Checked 22 September 2026
Stone carving wheels: convex, V and profile forms
The edge of a carving wheel decides the groove it cuts. Rounded and V-shaped edges make different marks. Choose the shape you need, then check the wheel's size, centre hole and grit before buying it.
Choose the edge that will touch the stone
A standard flat-faced cabbing wheel is useful for broad curves, but its shoulder does not reach every groove. A convex rim cuts a rounded channel. A V form cuts an angular line; a full-circle form cuts a rounded bead or channel. Pick a profile whose contact area reaches the deepest part of the carving without striking neighbouring surfaces.
A bench wheel repeats one profile along a line. A bur or miniature disc in a handpiece reaches local details, and a gem drill makes holes rather than open grooves.
Diamond Pacific: Galaxy and Nova carving rims
Diamond Pacific sells four-inch and six-inch Galaxy carving wheels with rounded faces, in ¼-, ½- and 1-inch widths and 100 or 220 grit. Galaxy is a plated grinding wheel. The maker recommends the narrow widths for narrow grooves and the one-inch width for larger ones. For finishing, its Nova carving wheels are 6 × ¼-inch resin-bond wheels in 280, 600, 1,200 and 3,000 grit.
Use a coarse profile to establish the groove, then finer profiles that reach the same line. A fine wheel with a different edge shape will polish the shoulders but leave scratches in the bottom. Keep water on the abrasive; Diamond Pacific says Galaxy wheels must be used with water.
Crystalite: Fantasy and Dual Crystalheart forms
Crystalite's lapidary catalogue, printed page 18, lists Fantasy V, straight-edge and full-circle wheels in 100- and 600-mesh diamond versions. It also lists matching phenolic forms for polishing with diamond compound. Those are separate wheels: a phenolic form polishes and does not grind like a diamond wheel.
The same catalogue lists a 6 × 1½-inch Dual Crystalheart wheel for heart shapes. It has small and large heart profiles and a flat middle face for outlines, in 180, 260 and 600 mesh.
Measure bore, thickness and clearance
Crystalite lists Fantasy wheels in four sizes, from 1 × ⅛ × ⅛ in to 6 × ⅜ × ½ in (diameter × width × hole). Diamond Pacific's Galaxy and Nova carving wheels have one-inch holes; the maker sells bushings for smaller arbors. It gives the Nova carvers a ⅛-inch hub and says they may need extra spacers. Record the full outside diameter, edge width, centre hole, required bushing and usable room under the machine's hood, then mount the wheel with the flanges and spacers the machine and wheel makers specify.
Use eye protection, the specified water feed and a guarded machine. Keep a separate polishing form and compound for each finish so coarse grit cannot transfer to the final pass. For ordinary cabbing replacements, see cabbing wheels and expanding drums.