150mm dia grinding wheel, 30mm width …is such available ?

[RJWParticipant @rjw]

Posted by Michael Cox 1 on 01/03/2014 12:18:06:

This may be a stupid idea but I will throw it out anyway. Why not mount two 15 mm grinding wheels side by side on a common arbour and then dress them to the same diameter?

Mike

Not such a daft idea Mike, it's how certain machines are set up for resurfacing brake discs!

Murray, Just had another thought, if you have any double glazing manufacturers nearby, it may be worth dropping into their workshops for a natter, those I've visited have all used long vertical belt linishers for cleaning up and truing the edges of panes of glass, it may cost you a belt and a few pints for the job, but could be worth a punt!

John

[murrmacParticipant @murrmac]

@tractionengine …Hi Nigel, I do actually have a complete set of DMT diamond stones, 11 1/2" long, all the way from extra-extra coarse to extra-extra fine, which I use for sharpening my woodworking edge tools. As you say, however, it would be slow, and wouldn't really have any advantage over what I am doing at present … I definitely need powered assistance .

@Nicholas Farr …Hi Nick thanks for the link … from what I have read since starting this thread it would seem that coolant is a sine qua non when grinding aluminium, so that rules out the grinding option …I am not going to have coolant squirting all over the place,.. dry dust I can vacuum away , but it seems that dry grinding is out of the question due to the wheel loading.

So that leads me back to the router option.

Dusty and others have expressed concern ( and rightly so) about the safety aspects of hand -feeding metal into a cutter. I am as keenly aware of safety procedures as anybody …I spend a goodly part of every working day on my table saw and my router table, and I have evolved procedures for machining both wood and metal (yes, I do cut thin aluminium on the saw) which make the whole operation virtually foolproof. Custom made push blocks are essential , as are efficiently designed hold- downs and feather-boards. If you set everything up right (and I have over 35 years of experience at wood machining), then you won't have any accidents. And, of course, full face protection is absolutely essential.

I will let you know how the routering goes, and thanks again to everybody for their suggestions and advice.

EDIT: 3 more posts since I started writing this post …have to go out now will reply later …cheers

Edited By murrmac on 01/03/2014 12:51:57

[john jennings 1Participant @johnjennings1]

Living in the countryside I am often rung by carriers seeking directions after SatNav has lost them. Often it occurs to me that the old advice " I wouldn't start from there if ….. " would be appropriate if not helpful.

To some extent this advice applies here. Murrmac has purchased some material to use in a manner previously found satisfactory in terms of time effort and result.

A further batch is different (deficient?) to the extent that a number of dangerous/expensive/toilsome procedures have been proposed and condemned.

I obviously don't know the costs/amount involved but is the best solution to source material nearer in specification to the originally used material rather than the " How do I get round being supplied with X which isn't quite right and needs fudging to work approach" which is often discussed in these columns?

John

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