# Any bench grinder to recommend?



## volunteers (Mar 4, 2011)

I want to buy a bench grinder for sharpening tools, making some small metal stuffs. What specs do I need to look at? I only know the size (6'') and horsepower. Is there any brand to recommend? or it just doesn't matter since most are the same and I can grab one from Harbor Freight?
Thank you for your suggestion.


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## RJM (Apr 11, 2010)

volunteers said:


> I want to buy a bench grinder for sharpening tools, making some small metal stuffs. What specs do I need to look at? I only know the size (6'') and horsepower. Is there any brand to recommend? or it just doesn't matter since most are the same and I can grab one from Harbor Freight?
> Thank you for your suggestion.


I have an HF buffer and it works fine. I imagine their grinders are just as good.ver, if you want it for sharpening, you should take a look at any attachments you might want to see what you'd need to modify on the grinder (to accept the atachments).


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## papawd (Jan 5, 2011)

I have a small grinder I picked up at Sams ( of all places) use it a few times a year for sharpening lawnmower blades etc. and it is abou 7 years old now. it has a very smooth wheel which I like , need to use care and water or oil when working with metal ....Also PLEASE WEAR EYE,HEARING PROTECTION


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

My own personal preference is unless it's under say 30 bucks, I don't buy electrical tools, that I may put a lot of time on at Harbor Frieght. I have a 5" sander from Harbor Frieght, and it's a few years old and it gets used alot. But personally, I don't think I'd buy a bench grinder, that I plan on using a lot, from HF. I would go to Home Depot or Lowes. I know some of there's are only a few steps better. Myself, I have an 8" Baldor grinder. Now this is a 600 dollar grinder, that I would have never bought myself. It was given to me, brand new. My father-in-law worked for a company who bought it by mistake (my father-in-law wanted a 6" one) and he worked for a huge company who thought it to be bothersome to ship it back, so they bought him a smaller one and told him he could do whatever he wanted with the big one. Well, I had my own business at the time, fixing metal cutting machines, so he gave it to me. This sucker will get passed down some generations, you can bank on that. It's about 15 years old now, and it looks and runs like new. Quiet as a mouse. I also have a 6 inch craftsman, that was also given to me, but it was used. I've had it for about 30 years, and I bet it was 10-15 years old when I got it. And it too still runs like a champ. I'ts set up for buffing. 

I know you don't want to spend 600 bucks on a grinder, no way would I either. But if it were me, and I planned on using this tool, more then occasionally, I'd pay a little more for a little better grinder. Again, that's just me....


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Will, there is another option you should consider: instead of a grinder you might want to look at belt/disk sanders. You can find one that uses 4" wide belts and 6" disks for pretty reasonable prices. With one of these machines you can change the grit quickly and inexpensivly. Most of the things you would use a grinder for can be done on a belt/disk sander and the wider flat surfaces often speed up the job. A real big consideration is safety. I have seen too many grinding wheels explode(none on me) and I would much rather get hit with a piece of sand paper than a chunk of abrasive. The much lower cost of belts and disks will allow you to have a wider variety of grits for less money. Give it some thought.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Mike said:


> I have seen too many grinding wheels explode(none on me) and I would much rather get hit with a piece of sand paper than a chunk of abrasive.


That's one reason why we have a separate set of safety regulations governing the use of grinding wheels in the UK. They are potentially quite dangerous. One reason for the wheels failing is that if they get wet and the water can drain to the bottom of the wheel making it unbalanced. First time you switch on it can let go. It's why grionding wheels are supposed to be stored in a dry place flat on their sides

Regards

Phil


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

volunteers said:


> I want to buy a bench grinder for sharpening tools, making some small metal stuffs. What specs do I need to look at? I only know the size (6'') and horsepower. Is there any brand to recommend? or it just doesn't matter since most are the same and I can grab one from Harbor Freight?
> Thank you for your suggestion.


Personally Will I couldn't live without a bench grinder, even if I didn't also work with metal. It's possibly one of those tools that you never miss if you've never had one, but once you have, it becomes a must. I recently gave away my 30 + year old 8" bench grinder still in perfect working order to buy an 8" one with built in light, I saw it advertised for just $99.00 which for Australia is very cheap. It checks out at a little over 1/2 hp. It always pays to be cautious and that's why one should run a new wheel for about ten minutes before use to make sure it's balanced and that it remains intact! In all these years of heavy use I've never had or known anyone who has had a wheel disintegrate.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Harry, you are aware that most of my jobs have been in industrial settings. I have had the displeasure of being way too close when 7 wheels exploded. Three were white wheels on surface grinders, one was a pink wheel on a surface grinder and 3 were common gray wheels on 8" grinders. All but one of these incidents were caused by operator error; 3 of the people involved required medical treatment. By contrast I have only seen two sanding belts break, one on a 6" x 96" belt sander and the other on a 48" wide belt on a Time Saver sanding machine.(You can see one of these on the NYW) I have nothing against grinders, I own a 6" Craftsman pedestal grinder and an 8" diamond wheel grinder with a wet sump. I also own a 12 volt portable grinder/key cutting machine. Using common sense allows safe use of grinders, even when equiped with OSHA banned wire wheels. For people unfamiliar with grinders here are a couple of tips: never grind on the side of a grinding wheel, only the outer face. Make sure your guards are properly adjusted. Most important, never use a damaged wheel.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

I like to use the belt sander ( 2" x 48" 2 hp ) the wheels are always out of round unlike the belt sander (belts 480 grit. to 40 grit.) I know I can true up the wheels but a real PITA job..bench grinder I have has a wire wheel and a buffer wheel that's it and it's a old sucker without any guards..

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harrysin said:


> Personally Will I couldn't live without a bench grinder, even if I didn't also work with metal. It's possibly one of those tools that you never miss if you've never had one, but once you have, it becomes a must. I recently gave away my 30 + year old 8" bench grinder still in perfect working order to buy an 8" one with built in light, I saw it advertised for just $99.00 which for Australia is very cheap. It checks out at a little over 1/2 hp. It always pays to be cautious and that's why one should run a new wheel for about ten minutes before use to make sure it's balanced and that it remains intact! In all these years of heavy use I've never had or known anyone who has had a wheel disintegrate.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Mike said:


> For people unfamiliar with grinders here are a couple of tips: never grind on the side of a grinding wheel, only the outer face. Make sure your guards are properly adjusted. Most important, never use a damaged wheel.


Mike

That's excellent advice. Might I add to that one other thing? Always wear goggles/safety spectacles/eye protection (_over_ prescription spectacles if you wear them, too, as particles will weld themselves to your lenses or do even more damage).

Regards

Phil


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Phil

Now would be a good time to post a picture of your grinder  in your shop with the safety equipment you use..
Like they say one picture it worth a 1000 words..

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Phil P said:


> Mike
> 
> That's excellent advice. Might I add to that one other thing? Always wear goggles/safety spectacles/eye protection (_over_ prescription spectacles if you wear them, too, as particles will weld themselves to your lenses or do even more damage).
> 
> ...


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Mike said:


> Harry, you are aware that most of my jobs have been in industrial settings. I have had the displeasure of being way too close when 7 wheels exploded. Three were white wheels on surface grinders, one was a pink wheel on a surface grinder and 3 were common gray wheels on 8" grinders. All but one of these incidents were caused by operator error; 3 of the people involved required medical treatment. By contrast I have only seen two sanding belts break, one on a 6" x 96" belt sander and the other on a 48" wide belt on a Time Saver sanding machine.(You can see one of these on the NYW) I have nothing against grinders, I own a 6" Craftsman pedestal grinder and an 8" diamond wheel grinder with a wet sump. I also own a 12 volt portable grinder/key cutting machine. Using common sense allows safe use of grinders, even when equiped with OSHA banned wire wheels. For people unfamiliar with grinders here are a couple of tips: never grind on the side of a grinding wheel, only the outer face. Make sure your guards are properly adjusted. Most important, never use a damaged wheel.


I believe too, you're supposed to stand to the side of it when grinding, so if it does go boom, you're not right in the path of debris.

I've never seen one go, I imagine it's a pretty scary sight.


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## Mark (Aug 4, 2004)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Phil
> 
> Now would be a good time to post a picture of your grinder  in your shop with the safety equipment you use..
> Like they say one picture it worth a 1000 words..
> ...


I think he was just offering advice to those that may have been unaware, nothing at you of course . Lets keep it friendly in this thread guys.


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

I'm a metal cutting machine tech, and work in hundreds of machine shops. Every shop has a couple of bench grinders at least. I've had a flash back hit my eye, a couple of times in my 30+ years in the business, and had a tiny slither of metal in my eye once (using both the grinder guard and wearing eye protection), but I've never been around, or heard directly from someone about a wheel coming apart. I know it can happen, and has happen, but I would imagine you would really have to abuse the wheel for that to happen. 

And like Harry said, once you've had one, you can't do without!!


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

N'awlins77 said:


> I'm a metal cutting machine tech, and work in hundreds of machine shops. Every shop has a couple of bench grinders at least. I've had a flash back hit my eye, a couple of times in my 30+ years in the business, and had a tiny slither of metal in my eye once (using both the grinder guard and wearing eye protection), but I've never been around, or heard directly from someone about a wheel coming apart. I know it can happen, and has happen, but I would imagine you would really have to abuse the wheel for that to happen.
> 
> And like Harry said, once you've had one, you can't do without!!


In my post last evening I probably didn't indicate just how important I consider grinders to be, even my two 4" angle grinders that all amateur welders couldn't live without!


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

harrysin said:


> In my post last evening I probably didn't indicate just how important I consider grinders to be, even my two 4" angle grinders that all amateur welders couldn't live without!


I've got one of those too Harry, and a 1/4" 90 degree die grinder with organizer full of different flapper wheels, small grinding wheels, cut off wheels and things.


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## TomE (Dec 17, 2010)

Variable speed is another consideration.

If you anticipate getting into something like buffed finishes (ie. the Beall setup) using your grinder then having control of how fast the wheel spins makes the grinder more versatile.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

N'awlins77 said:


> I've got one of those too Harry, and a 1/4" 90 degree die grinder with organizer full of different flapper wheels, small grinding wheels, cut off wheels and things.


My memory is bad Lee, I forgot the die grinder!


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

The show and tell is all very nice but it really doesn't help Will on his purchasing decision. Will, I can not think of anything you would do with a bench grinder that could not be done with a belt/disk sander for lower cost and safer. I sharpen my turning tools and chisels on my small belt/disk sander. Perhaps others can generate some helpful idea's for Will?


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Mike,

There are many schools of thought on sharpening, especially chisels and plane blades.

With sharpness coming from two intersecting planes, many folks use a grinder to establish the "primary bevel" because the curve of the stone generates a hollow grind.

This speeds the hand honing, since only the material at the tip need to be removed. Rob Cosman has a number of excellant DVDs on hand tool work but his DVD entitled "Bench Chisels" shows how to take a chisel from the grinder to ultra-sharp in less than a minute.

Rob Cosman DVDs - Techniques Series


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Jim, that can also be done on the rounded end of the belt sander.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I bought a cheap (about $60C ) Taiwanese 6" and it didn't last. The Sears 8" I have now has been around for at least 15 years. If you plan on sharpening chisels, you will need to take the original wheels off and get a white one with friable bond, such as Norton makes. For final honing I use a hard felt wheel with green chromium oxide compound on it, easy to find and fairly cheap. It is the equivalent to 8000 grit and will sharpen to a razor edge. You can have a look at Lee Valley for sharpening tools. It would be very educational. I have one of the sharpening jigs for use on wheels and it works very well although you could build one if you were inclined.


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

I have a 6" Delta variable speed that has been a great grinder for the several years I've owned it. Bought it at Lowes.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Mike said:


> Jim, that can also be done on the rounded end of the belt sander.


True..


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Mike said:


> The show and tell is all very nice but it really doesn't help Will on his purchasing decision. Will, I can not think of anything you would do with a bench grinder that could not be done with a belt/disk sander for lower cost and safer. I sharpen my turning tools and chisels on my small belt/disk sander. Perhaps others can generate some helpful idea's for Will?


Mike, how do you get the angles correct, especially on gouges? Regarding the linisher, I've shown on many occasions that it's a most important tool, but so is a bench grinder. If the question is: "I have the choice of a bench grinder or linisher, but I can't afford both, which should I buy", THEN, my answer would be a linisher. That would be a similar question to the one often asked here: "I can only afford one, should it be a jointer or a thickness planer, to which I would answer a jointer. In both cases the ideal is to have or at least aim to one day have both. Another thing that I've repeated several times on this forum: "there is no substitute for a tool designed for a specific purpose"


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

The question is about bench grinders, so let's keep the subject limited to those, instead of wandering off into space.

Grinding wheels explode because people put pressure on the outer/flat edges of the wheels, instead of using a tool grinder, which is made for that purpose.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Now THIS is a grinder!

Grinder | Tools | Gumtree High Wycombe


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## RJM (Apr 11, 2010)

harrysin said:


> Now THIS is a grinder!
> 
> Grinder | Tools | Gumtree High Wycombe


 
I bet you could even grind some benches with that one ...


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Now dats a big grinder Paw-Paw --- I mean Harry! I've seen a few that big at some of the machine shops I work at. But not that many, that big!

And that was a good one Robert!


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## 603Country (Dec 1, 2010)

I bought a low speed bench grinder and put a 120 grit wheel on one side and a buffer wheel on the other. After that I added a Veritas grinder rest and have been happily using that setup for maybe 5 or 6 years. If you are sharpening turning tools or chisels, I do recommend the low speed (1750 rpm, I think) grinder, and good lighting, and good safety glasses.


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