Help on dressing a (bench) grinding wheel

I just picked up a used Delta Wet/Dry Grinder. The previous owner took good care of it and recommended I pick up a tool to dress the grinding wheels. I can’t blame him for keeping his. I also have a lightly used 6″ (generic) bench grinder, never dressed the grinding wheels. Are there any recommended dressing tools or websites? Is the stick preferred over the “diamond wheel”? The manuals for both of these grinders have, at most, just a paragraph on dressing the wheel. Is there anything special to dressing a grinding wheel?

Thanks,

Ray

Let me find something tomorrow for you. My buddy has some information that he sent me that provided some good information. I am not sure what i did with it. I just sent him an email, so hopefully I hear something by tomorrow.

Dressing is good to do. But I have my grabdfather’s grinder from the 70’s and I never have dressed it. They say you should dress it if you get the outlayer coated with a metal. This will prevent it from heating up and exploding, but have never heard this happening to anyone. If you are using the grinder occasionally, don’t worry about it.

If you are grinding using a soft metal, it will be good to dress because if the wheel has a harder metal than what you are grinding, it become tricky.

Again its not a huge thing to dress the wheel and thats why the manuals don’t have that much. If you are going to be grinding for true accuracy, it pays, but if you are sharpening tools and grinding other stuff, I would spend my money somewhere else.

Thanks for the info. I have a few wood chisels passed on to me that need a little TLC. Before I start to clean them up I’ll check the little Delta grinder out.

Ray

PPTG is right. If you are just using this to sharpen tools, I wouldn’t spent money on a dressing tool.

I would recommend going to a metal grinding business and inquire as to what they use for their stones. Most woodworking houses are not up to speed on the proper grinding tools for stones.