Drag Back LTAGA to CBN

[quadracutter222]

Good Day, I am looking into options to upgrade from the face plunge only DIY grinder that came with my mill and have found what looks like a good deal on a LTAGA stone grinder with the oil system.  I am interested in leaning the dressing of the stones and the operation of the drag back system but am wondering about converting to CBN.

Seems like from reading here that the main things are the cam and the motor.  Are both a DIY endeavor or can a cam be purchased from WoodMizer?  

Any input, info or sources would be appreciated!  I do want to try and make the DIY grinder work for me, but being plunge only on the face, I feel it has limitations.  I did look at adding oil to it, but there is not a straight forward way with the bed and clamp system.

Cheers!

[donbj]

Woodmizer used to sell a conversion years ago but it isn't available anymore, probably further ahead redesigning it for that purpose. Here's some information from another site about a different brand sharpener but just as valid for your information:

Can a Cooks sharpener be converted ?... Yes, BUT, there are some things you need to consider.

1.  Cooks sharpeners have MASSIVE inconsistencies from one sharpener to the next.  No two machines are identical.  This is the reason I have abandon the project of manufacturing a CBN conversion kit for them.  

2.  EVERY machine I have either used, rebuilt, serviced, etc. had problems with consistent tooth indexing OR LACK THEREOF.  A machine HAS to have the tooth indexed PRECISELY and EVERY TIME, no exceptions.  

3.  A CBN wheel has to have coolant.  It has been proven that certain AG mineral oil will work, Food Grade mineral oil is even better.  Water based/oil emulsion is NOT sufficient and has several drawbacks.  FACT - The oil WM markets as "coolant" is one of the WORST to use on any CBN coated tooling.  The correct mineral oil is nothing more than unscented baby oil with a slightly higher viscosity.

4.  Motor/mandrel drive HAS to be converted to a cog or timing belt style.  Also has to be oil resistant to prevent de-lamination/deterioration of the belt itself.  An "oil slinger" as you are proposing will not prevent migration of oil into, onto the belt drive system.  It would slow it down, but not prevent the inevitable.

5.  The cam is a matter entirely in itself.  I manufacture CNC cams for Cooks machines, which has given me a tremendous amount of feedback from customers.  I have spent an enormous amount of time helping people with their machines... refer to back to #1.  The cam has to have a certain profile and be accurate within thousandths of an inch.

6.  Cost... well, it ain't going to be cheap, even on a DIY scale.... another reason I abandon making a CBN conversion kit.  I never could get the price to a point where I thought is was a good value AND be profitable.  Any profit to my business would be eaten up by doing Tech Support on the phone FIXING the customer's machine BEFORE said "kit" would perform correctly.  The ONLY way I would do a conversion would be to have the machine here onsite.  Refer back to #1, #2, & #5.

Will a Cooks machine sharpen blades right out of the box ??  Kinda/sorta.  Depends on your expectaions of blade performance.

Will it do it with any sort of consistency and accuracy out of the box??  Maybe.

Can the machine be made to work "well" out of the box ??  Yes, with a decent mechanical background and ALOT of patience.  Every machine is unique.  Could be decent, could be a red boat anchor.  

Would I recommend a person purchase one ??  NO!

I personally have approx 8 hrs of re-work in my Cooks sharpener.  This was required to fix the above problems BEFORE I would even trust it to grind a blade of my own, let alone one for a customer.  Near new machine that sits idle 99% of the time and only gets used for blades with "special needs".  

Does it now work and grind blades with acceptable precision, Yes.  But using it in a professional operation is not cost effective nor efficient.