Uploaded February 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The most unscientific test ever! Came across some usually hard to find silicon carbide grinding stones for the Dremel tool whil killing time at the local hardware center.
I've heard for years that the carbide stones were a waste of money if you were grinding steel, but that you really need them to grind anything else, whether that thing was either harder or softer than steel.
I decided to grab a couple and dig out my scraps upon which to grind. Overkill I'm sure, but I put them under the microscope to see what, if anything, would be different between the two types of stones.
Spoiler alert! The both work great on steel. The silicon carbide stones will probably last longer, but I'm not sure it's twice as long and they are twice as expensive! Grinding soft metals like aluminum or brass is pointless, regardless of stone. Grab some sand paper or other tooling for these.
Glass and other really hard materials are where the differences show up. The aluminum oxide works on glass, but it wears super fast. Unless you're just doing a touch up here or there, you'll want to invest in the silicon carbide stones to grind on hard materials.
The most unscientific test ever! Came across some usually hard to find silicon carbide grinding stones for the Dremel tool whil killing time at the local hardware center.
I've heard for years that the carbide stones were a waste of money if you were grinding steel, but that you really need them to grind anything else, whether that thing was either harder or softer than steel.
I decided to grab a couple and dig out my scraps upon which to grind. Overkill I'm sure, but I put them under the microscope to see what, if anything, would be different between the two types of stones.
Spoiler alert! The both work great on steel. The silicon carbide stones will probably last longer, but I'm not sure it's twice as long and they are twice as expensive! Grinding soft metals like aluminum or brass is pointless, regardless of stone. Grab some sand paper or other tooling for these.
Glass and other really hard materials are where the differences show up. The aluminum oxide works on glass, but it wears super fast. Unless you're just doing a touch up here or there, you'll want to invest in the silicon carbide stones to grind on hard materials.
