Aldi grinders - for wood chisels?

[Lobster]

Just received my weekly AldiMail, and spotted a couple of bench grinders coming in. I do already have a small bench grinder, but could really do with something that would grind wood chisel and plane blades. I notice that one of these Aldi items (the "Wet and Dry Bench Grinder") is depicted with a chisel next to it, suggesting it might fit the bill?

(My current machine has two grinding wheels, which both look like the right-hand one on the Aldi machine - it's the left-hand wheel which is presumably of interest.

There's a second machine (a "Bench Grinder and Sander") which has a belt sander... would that be of any use for my purpose?

Thanks David

[tabbypurr]

Any of those and some other types of grinder or sander can sharpen chisels. I do mine on an angle grinder - with suitable care!

NT

[Brian Reay]

The one with the wet wheel is the way to go for chisels etc.

I have one of the Adli ones, good for the money.

[newshound]

+1

The thing to watch out for with "high speed" grinders and also belt sanders is heating up anything carbon steel (like a chisel) sufficiently for it to "lose its temper". "Softened" tools can be re-hardened and tempered, google and (no doubt YouTube) will have plenty of details.

The low speed wet wheel is your best bet, or just an oil or water stone, or a diamond lap, with a honing jig

[alan_m]

Scary Sharp technique - Google or Youtube

I found one source for the thick glass required was a toughened glass shelf from one of the discount sheds.

[tabbypurr]

indeed. Keep it light & brief and even an angle grinder can do the job.

can, but often impractical.

or wet & dry sandpaper

NT

[Lobster]

newshound grunted in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks a lot for the replies - really helpful.

I do currently have an oilstone and honing guide, which I'll still be using for honing.

The loss of temper due to overheating hadn't occurred to me, I must admit, so the 'wet' aspect of the Aldi machine would be good. As far as I can see there's no way of getting a reasonably precise angle with that, I guess you just have to hold the blade against the wheel?

I was also just looking at this Clarke item:

tool/ That does have a guide, but no water cooling. It's also dearer, 50 GBP delivered vs 30 for the Aldi; but still do-able.

Hmm...?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I find a combination grinder and belt sander the most useful in my small workshop.

For sharpening planes etc, a wet wheel would definitely be an asset. But one large enough to do a plane blade easily might be a problem.

[John Rumm]

Yup, the slower speed and the water bath means its much easier to control both the rate of grinding, and also prevent unwanted heat build up in the tool.

Note that the stone on that is 120 grit which is quite coarse - it will establish a primary bevel quickly, but won't give a particularly refined edge. You could solve this by either doing a quick manual sharpen on a fine stone after, or by getting a "stone grader", that you can apply to the wet stone on the grinder for a few seconds to give it a (temporary) fine grit for the final stages of grinding. e.g.

The second limitation of the machine pictured is that it does not have any mechanism for clamping and guiding the tool on the stone (in fact it does not really have a tool rest at all!), so it would all come down to your skill in getting a consistent and accurate bevel[1]. Most of the posher wet stone systems seem to have copied the Tormek guide rail system, which means they can use all the fancy jigs for holding different types of tool. (this probably does not matter as much if you are only doing square ended chisel and plane blades, but tou might have a harder time doing a gouge or skew chisel.

[1] You could probably built a flat top platform to sit inline with the wheel, to allow you to use a traditional honing guide:

Not as much use for your application.

[John Rumm]

Not as convinced by the machines like that...

If going the wet stone route, then its worth considering something that has the Tormek style tool holding rails, but none of them are particularly cheap.

These are cheaper than some:

[Andrew May]

Looks almost identical to this one:

from Screwfix except for two quid more the Screwfix one comes with a wheel guard.

[newshound]

I have often thought about retro-fitting my "wet and dry" which, I think, came from Wickes with suitable guides. Should not really be a major job especially as it is already mounted on a base for fitting to a Workmate.

[newshound]

Not come across them before. Here is a bit more of an explanation

I wonder whether any generic two-sided stone would work. I say that because I have an old one in my grindstone drawer that I never use.

[Lobster]

John Rumm grunted in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks John; I can see the appeal - look much more like what I'd have expected for sharpening duties. Though enough dosh to count as a serious purchase rather than hiding it in the groceries as in the one from Aldi! Might just wait till Xmas...