Grinding Wheel Dresser

[DFHicks]

I have a two wheel Craftsman bench grinder.  The coarse one in particular needs to be trued up.  I do not have a dressing tool and would like some opinions about which ones are well made & do a good job.  Some diamond imbedded ones showed up in my Google search but I don't see how they would last very long.
 Thanks,
 Greg

[Acer Saccharum]

For a coarse wheel, the dressers with the multiple star shaped wheels do the trick. Very dusty when you dress the wheel. It is beating the surface into true, leaving fresh sharp grains exposed.

A diamond will not crumble the wheel like a star dresser, and leaves a smoother finish on the wheel, hence, not as coarse.

[Bob Roller]

I have a two wheel Craftsman bench grinder.  The coarse one in particular needs to be trued up.  I do not have a dressing tool and would like some opinions about which ones are well made & do a good job.  Some diamond imbedded ones showed up in my Google search but I don't see how they would last very long.
 Thanks,
 Greg

Greg,
I have used the diamond dressers with good results for years and the star wheel dressers work well and I use one now. Also worn carbide lathe tools for light dressing works well.IF extensive dressing is needed wear a face mask and eye protection..

Bob Roller

[wmrike]

I am still using may father's diamond tip (ca. 1940) and I won't be the one to wear it out

[okieboy]

 My favorite dressing tool is a Norton Norbide stick, which is made of boron nitride. These are not as fast as a star wheel (I do not like star wheel dressers and as a Tooling Specialist I have some serious hours at grinders), but give you much finer control. You can use one to dress flat or can "sculpt" the edge of the wheel to a shape, such as flat with a radius on one side. A hobbyist would never wear one out.
 Grinding wheels are like knife blades in that once you get them tuned up, you can keep them at their best with minimal, but regular, maintenance.

[DFHicks]

Thanks to you all for the information on truing up grinding wheels.  Looks like I have several good options.
Greg

[hudson]

Being cheap (I didn't say that) I will pas on something an elderly gentleman showed me many years ago. He worked for The gas company doing concrete work. The common diamond  imbedded circular wheel used for cutting concrete is cut into sections similar to a pie. A section works fine for dressing though the wheel will be quite a bit finer than before.