Are sintered wheels all that?

[Rockoteer]

Update...

I spoke with Dan over at Covington. He was very
I'm still unsure about the sintered wheel, 350 is a wad of cash, and I'm unsure how it will behave with my material.

What material are you using?
Read REDDRUM's post above.  He puts them to the test .....

TOG

[lithicbeads]

Hi, I would like some advice on how to go about choosing  the correct coarseness in a sintered  wheel. I would like to know  a bit about how coarse one can go without having major chipping of the girdle of fairly brittle stones such as  porcelain jaspers . I have quite worn out hands and I need to remove lots of rough in my bead shaping  so pushing hard on the wheel is not a very good solution for me.I get the impression that an 80 grit inland sintered in not quite as aggressive as a standard  100 grit wheel . Is the 60 grit sintered as aggressive  as a standard 100 grit wheel ?  Has anyone used a 30 grit sintered and have you found it useful for a variety of stones?  I use stacked tile saw blades to cut very aggressively so that I don't have to push hard but I would like to consider alternatives. thanks.

[Michael S Hoover - Redrummd]

I use a 60 grit for the fast removal and it does cause tiny "knappers" chips on porcelain stone and if there are any hidden flaws in the stone the harmonics from this grit will often cause a failure in the fault.  I don't mind that so much as I would prefer the scales break at the start of shaping rather than show up when I am polishing the scale after 8 hours of work on the knife.....

So, I use the 60 to get close to what I want and then move to the 100 grit which cuts a lot slower but does not chip.  

To further complicate this for everyone I have found that the green diamond dot 100 grit flat laps by Eastwind cut exceptionally fast and last a long time.  In fact you can use dressing sticks on them as the dots are fairly deep.  

In fact I have moved away from the grinding wheels to the 12 inch flat lap for doing the rough shaping for all but really thick pieces I need to remove a couple of MM off in which case I use the 60 grit sintered.

I still use the 100 and 200 grit sintered wheels for the final fitting of the scales so all still are being used.  

I just like to spend as little time as possible on the rough shaping so I thought I would mention the 12 inch flat lap for those who may already have one in their shops.  

[Rockoteer]

I am currently using SC 100 8" stone for my roughing in, but, if I don't keep it dressed it will do the 'knapping' thing also.  I have to be real carefull but I can usually rough in a set of scales before it needs dressing.  Of course it doesn't take long to dress either.

TOG

[lithicbeads]

  thanks. I agree wholeheartedly about being fortunate if the hidden flaws fail early in the shaping process. Interesting advice all around , thanks.