Instructions

WEAR YOUR
FORESIGHT IS BETTER
THAN NO SIGHT
READ INSTRUCTIONS
BEFORE OPERATING
SAFETY GLASSES
SHERLINE PRODUCTS INC. • 3235 Executive Ridge • Vista • California 92081-8527 • FAX: [phone]
Toll Free Order Line: [phone] • International/Local/Tech. Assistance: [phone] • Internet: www.sherline.com
10/29/18
As with any machining operation, grinding requires the
utmost attention to “Eye Protection.” Be sure to use it when
attempting the following instructions.
Joe Martin relates a story about learning to grind tools. “My
rst experience in metal cutting was in high school. The
teacher gave us a 1/4" square tool blank and then showed
us how to make a right hand cutting tool bit out of it in
a couple of minutes. I watched closely, made mine in ten
minutes or so, and went on to learn enough in one year to
always make what I needed. I wasn’t the best in the class,
just a little above average, but it seemed the below average
students were still grinding on a tool bit three months into the
course. I believe these students didn’t have the condence
in themselves to work with their hands.”
Grinding lathe tools is easy, and the only reason we sell
them is to help a beginner get started. If you are to be
successful in making metal parts on a lathe, you have to
teach yourself to grind tool bits.
Consider a carpenter who didn’t have the condence to drive
a nail because he was worried about missing the nail and
hitting his thumb. He/she wouldn’t be in the trade very long!
Some things you do in trades require a positive approach
and tool grinding is one of them. If you keep stopping to
see if you’re grinding it correctly you’ll not only waste a
lot of time, but will end up with a less than perfect cutting
edge. Set up the grinder correctly and do it! It shouldn’t
take but a few minutes to make simple cutting tools and
only a few seconds to re-sharpen them.
A bench grinder doesn’t have to be expensive to work well,
but it does require good “wheels” for high-speed steels.
Try to nd a source for grinding wheels from an industrial
supplier. Some of the wheels that come with inexpensive
grinders wouldn’t sharpen a butter knife. Sixty grit is a good
place to start. A wheel dresser is also a necessity. They are
relatively inexpensive and are readily available from good
hardware stores and on-line resources.
Dressing your grinding wheel is a part of maintaining the
bench grinder. Grinding wheels should be considered cutting
tools and have to be sharpened. A wheel dresser sharpens
by “breaking o” the outer layer of abrasive grit from the
wheel with star shaped rotating cutters which also have to
be replaced from time to time. This leaves the cutting edges
of the grit sharp and clean.
A sharp wheel will cut quickly with a “hissing” sound and
with very little heat by comparison to a dull wheel. A dull
wheel produces a “rapping” sound created by a “loaded
up” area on the cutting surface. In a way, you can compare
what happens to grinding wheels to a piece of sandpaper
that is being used to sand a painted surface; the paper loads
up, stops cutting, and has to be replaced.
For safety, a bench grinder should be mounted to something
heavy enough so it will not move while being used. The tool
support must be used and should be set at approximately
7°. Few people have the skill to make tools without a tool
support and in essence it’s wasted eort. Tool supports are
usually made up of two pieces that allow you to set your
tool rest above or below center. It really doesn’t matter
whether its above or below as long as the support is at 7°.
7°
7°
7°
Grinding Wheel
Tool Rest
FIGURE 2—Set tool rest at any height, but at 7° angle from
centerline of wheel.
The reason tool supports are designed like this is so they
can be used for a variety of uses, not just tool bits. What
this means is that if the tool support is above or below
center it must be adjusted as the wheel diameter changes.
Now it’s time to make a tool, and whether you turn this job
into a major project is up to you!
Left Hand
Cutting Tool
Grinding Your Own
Lathe Tools
FIGURE 1—A Wheel Dressing Tool and spare “star wheel”
sharpening insert.
Right Hand
Cutting Tool
Boring Tool