Help, please: Gross Reduction of a new Graver.

[Doc Mark]

I'm getting tired of spending 45 mins. to shape and sharpen a new graver blank. These new C-Max gravers are particularly tough! I usually use an 8 inch grinder and a course stone to do a bit of the gross reduction and then go to the Power Hone. I've been thinking of the Tom White high speed hone but am a bit afraid of the heat build-up using such speeds. Will this friction heat adversely affect the temper of the graver? What do you guys do to prepare a new blank?

Mark

 

[monk]

no matter the alloy, by habit i always cool the tool in water during roughout. that way you are safe. many of my tools i do quickie " roughouts" with a dreml or my dental drill using diamond. rarely do i use a bench grinder. doing the "rough" phase rarely takes me more than maybe 5 minutes, 10 at most. however-- i have yet to use the alloy you mentioned. for the rough, i have a double sided, 2"dia diamond disk that i run in the dreml at around 30 k rpm. it cuts & rough shapes very fast. if needed i'll touch up a bit with the dental drill, then to the power hone. the only tools that take me a lot of time are "micro" tools that i do on the lindsay system. these can be done on the grs hone, but must be done with the most delicate of touches, or you have no tool left !

 

[quickcut07]

If this is a carbide graver heat should not be a big issue. Quenching probably will not hurt . Carbide has a high tolerance to heat compared to HSS which if heated to high would need to be re-tempered.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Try a "Gator" wheel. That's what I used to shape mine. It still took a bit of time though - tough stuff that C-Max! On a Power Hone, of course, there's no chance of it over heating.

 

[Dave London]

Toms machine will rough out a carbalt graver in less than 5 min. Flip the included diamond disc over and finish:thumbs up: Dave

 

[jerrywh]

I bought one of toms high speed graver sharpeners. I spent a day or so installing another rheostat in it so I could run it at any speed I want to. You need not worry about the heat on carbide too much as has been stated previously. To ruff them out I use a 100 grit diamond wheel and a medium speed. I have requested the GRS make a variable speed sharpener for a couple of years but they apparently don't see the need.

 

[rod]

Mark,

Take a look at my posting that is now in the tips archive:

http://www.igraver.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5012

Get results in seconds!

best

Rod

 

[jlseymour]

I've done allot gravers on Tom's power hone and had no problem with HSS, carbide, cobalt or Carbalt...
Its fast, I started a M42 cobalt on my GRS power hone the other day and it took 5 times longer than TW hone...
Jerry

 

[Kevin P.]

Mark you might want to try Mizzy heatless wheels. Jewelers use these. They are 1' in diameter used in a foredom or such and breakdown quickly therefore less heat.
I generally use diamond and have no trouble.
High speed generates more heat, generally undesirable.
Kevin P.