Any experiences with Carbide nugget wheels

[frankjay02]

hello folks,
I am looking at the Carbide Nugget Wheels by Mastercarver for wasting wood. I have decided against the Lancelot or any other chain saw wheels for safety reasons and it appears the nugget wheel looks like it is fairly safe to use on a grinder IF all other safety precautions are followed.
If anyone has used one could you please pass on your experiences with it.
Thanks for any help
Frank in NJ

[Tom-H]

I'll be watching this thread too! These sleeves look good, but have never used them or heard anything about them.

Tom H

[Donsexton]

I don’t use that nugget wheel but I do use an aggressive carbide wheel very similar. I do use chainsaw discs and have for years; most carvers don’t need to use them. Carvers make the mistake of handling aggressive cutting discs like they would a sanding disc. Here is a picture of some of mine wear leather gloves and hard toed shoes or boots. The discs will grab and run out and can twist from your hands. I have many years of experience with carving grinders of all types. Don't hesitate to ask I may can save you some money and pain.

[Donsexton]

Originally Posted by Tom-H

I'll be watching this thread too! These sleeves look good, but have never used them or heard anything about them.

Tom H

Tom the sleeves you mentioned are great tools but you must be able to turn down the RPM's on your grinder they are not balanced for high speed. I think you use a flex shaft grinder? That is good it can be speed controlled just experiment to find the correct speed for the different sleeves. You don't want to run your grinder too much with a bit out of balance it will wear out the bearings fast.

[Inadv]

Frank n Tom,

I purchased the small (1/2") sleeves from the vendor you mentioned. They came as a pair, coarse and medium. I use the medium a pretty good bit and it is very aggressive. The coarse one will really move the wood, but leaves such a ragged mess behind that you'd have to stop about 1/4" from your finished size to leave enough stock to clean up on. Some of the "nuggets" on the coarse sleeve stand around 1/16th inch from the rest making it a very "toothy" tool.

L.P.

[frankjay02]

Don....I always take what you say as good honest advice. I have seen photos of your tools and you at work and I doubt I could handle those tools the way you do. At 64 I am not weak but do have "weaknesses" ie. arthritis in thumbs, tendonitis and sometimes in the middle of using tools like a heavy hammer or drilling thru 4x4's , 2xt6's the pain forces me to weaken my grip. From what you have indicated in several posts about using grinders and such, I think I am going to pass. I know my limitations and I do not need any major accidents . That ain't fun.
Maybe the Arbotech minigrinder might be better where the tool seems to shave off wood rather than grind it out. Or possibly that Merlin with the 2" Saburr wheels might be the way for me to go for wasting and roughing of medium sized pieces like 4" square x 18"....what do you think..
thanks for all your help
Frank in NJ

[Donsexton]

Both tools that you mentioned are safe and controllable as you can see I have and use both. The Proxxon mini grinders I use have speed control and are easy to hold. My next tool purchase will be a right angle grinder attachment for my Foredom.

[nadcarves]

I used to sell carbide cutters for the Duplicarver and Foredom tools..they had small arbortec type cutters. The larger 3 cutter wheel would tend to grab in a Foredom, when people took the limiter bearing off. The smaller,2 cutter, once you learned how to lead it, does wonders in the hard woods.As I mentioned, no dust, just litle chips...I've not been in"business" in some time and don't recognize the names and brands mentioned.. nor how they would compare...I prefer to run wide open,with the large carbide cutters.(6 inches) The idea being not to cut with the edge of the wheel, rather using the side of the edge.

[W.duBois]

Interesting post. I currently use Saburr-tooth carbide disks with great pleasure, but if something better comes along I'll take that. ST disks tend to clog up a bit in soft/wet woods, so these 'Carbide nugget wheels' must surely perform better? And the speed, has anyone tested if these disks remove wood faster then ST disks?The only drawback I see in these disks is that when you hit a nail or rock, the damage/jolt will be greater since the force is not distributed between lots of small teeth.