Grinding Wheel for Cast Iron

[epicfail48]

Title says most of it, can anybody recommend a good grinding wheel for cast iron, or at least point me in the direction of what i should be looking for?

Intended application is use on a surface grinder, for grinding some durabar i have lying around. Ive tried making heads or tails of this stuff, but between all the numbers and letters ive just ended up very confused. At the moment ive got one of those ruby grain wheels in 46 grit and a H hardness, picked because id heard that its a good 'meh, throw whatever at it" kind of wheel. From what ive gathered though, cast iron and other non-ferrous's prefer silicon carbide wheels, and softer materials like harder wheels? That in mind, grinding cast iron would be done with something like a 46 grit silicon carbide wheel in maybe a J hardness?

Like i said, im hoping someone smarter than me can point me in the right direction here. Somewhat tangentially related, does anybody have a source for those precision ground flat stones i hear so much about? Nearly every video i can find about using a surface grinder mentions using the stones to deburr parts and the mag chuck before use, but none of them ever mention a source. Only one ive found is wanting $500 for a set, at that price im thinking it makes more sense to get a diamond wheel and make my own, which im not opposed to, but if i can find the stones at a better price than the wheel, just makes more sense going that route

[MattiJ]

Like i said, im hoping someone smarter than me can point me in the right direction here. Somewhat tangentially related, does anybody have a source for those precision ground flat stones i hear so much about? Nearly every video i can find about using a surface grinder mentions using the stones to deburr parts and the mag chuck before use, but none of them ever mention a source. Only one ive found is wanting $500 for a set, at that price im thinking it makes more sense to get a diamond wheel and make my own, which im not opposed to, but if i can find the stones at a better price than the wheel, just makes more sense going that route

I think these stones are the latest craze after Robin Renzetti's youtube videos. You probably have to grind your own.

[JoeLee]

I use a CGW brand or I think it's Camel AZ60-K8-V32A UPC code is 34326 this wheel is blue in color.

It worked well on cast iron.

JL..............

[George Bulliss]

Somewhat tangentially related, does anybody have a source for those precision ground flat stones i hear so much about? Nearly every video i can find about using a surface grinder mentions using the stones to deburr parts and the mag chuck before use, but none of them ever mention a source.

I managed for years just using a hard Arkansas stone (the small, translucent type) for such tasks. It was hard enough to not scratch a surface or remove stock where you didn't want it removed, but would knock down a bump in the chuck or break the corners to remove a grinding burr. I can understand the concept of the precision ground stones, but machinists have gotten by just fine for years without a $500 set of stones.

[Corbettprime]

Again, Brownell's has a good selection of synthetic hand stones. Not cheap, but last forever. Woodcrafters had a set of 1/4" stones in 5 shapes for $ 40.00. Great for trigger jobs.

[Mcgyver]

I think these stones are the latest craze after Robin Renzetti's youtube videos.

While they may have some usefulness, it is truly amazing anything got built before that

Epic, use whatever you use for mild steel. 46J or K. No one changes wheels for cast iron for general work, maybe if thats all you ground all day, but the same wheel you use for mild will produce great results in cast iron.

H might be too soft, save it for tool steel....principal is a harder wheel for soft stuff and vise versa....and apparently one letter grade change makes can make a significant difference. I've always viewed the 46J was the 'can grind about anything" wheel you keep mounted most of the time.

Not a Camel/CGW fan myself.....just remember is a camel is a horse build by committee ( ) I have wheels from many makers and the two from them were stinky, one was so out of balance I tossed it. Norton is probably the best/most easily available now.

[epicfail48]

Thanks for the advise everybody! May just end up using the wheel I have now, I was concerned about doing something stupid and grenading the wheel, but admittedly that didn't even make sense in my head. Makes sense that if it handles mild it should handle iron after all, and I'm just playing around at this point. Was going to make a set of 123 blocks as practice.

As far as the stones go, Renzetti was one of the videos I saw mentioning these, but they seem to come up a lot from people like Tom Lipton and Stefan Gottswinter as well, figured it might be looking into. May still end up grinding a few in the future, but I'll probably hold off for now, doesn't sound they're hugely necessary

[boslab]

Prepare for the coating of black graphite dust, gets everywhere, goes through filters.
(Norton 80grit was the last one I used but it was a cup wheel on a vertical spindle, white btw)
Mark

[buffdan]

This fellow recommends Norton Silicon Carbide 37C46-JVK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCrl0KDxuos "How To Mill and Grind Cast Iron Angle Plates"

[epicfail48]

Prepare for the coating of black graphite dust, gets everywhere, goes through filters.
(Norton 80grit was the last one I used but it was a cup wheel on a vertical spindle, white btw)
Mark

Yeah, im not too fond of cast iron after messing with it a bit in the past, but its what i have and i may as well use it, you know? I wear an organic vapor cartridge respirator whenever im working any grinder, so hopefully no black bogies for days afterwards, and im hoping that running a coolant mist will keep the airborne dust down. Still remember the mess left from scraping in a cast-iron straightedge, which reminds me i need to re-do the scraping on that... Blasted thing didnt stay straight