What bit to grind with

[taracor]

Hello everyone. Recently I have been making my own picks, and they have been turning out alright. However, grinding the metal takes me a very long time, and uses up my grinding wheels very fast. I am using hacksaw blades, cutting the general shape in them with a cutoff wheel, and then using a grinding wheel to finish the job. I don't have a bench grinder, but a dremel knockoff tool that runs at 16,000 rpms. I have tried diamond grinding points, and they do not work at all. Today I bought a tungsten carbide cutter bit, and it is also doing a very poor job, even though it said that it would cu even very hard metals. It is much slower than the grinding stones. My question is, what bits will go through the blades faster? What bits do you use?

Also, I am not using a vice, because I do not have one. Will a vice help with grinding since it reduces vibration?

[cheezewiz]

With my dremel I use the reinforced cut off wheels to cut the general shape down really close.Then I finish up with the grinding stones / polishing wheel. I dont know if that really answers your question, but it seems to work well for me.

[cheezewiz]

btw, good to see some more people from Tacoma. I live back there when im not at school

[raimundo]

if you are not using a vise, can you find a C clamp and a small block of wood, clamp things down, don't try to control too many things at once, because thats just tempting murphys law, when you lose control of one part of the paradigm, you lose the reason to control all the other parts, things aren't working well if so much of your attention is divided in ways that you could eliminate with some little ingenuity and thought. the reason to do this is to save your blood. really!

[digital_blue]

I'm not sure why you're be having a problem using a grinder. I use a bench grinder to grind out picks all the time. I don't know what your definition of "a long time" is, but it doesn't take any more than about 5 to 10 minutes to grind out the basic shape. I then use a dremel for the fine detail, and follow up with loads of sanding. All in, a pick can take an hour or more though. It's the sanding that takes a long time.

db

[Wolfe]

Nnfortunetly grinding wheels are the best at grinding.

Bench grinders are easy to come by and are cheap (30ish dollars usualy). I would suggests that route.To give you a idea about 5-10 mins. i have a usuable pick.

Dremals a fine in a pinch but they are not really suited for tool making. not enough power,surface area, and the grinding wheels they sell for them are "fine" for finish work and hobby work.Not really a fast rough cutter.
The only time i pull out my dremal is on a real fine cut or polishing.
I hope this helps
W.

[Shrub]

Db hes useing a hand rotary tool simular to the dremel and finding the slitting discs arent lasting,

The discs most of you use are for cutting, they are slitting discs,

If you are useing the stone discs that come with the tools then dont, they are actually quite dangourus in my opinion but do have a use, put them to one side until you find it,

The bits you should be useing are what has already been mentioned i think, thats the fibre reinforced ones, they are useualy black and you can see a weave in them,

I read on here a few years ago that black and decker are the bits to buy in the us,


A bench grinder is far more econimical to be honest, at $20, $30, $40 your still fast gogin to over take that by bying bits for the dremel all the time,

[Krypos]

yeah, i agree with shrub on this. i use a brand name dremel. and i have been using the emery wheels that come with it. they break apart under any heat/pressure.

i almost died once or twice using said wheels. one break up and a large chunk hit my eye, luckily, i was wearing safety goggles. yay.

i have heard good of the titanium cutting wheels, though i have yet to use one, just havent gotten around to buying em yet.

i dont know your proficiency with a dremel, so i am going to suggest reading around and watching pyros video, just look for all the guides and such. i think either shrub or illusion or locknewbie21 made a very nice guide on making picks via dremel. i think.

just make sure you're doing it right, and eventually it will take less time. when i first started making picks, i would sit there for 2 or 3 hours, just whittling away at that hacksaw blade. i havent made any new picks in some time, but i had it down to the point that it only took like 1o mintues to get the basic pick shape, and then anywhere from another 30 to 45 minutes or so to work out the details.

stick with it, youll get the hang of it. oh, and i dont have a vice or c clamp. i use my hand. its risky, but i have a really good feel of whats going on.

always wear eye protection!

[Krypos]

yeah, i agree with shrub on this. i use a brand name dremel. and i have been using the emery wheels that come with it. they break apart under any heat/pressure.

i almost died once or twice using said wheels. one break up and a large chunk hit my eye, luckily, i was wearing safety goggles. yay.

i have heard good of the titanium cutting wheels, though i have yet to use one, just havent gotten around to buying em yet.

i dont know your proficiency with a dremel, so i am going to suggest reading around and watching pyros video, just look for all the guides and such. i think either shrub or illusion or locknewbie21 made a very nice guide on making picks via dremel. i think.

just make sure you're doing it right, and eventually it will take less time. when i first started making picks, i would sit there for 2 or 3 hours, just whittling away at that hacksaw blade. i havent made any new picks in some time, but i had it down to the point that it only took like 1o mintues to get the basic pick shape, and then anywhere from another 30 to 45 minutes or so to work out the details.

stick with it, youll get the hang of it. oh, and i dont have a vice or c clamp. i use my hand. its risky, but i have a really good feel of whats going on.

always wear eye protection!

[taracor]

First of all, thank you so much for all of your replies. I really appreciate it. Also, yeah I am using a dremel knockoff, and I've never used a dremel like tool before. This is my first expirience other than drilling some holes in plastic. Yes, I was using the stone disks, shrub. I never had one shatter on me but it is something that I fear. I had a slitting disk shatter and hit me in the head once, that scared me. I have a few of the fiber enforced cutting disks, and one diamond one. Do you think the diamond one will work well? I don't want to try without asking first because if that shatters and hits me, I think its gonna do more damage than a paper thin slitting disk. I will take some pictures of my picks when I get more done.

[freakparade3]

I don't want to try without asking first because if that shatters and hits me, I think its gonna do more damage than a paper thin slitting disk. I will take some pictures of my picks when I get more done.

I hope that you are at least wearing safety glasses Also, you can get a clear full pace protecting visor pretty cheap at any home improvement store.

[taracor]

I wear safety glasses, a hat, and sometimes a mask when I am working. It is kind of like one of those surgeons masks. I am still worried about getting hit in an exposed area though.

[taracor]

I just tried the fiber enforced wheel, and it is not working very well. It is not cutting through the saw blade at all. Am I doing something wrong? I am cutting the side rather than the edge. Are you sure I should be using the fiber enforced wheel?

[Shrub]

Dont use the dimond wheel thats for glass,

You shoiuld be useing the edge of a slitting disc NEVER the face or back face of one,

That is to clarify, use the disc on its outside edge and not on the flat sides,

[unjust]

there are carbide cutting blades that work reasonably well, personally i've had luck with teh cutoff blades using them to slice around the outline rather than grind down.

a stack of 4-5 of them provides a much more stable grinding surface than one, and they tend to fragment less.