FAQ's

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Technical Questions What is the specification? What is the grit type? What is grit size? What is the hardness? What is the structure? What is the bond type? Can I use a diamond wheel on steels? Can I use a CBN wheel on carbide? Will the same product from two different manufacturers perform the same if they are marked the same? Visit our ABRASIVES BASICS page to learn more about grinding wheels & abrasives.     Didn't find your question listed here?  Visit our User Forum/Message Board to get help from another user.  You can review questions already submitted by others or post a question of your own. Other Questions   I am having trouble navigating your site.  I don't see any menus on the left side and I am unable to use the shopping basket? Why do you have a $75.00 minimum order amount?  Many other internet companies do not charge this.  I think this is a poor business practice. I am thinking about designing my own web site and I really like some or all of the features of Georgia Grinding Wheel's site -- How can I find out how you did it and would you be willing to share the details with me? What is the specification? A typical grinding wheel specification consists of the grit type, the grit size, the hardness, the structure and the bond.  A typical grinding wheel specification would be A60-I10-VS.  'A' is the grit type (aluminum oxide), '60' is the grit size, 'I' is the relative hardness, '10' is the structure, and 'VS' is the type bond. What is the grit type? Grit type is either aluminum oxide (white, pink, ruby red, brown, grey, etc.) silicon carbide (black or green), ceramic (blue and pink) or any combination of these. Grit types are sometimes mixed in combination for achieving certain cutting characteristics.  Aluminum oxide is friable (white) or semi-friable (pink, brown and grey, red, etc.).  Friable grit breaks down more easily and is useful for cutting harder materials.  What is grit size? Grit size typically runs from coarse (16 -24 grit), medium (36 - 60 grit) and fine (80-120 grit).  Superfine grits run from 150 and higher.  Grinding wheels usually will be between 24 and 100 grit.  Honing stones and jointing stones and other polishing abrasives will be 150 grit and higher.  Use a coarse grit for fast, aggressive stock removal and finer grits for less stock removal but better surface finish. What is the hardness? Hardness is rated from A-Z with 'A' being the weakest bond and 'Z' being the strongest.  A weak bond is preferred for grinding harder materials while  a stronger bond is desired for softer materials.  A typical weak bond for steel would be in the 'F, G or H' range.  A medium hardness would be in the 'I, J or K' range. And stronger bonds in the 'L, M, or O' range.  Hardness is dependant on the grit type, the material being ground, the amount of stock removed, and a number of other factors. What is the structure? Structure is basically the spacing between abrasive grains.  An open structure would be 12 or higher while a closer structure would be 6 or so.  Here again, the structure depends on a variety of factors not the least of which is how difficult the material is to grind. What is the bond type? There are various bond types but the most common are vitrified and resin.  Vitrified wheels are commonly used for bench, surface and tool room applications such as surface grinding while resin wheels are commonly seen in cutoff wheels, centerless wheels and superabrasive wheels (diamond & CBN).  Newer bonds are Plastic bonded wheels based on high technology from companies such as RESEARCH ABRASIVE. Can I use a diamond wheel on steels? No.  A diamond wheel is specifically used for carbides, plastics and other synthetic materials.  It will not grind steel at all. Can I use a CBN wheel on carbide? The short answer is no.  While you can use a CBN wheel on carbide, it will not work well at all. Will the same product from two different manufacturers perform the same if they are marked the same? This is a hard question to answer in a short space.  While the markings mean the wheels should perform the same, differences in factory equipment and marking systems may make one product behave differently than another.  They should be close, but the only true way to match a product is to have a wheel analysis done by the factory.  We do this for no charge and it is recommended for larger purchases to eliminate testing.  Note that even when an analysis is done, it is no guarantee the wheels will perform exactly the same. Other Questions I am having trouble navigating your site.  I don't see any menus on the left side and I am unable to use the shopping basket? Your browser needs to have JAVASCRIPT and COOKIES enabled in order to run the menus and use the shopping cart.  Click here to find out how to configure your browser. Why do you have a $75.00 minimum order amount?  Many other internet companies do not charge this.  I think this is a poor business practice. We are a small company and are not really staffed to take care of a large volume of small orders and the associated high volume of support and return issues.  We are better geared to serve the business enterprise rather than the home or hobby user (which are already well served by other companies).  Yes, we realize that many small purchases come from larger companies and potential future larger volume customers but please realize that we simply do not have enough employees to handle a large volume of orders at this time.  We may reevaluate this in the future as our business develops. I am thinking about designing my own web site and I really like some or all of the features of Georgia Grinding Wheel's site -- How can I find out how you did it and would you be willing to share the details with me?  Thank you for your interest.  We are always willing to share with others as this is how we relied on the development of our site in the beginning.  We have a very talented webmaster who you can contact directly.  Please click here to contact our webmaster.   If you have other questions, please Contact Us.