I am considering purchasing a large contact wheel and was wondering what the most useful size would be.....8",10" or 12"? Any suggestions?
I have an 8" wheel and it's not bad but the max recommended hollow grind height is 1/2" on 1/8" stock I would go for the 12" and you won't regret it nicer hollow grinds and and on smaller blades you get a nice flat grind but that's just my opinion?
I've found a bunch of large contact wheels on alibaba/aliexpress but, after speaking to Dan, i need to purchase some 6202 bearings with a 5/8 bore. My real question before investing the money is about serrated vs smooth contact wheels. I think the idea is that serrated is supposed to be more aggresive? I don't mind taking my time so if a smooth wheel is meant to be a better finish, i'd go that way. Is that the overall principle for these two types of wheels? Anybody have experience with these?
I have one serrated and one smooth. Honestly, I can't tell much of a difference other than the serrated seems a little softer, which makes sense as there is less rubber in contact with the belt. The serrated wheel also produces a lot more wind which sends dust farther-a-flung. As for aggressiveness, technical docs say serrated are more aggressive, personally I can't say. I am not one who grinds anything aggressively as I do most grinding post heat treat. They call me "100 Pass Dan" for a reason.
I have a friend who is a semi-professional knife maker. I was shocked to learn that he also grinds almost completely post heat treat. I don't know why I was shocked except that almost all the videos and instructions i read suggested grinding down to the thickness of a dime and no more so there's no warping in the heat treat. I've recently tried one post heat treat, and it's way better. I guess i should qualify, i take off a good chunk pre heat treat. It's interesting how many people i've heard do it post heat treat now.
