pedestal / bench grinders

[country gent]

I am looking for a new bench grinder (2 actually). I want these for sharpening lathe tools and other cutters. Im looking t 8" X1" wheels on one for HSS lathe and drill bit one 60 grit the other 100-120 grit. Aluminum oxide. The second will be for carbide here Im thinking one of the tool sharpener types with face grinding 6" wheels. here diamonf 120 frit on one side and diamond or silicon carbide on other 60-80 grit.
In the shops I worked we used all standard bench grinders and round wheels which gave a slight hollow ground edge. They worked well but Im thinking the face grinder would allow angles to be held better between the table and tool guide.
The range of grinders is staggering from high speed (3450) to low speed (1700) and variables. On the sharpener models also add reversing and drip coolant set ups. Prices run from roughly $150.00 for a simple one to $1600 for a baldoor tool grinder with silicon carbide wheels. most will need a set of replacement wheels to get the ones needed for this. Most used listed are 3 phase industrials and in the $600 - $1000 range.
Looking for input on the various grinders. Im considering making the face grinder myself as a single wheel low speed with a quick change wheel set up for various frits and wheels. This could be a double pin and magnet with late wheel backer. slide rest out change wheels and slide rest back in set angles as needed. A drip coolant would be part of it. Im thinking for this one around 750 rpm on the spindle.
In one shop we had an enco 3" oscillating face sharpener for carbide lathe tools this was a quick change wheel set up and did a superb job of sharpening cemented carbide and scraper blades.

[winelover]

I'm not a tool maker, but can recommend the Baldor brand. I have one of their pedestal grinder, combination belt sander, units.

Runs off plain 110V. I bought it for hobbyist knife making. Removed the 8" grinding wheel and replaced it with a cloth buffing wheel. Sander belts are @ 2" wide. Change grit as needed. Works for my use. Had it for more than thirty years. Bought it from an industrial tool supply (Production Tool) when I lived in Detroit. Wasn't terribly expensive, IIRC.


Winelover

[Three44s]

Our shop grinder is a 3 ph and I believe it is a Baldor. Gov surplus from Hanford Nuclear Reservation I suspect.

It has been running faithfully for decades for us!

A while back I was into watching belt grinder videos. What about one of those?

Three44s

[Mal Paso]

I have a 6x48 belt sander 36-330 grit with a 9" disc does a lot of my metal grinding. I have a 120 RPM 10x2 wet wheel for blades and 2 hand held 4.5 inch Makitas for weld etc. So far I haven't replaced the bench grinder which was the tool I grew up with. Lots of choices now.

With all the edge sharpening competition out there the 10" Grizzly wet grinder goes for $150 on sale.

[country gent]

On HSS the belt grinder might work for sharpening but im concerned about a radius dull edge from the belts give. On the cemented carbide I don't think the belts would cut or hold up very long. I really don't want to run a phase converter for a grinder, 1 lathe and the mill already use them.
The grinder for HSS drills and steel isn't as big an issue. The grinder for carbide tooling is more so as it has to run true and straight. Most diamond wheels are only .030-.060 thick grinding compound, so dressing them true really takes life from them. Silicon carbide wheels are easier to dress and about the same as aluminum oxide but do wear much faster. I will relieve the steeel below the carbide before sharpening the carbide also.

[lightman]

I have a Baldor polisher that I am very happy with. Basically its just a grinder with longer shafts and without the guards or guides. It starts and runs smoothly and seems to be pretty high quality.

[MT Gianni]

For a stand weld some 2" pipe to a plate that fits over a pickup truck rim. Weld the plate down. Add enough plate on top to mount a grinder.
If you want to get fancy, put a piece of 1 1/2" for the top bracket, drill through the 2" and weld some nuts over the holes. Add some 1/4" round stock across what ever size bolt you have to fit the nuts and you can change heights. I think it's more stable at 31" but one size fits most , not all.

[country gent]

We use a 14"-18" disc blade for the base, sits much lower to the ground and allows you to stand better positioned. We made a sharpener in high school shop for the shop. It was a disc blade base 4" X 6" rectangle tubing For the stand. 4" round tubing for the spindle. 2 pieces of 7" round tubing for the wheel gaurds. This was a low speed sharpener that used 6" x1" x 1 1/4 cup wheels. Wheel rests were 1/2" x 4' X 8" plates that swiveled for desired relief. flat no groove for compound rest. 2 pulleys a vee belt and 2 bearings in sleeves to fit the tubes bored dia. Motor was mounted with pulley inside tube on a sliding mount that saved making a belt guard. The spindle was 1 3/4" round stock with te ends turned down to fit bearings then to 1 1/4" and 1 1/4 16 threads 1 right hand 1 left hand. this grinder was set up to run around 1000 rpm through the pulleys.
This was a class project we all worked on I did the spindle another the tube for the spindle another the stand portion. One did the rests with 11 students and one teacher working on it it didn't take long and we had a great sharpener in the shop when done. A local shop donated the materials for us and I heard when the school closed the metal shop and sold the tools the shop that donated the materials bought the sharpener.
a small country school this was how they got a lot of tooling and needed items by making them as class projects. The sharpener was primed and painted in the auto shop. Assembled and ran in in the metal shop. wheels were ordered and installed thru the school.
In a pinch a 1/4" X 1" piece of flat stock can be bent into a ring and ends welded A piece of 1/8" plate set on it centered and a steel ball or piece of round stock used in the center. pressed in a press this will form a domed base for use very similar to a disc blade.

[DougGuy]

For a stand weld some 2" pipe to a plate that fits over a pickup truck rim. Weld the plate down.

This is all I did for mine, I welded 2 1/2" pipe into the center of a space saver rim, cut the tire off with a 4" grinder and cutting wheel, then used an 8" x 8" plate on the top with holes to mount the Dayton 6" grinder. I probably have $40 in the whole mess including the grinder.

[elk hunter]

For years I got by with a bench grinder that I changed wheels on. Later I purchased a carbide tool grinder that looks like and is built like the Baldor but is sold by Harbor Freight for a very reasonable price. I've had it a number of years. It came with two green wheels and does a good enough job. I have a Baldor polishing set up, not a grinder, that is truly great, the quality and cost are many times that of anything offered by Harbor Freight or Grizzly Tools. So you do get what you pay for. I have since purchased a JET tool and cutter grinder and it is a real step up for sharpening any cutting tool used in machining. I wouldn't want to go back to the bench grinder but they can be made to do reasonable work.

Hope you find something that gets the job done.

[country gent]

Wednesday when my son and I go to pick up the rest of the stock we couldn't bring home Im going to stop at the local tool supply and pick up a 1hp jet 8" grinder and 2 wheels better suited to sharpening tools Probably a 46 grit and an 80 grit. This should do well for drills HSS and fine snag grinding. I may at some point make some better tool rests. As to the carbide sharpener I may make one or the grizzly version when it is back in stock. Since I will have "small" hands wanting to see grandpa work ( grandsons) guarding is important. When I make them tops on the mini lathe Avery is rights there watching every thing I do asking questions and learning. So anything I build for in the shop will have to be well guarded.
That was the thing I liked about the little enco sharpener, it had a hub with 4 magnets an 2 pins wheel hub face wheels just slid on and off. On a slow speed hone I could make the same type set up.
One thing I like about the tool sharpeners is the drip coolant for the wheel. this will help cool and keep the wheels from loading up. The new ones I have looked at are all 3450 rpm machines. True grinders. Not sure how the magnetic mount hub would work there.
What I might do for the jet is to make simple hubs to set up and mount on spindle this way wheels can be changed without having to redress and true easier. A easy to remove guard and rest. one nut and the wheel and hub come off, the next sides on. Similar to a lot of surface grinders. On aluminum oxide wheels not a big deal on the silicon carbide and diamond wheels a big savings in wheel wear. This would also allow me to use the same basic wheels I use on the surface grinder, 8" X 1" x1 1/4" on the pedestal grinder. What would be Ideal would be to pull the commentator out of the jet and press a piece on the shafts then machine the same 3" per foot taper (working between centers) as the surface grinder this would allow the same hubs and mounted wheels to be used on both machines. The hubs wont be hard to make and will allow a lot more versatility.

[15meter]

I used a disk blade from a John Deere BWA for the base on my pedestal grinder, much better choice than a rim.

Look into white grinding wheels if you haven't already. The white wheels for HSS work much better, run way cooler, and give you a better edge. I use only the white wheels for my wood lathe tools, doesn't heat up the tool and burn the edge anywhere near as fast the grey wheels that are shipped with most grinders.

Just do a search for white grinding wheels, there are a number of options out there. One warning, they are MUCH softer than the grey wheels, you'll wear them down/groove them faster than the grey wheels resulting in dressing them more often.

[gwrench]

Years ago I got to know an old guy (Chris) who designed and built the Chris Cutter stone cutters. He was a character!!

Besides the big cutters he had a sideline of selling rock chisels with carbide cutters. He had a huge old bench grinder with a green colored wheel on it that I asked about. He said it was to sharpen the carbide. He said "use a hard wheel for soft materiel, you need a soft stone for hard materiel".

That surprised me enough that I still remember it. You may already know.

[country gent]

Its a trade off soft materials cut easier and a stone stays sharp longer so a harder bond and grit can be used since the stone will stay sharp longer. On hard materials the grit dulls much faster and a softer bond / frit is required to keep sharp and cutting. Most bench grinder wheels are a vitrified bond and either aluminum oxide for steel, or silicon carbide, VBA, or diamond for carbide tools. The VBA and diamond wheels may be resin bind, vitrified or a metal bond. Unlike the AO or SC wheels the CBA and diamond have a very thin working layer on a metal hub. The actual working layer is .030-.060 thick so mounting true and straight is important. Another thing to be aware of is in the given bonding there are several types some are harder or softer bonds some more porous slowing loading and glazing of the wheel.
You can read the wheels legend on the blotter and know what it is. Most would be like this example 8 X 1 x 1 1/4 46g ao V I. 8 X 1 X 1 1/4 is the wheel size and arbor size 46g is the grit size ao is the material of the grit. V is a vitrified bond wheel. I is the hardness of the given wheel. this is a scale from A-z with A being the softest. Older wheels had a lead liner in the holes but that's been replaced with a layer of the bonding agent. ( A lot of die cast shops want no lead in the plant to contaminate the mish metals for 2 reasons, 1) castings are normally sold by the pound and 2) lead in the melt creates a porous casting). A wheel that has a bigger hole can be bushed down to the shaft size required. They even make and sell little plastic bushings just for this.
If you go to Nortons, CamelB websites they may give a better description of the legend than I did.
Several little safety tips for grinding wheels. check a new wheel by ringing it. Hang on one screw driver or rod and Lightly tap with another. If it rings its fine a dull thud mens its cracked and shouldn't be used. Always mount with the blotters on each side this cushions and "evens" the flanges pressure on the wheel. Store used spare wheels on edge or standing up so things don't get set on them whenever possible. When starting a newly mounted wheel stand off to the side, and "bump" the grinder on and off slowly bringing it up to speed, once up to speed let run for 1-2 minutes then dress. Keep guards and wheel rests adjusted

[country gent]

Today I picked up the jet 8" bench grinder and better wheels for it. Mounted a 46 frit Aluminum Oxide on left side for roughing and a 80 frit on right side for finishing. trued and dressed them with a dressing stick. Sharpened a 1/2" X 1/2" hss cobalt bit to standard shape. Bit didn't get overly hot. The 46 frit was a little slower roughing but gave better control on holding the angles. Not a bad finish. I believe this will be very good for removing chips from drills cutting edges and roughing in special forms. The 80 frit side was amazing cut fast enough that it cleaned up and finished with out leaving a double grind showing. The edges were razor sharp and the edge of a finger nail slid along edge didn't grab or catch. A very good edge and the slight radius on the point was easy to form with this wheel. As to the grinder its a slow start motor so easier on wheels. runs quiet and accurate. tool rests could use some slight polishing, they are rough and sliding a dresser on them is tough. Wheel guards are held on by 5 Philips head screws. These will be replaced with set screws in the holes and thumb screws to ease removal and installing. A simple toggle switch for on off. The set screws on the guards will allow the cover to be slid on then the thumb nuts turned on with out holding the guard screw and driver on location and turning.
The grinder came with a 36 grit and 60 grit wheels mounted. The shields are nice food clear plexiglass of a nice size with spring tension holding them. The wheel rests are okay not adjustable for height or angle but a solid mounting. The working surface is as cast and rough. This can be fixed easy enough with a little draw filing to smooth.
A nice addition will be a diamond dresser for dressing wheels. Easy enough to make and will give a even better wheel surface, truer and sharper.

[David2011]

A little late but maybe it will be useful to others. I’ve used Baldor polishers and they’re very nice but very expensive for home shop use. When I got rid of a hot tub I kept one of the pump motors. It’s single phase 230V, 2 hp and two speed, 1725/3450 rpm and very easy to wire. My new shop will have multiple 230V outlets for the welder, table saw, grinder/polisher and anything else that will run on 230V. A device like a 2 HP saw that needs 30 amps on 110 only needs 15 amps on 230V so the cost of wire can be much lower.

[2400]

Years ago when I was working I swapped photos I took of aircraft for 2 Milwaukee bench grinders. I hope he liked the pics as much as I like the grinders. I made these stands as well as the one for my chop saw and vise.

[country gent]

To wet and chilly to be out in the garage today so drew up a dresser for the pedestal grinder that uses a diamond point to dress the wheels, this will five a great surface on the wheel with very sharp grains. It will also give the slight concave face from it naturally. Drew up a prototype and hopefully tomorrow can get out and add measurements to it.

[Shopdog]

Most of you old guys know this but some of the younger may not....... a diamond dresser isn't just for grinding "wheels". They work great on sander/grinder belts too. You get diminishing results as there's only so much depth but,works easily twice on say a 6X48 though.

We have 1/2 dz bench grinders. Two standouts are a Milwaukee as posted above and a very special,old Stanley rebadged Baldor 2 speed 8 inch.