not as good as a belt grinder. If you can get them for a cheap amount at a local auction house or junk store. I believe Sears or somebody makes a 4-inch I have used them and for something small and they will do but they do not remove material fast enough to actually make a blade.~Richard

That's kind of what I was thinking, maybe better for a light regrind if only that but lacks the speed and grit to actually do much in any kind of realistic time frame. Thanks for the input!

Originally Posted by Russell1989

. Just wondering if it would be worth the investment if I wanted to start making razors in the BIG-OL-WEDGE style lol.

Until it gets to the finish, grinding heat isn't a big issue when you make a razor.

RPM depends on the diameter of the wheel. Surface feet per minute.

I've got a 10" Tormek, great machine..... but I never use it. It's just too sloppy and too slow for me. For the most part, I use belt grinders with a light touch for sharpening all manners of tools except for razors. My chisels and plane blades get rough ground on either a belt grinder or wheel grinder and then finished on hones. You can get a pretty good edge on a Tormek, but I feel I can do it better and faster on hones after rough grinding.

For hogging steel off a blank.... I'd get a 2" belt grinder in a heartbeat.... well.... that, or a really nice milling machine, and then I'd use the mill to make a nice belt grinder! :-)

Regards

Christian

Most wet grinders are way too slow to grind even a wedge in a reasonable timeframe. Unless you have one of the big ones you see in videos of Livi or old style knife grinders. But they are expensive.

That said, grinding heat is not a huge issue if you use fresh belts, preferably ceramic, at a slow speed.

They take a LONG time, I know. I used one to finish the hollow on this one & then to finish the hollow grind after HT & temper. When I say a long time, my Craftsman wet grinder took me probably took me 4+ hours total. One thing for sure, you won't damage the HT and you have time to make corrections along the way. My first razor was made using one: http://straightrazorpalace.com/forge...tml?highlight=

Late to the party....

I have done the regrind of a wedge on a stone wheel. Used a series of pulleys to slow to 300-700 rpm (depending on wheel size) with a water drip.

I have old grind stones ranging in size from 4-10 inches, (on the lookout for larger sizes) I find the wheel that most closely fits the original grind and use that. If I dont have a close match, I dont do it. If its a blade that I really want to work, I have been known to take a larger wheel and dress it down until it was the proper diameter to match. But that is time consuming and wasteful. (as if any of the process is not time consuming!)