Re: What's On Your Grinder?

================ Given the abuse/misuse that most shop grinders get, consider installing some belt sanders, possibly with the dobbie-pad belts installed.

Let me know what you want to do with wire wheels.

I am going to shop for a stainless wire wheel. I have a 1/2 hp motor and want to mount various wheels to it (wire, buffer, flap, diamond) using arbor adapters. One i want to buy is a wire wheel, maybe 8"

Timely message. Just today, I picked up a 1/6 hp motor from Lee Valley to connect via a pulley to a grinder I've had sitting here for a number of years.

Is there a general speed that one would run a grinder? Would I be wiser to attach a pulley with a number of steps on it? I expect to be mostly sharpening knives and such, maybe a few chisels or perhaps some drill bits.

What is the speed of the motor? What is the max speed of your grinding wheel? Does the 'grinder' have an adequate guard? Do you know how to calculate speed output using different pulleys? These questions MUST be answered before you proceed.

Ken.

The wheels that came with it, because they came with it, and I haven't wore them off yet. I know a lot of guys like the friable stone wheels for sharpening, but you learn to have a light touch fairly quickly if you use the standard wheels.

In a wood shop, I'd skip the wire wheels. They throw off little bits of wire that can mess up a freshly sanded surface real quick. Great in a garage or shed, though.

I turn, so I have an 80 grit aluminum oxide on the left for sharpening and a

General purpose bench grinders usually run at standard induction motor speeds. 3600 rpm (actual speed usually listed as 3450 or there about) for grinders up to 8", and 1800 (again, actual

There are also low speed grinders that use the 1800 rpm motor for the

I wouldn't try anything bigger than a 6" wheel with a 1/6hp motor.

ablmost 4,000 units completed.

Still no t-shirt :-(

Bill

I hope it's not too late to return that motor. 1/6 hp is WAY too small to run a grinder. What will happen is that the motor will bog down when you try to remove more than the smallest amount of material. For instance, sharpening a lawn mower blade would be totally impractical.

HTH, Bob

I have a 1/5 HP grinder, which I can only use for deburring.

Ok, thanks for the information. What minimum hp would you recommend considering that I'd be using the grinder mostly for sharpening purposes and other what I'd consider to be light duty uses?

I wouldn't have any problem returning the 1/6 hp motor, but the price was right and I'm wondering what things I could use it for?

you can use it for sharpening small things, deburring, minor beveling. I would keep the little one and also get a bigger one. You can look for one in a used market. I am happy with a 1/5 HP (in my basement) and a 1/2 HP (in my garage) grinders. 1/5 HP is useful to remove metal around holes after drilling, etc.

1/2HP, 1750 RPM, minimum.

Some kind of a fan or other air handling device.

Lew

...

1. Don't limit your perspective by what you would be using it for now. A grinder can be used more than you'd expect and you should build it with a lot "head room" (room for expansion of your uses).

1. A wire wheel is useful on a grinder, but you tend to lean into it more and you do need power for that.

2. I have 2 grinders, each is 1/3 hp. I could use more sometimes, but

Bob

Ive three grinders bench mounted. An old Tombstone Craftsman, 1/3hp, with a soft wheel on one side and a fine wire on the other, a 1 hp 10" with a big rough wheel on one side and a course wide knotted wheel on the other, and a 1/2 hp Souix with a white wheel on one side and a pink on the other for roughing tooling. Or I use one of the 3 mounted belt sanders....

Gunner

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

- Proverbs 22:3