Woodturners use grinders as sharpening stations.
This involves changing over the usually supplied wheels for grinding wheels designed for the high speed steel of which woodturning tools are usually made.
Because of this, many suppliers have created a confusing range of grinder wheels for the woodturning community.
However, a little common sense goes a long way in working through the confusion.
High speed steel calls for softer wheels than does the more common high carbon steel used for plane blades and wood chisels.
This softness comes in the use of aluminum oxide for the grinding wheels as opposed to the more common grey carborundum wheels usually sold with a grinder.
Manufacturers of woodturning accessories have of course responded to the need along with the manufacturers of grind stones to come up with a confusing array of stones in various colours for the woodturning community.
The colours are really a manufacturer's ploy, although it does help with their cataloguing.
Aluminum oxide is for all intents and purposes colourless so it is the bonding agent that is actually coloured.
Since one of the first manufacturers of woodturner's dedicated wheels used a white bond, it has become standard to require white wheels for a woodturning sharpening station even though similar wheels are available in blue or pink or even in regular workshop brown and grey.
What is really important for a grinding wheel to sharpen high speed steel tools is an aluminum oxide wheel with a suitable grit and a friable bond.
The most confusing thing to most turners in finding an appropriate friable bond.
A bond of this nature breaks down easily during the grinding to leave clean particles of aluminum oxide for the next grinding.
Many of the wheels touted for the wood turner are so friable that they quickly groove during sharpening.
This requires a lot of wheel dressing and replacement of expensive wheels.
In actuality, any wheel generally accessible to the home workshop will be friable enough for high speed steel.
The regular aluminum oxide wheels in =brown or grey work well with a minimum of wear and with a good life.
Grits are even easier.
A coarse wheel or forty five to fifty grit will do for shaping of injured edges and a fine one of eighty to one hundred grit for sharpening.
So all a sharpener need to to outfit the grinder is get a couple of wheels to fit, keep them dressed, and get turning with sharp tools.