Bench Grinder Poll

How to buy a grinder

Bob Hackett

>1-drive to the nearest garage sale featuring tools

2-look for grinders,if you find one proceed to next step.If not consult paper for next possible place to repeat step 1

3-Ask where nearest plug is

4-plug in grinder

5-switch grinder on

6-watch closely for vibration.If you find vibration go back to step 1.If no vibration proceed to step 7(your luck number)

7-Pay for your prize.

This is what works for me and YMMV.I have yet to find any other way to buy a decent grinder for less than $30,sometimes MUCH less.Hint-look for old,heavy grinders.The person holding the sale is probably tired of lugging it around and will drop the price rather than have to carry it back inside at days end.

I presently have 4 smooth as silk grinders set up for various tasks and have less than $100 total in my grinding equipment(not including my Wolverine system).

Mainely,Bob

Woodcraft's Import

Dominic Greco in Richboro, PA

>Mike,

Two months after I got my lathe, I bought a 8" 2 speed grinder from Woodcraft. It's the import they carried. I forget what I paid for it, but it was A LOT less than the Delta, Baldor, or Dewalt 8" Grinders. So far, it has performed excellently for the last 5 years.

See ya around,

Dominic

Re: Bench Grinder Poll

TDaniel

>I use the 1800 rpm Delta 8" grinder for most of my sharpening. This grinder, I am told, is being discontinued by Black and Decker, the new owners of Delta. The Delta 8" VS, in my opinion, is junk compared to the 1800 rpm. The old 8" Delta weighs about 85 lbs vs the VS 8" at about 48 lbs. A very important feature of any grinder is the plates that hold the stone; many of the imports have thin plates of stamped steel instead of machined plates to align the stone. This is the problem area of most grinders. You can remedy the problem by installing the One-way balancers (which include mounting plates)but that is another $50. Another thing you must watch for is the base of the grinder. Many grinders have a base that interferes with the use of the Wolverine mounting brackets. In a nutshell, if I were in the market for a grinder today I would buy the 1800 rpm Delta while they are still available. As a matter of fact I just ordered 10 and may stock a few more while they are still available.

TD

Re: Bench Grinder Poll

Don Orr

>I have a Craftsman 8" that I got a few years ago before they changed their design a little. I have had no problems with it although it is not as smooth as it probably should be. (Oneway balancer is on my wish list.)As TD said, the base is important if you use a sliding type rest for a grinding jig. Mine was a closeout and sold fairly inexpensively. I'm glad I got it when I did because I don't like their newer design.

I also have a Woodcraft low speed import that I got on sale but haven't had time to get it out of the box yet. I've heard the Oneway balancers don't fit that unit yet but they are working on it. Guess I'll wait so I can get both grinders running true. Good luck in your search. By the way, some of those old, heavy garage sale grinders run truer than anything made today.

PS

Bob Hackett

>The most useful grinder I now have is an arbor that I bought for $5.It is run by a 1725 RPM motor and V belt arrangement.

The reason it`s more useful to me is that there`s no motor housing to get in the way when I swing the tools thru the arc needed to grind a radical fingernail grind or scraper.Something to think about when you look at one piece units.

I`ve seen more than one member of out club set up his new grinder and jig only to find he couldn`t grind the wing on one side of his bowl gouge the way he was used to because the handle or jig hit the grinder body or wheel gaurd before the arc was completed.:^(

I know at least afew of you are shaking your heads in agreement.

Mainely,Bob

Re: Bench Grinder Poll

Scott Greaves, Blackfoot Idaho

>Hi Michael,

I have the Jet 8" grinder. I actually bought it off of Ebay for like $35 (plus another $35 for shipping!), but it was brand new, stillint he box. I have put one nice white wheel on it. It is flawless after four years! And yes, I do use it! ;-)

Grinders are simple machines. I like Bob's suggestion. How it runs is more important than the name on the label! (But I DO like my Jet!)

Scott.

I completely agree on all points.

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>

My Woodcraft Import Is Fine Too.

Barbara Gill, Remlik Virginia

>I bought it 5 years ago.

Re: Bench Grinder Poll

jared

>Hello YOu have tweaked my interest in getting one of these 1800 rpm Delta grinders now. Can you tell me what the model number is and what the aproximate cost of it is? I have a Woodcraft slow speed grinder now and I have never been able to eliminate the vibration problem. Woodcraft even sent me new wheels and metal washers that hold the wheels on, that helped but it still did not fix the problem entirely. I was thinking I could sell the old grinder and buy a new Delta one if they are as good as you say. Thanks in advance Jared

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amazon has it for $169 with free shipping

TDaniel

>

I'm with you Bob

TDaniel

>I check out every flea market and yard sale for low rpm grnders. Older is better.

TD

Re: I'm with you Bob

Keith Tompkins

>HI TD, I recently took my daughter to school in Boston< while there I found an old, plain bearing grinder w/ beautifully made brass oil cups and a cast iron "L" shaped tool rest. The rest looks just like a lathe rest with a 5/8" post. A treasure!

Re: Woodcraft's Import

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>I wish I would have bought the Woodcraft import when they first came out. The blue ones were excellent buys, but they have since gone to a different manufacturer (from what the store in Indy tells me) and the QC is not what it use to be. They now have a white body and after taking two of them back due to incredible wobble, I gave up. I noticed for a while they dropped the price way down, and I'm sure that was to move them out of their hair. Hopefully they sought out a new manufacturer for these.

I bought a Delta 8" VS and although it's not top of the line by any means, with a replacement wheel for the grey wheel that came on one side and the Oneway balancers, I'm happy with it.

Jennifer

Now you Tell Us!! : )

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>

Stay Away from Delta 23-725

Greg Humphreys

>I suggest you stay away from the Delta slow speed grinder--1725 rmp, model # 23-725. Although Delta labels this machine their "Industrial" model, my experience with it is that is a piece of JUNK. I have now gone through three of them in five months. The newest one died last night after perhaps a total of 20 minutes worth of use in the last month. You turn it on, it starts making this noise that sounds as if the bearings are about to go, and then it will not shut down. The only way to turn it off is to unplug it.

It's too bad, because from the outside, it looks like a very nice machine. Even so, after three of them, I'm ready to try something different. I'm still working with the place I purchased it from to see whether they will let me trade for a different model, but I am meeting with some resistance. This resistance is understandable because they have traded me two times so far (all 23-725s), and it is not their fault that Delta cannot get its quality control under control; however, I do hope they are willing to let me trade for another brand. If not, I guess I'll get it repaired and hope that the repair works.

Woodcraft Import works great

Dennis Taylor (Akron, Ohio)

>I have the Woodcraft grinder, it is 8 inch, I would get another without a second thought, I use it work tool sharpening everyday, and it gets a workout, and holds up well...not one single complaint...Dennis

Hmmmm....

TDaniel

>Greg, I have had this same grinder for a couple of years and it gets a lot of use and I have had no problems at all. I am wondering if perhaps your supply line to the grinder may be overloaded? I have purchased a lot of these grinders for our club members and have not heard of a single complaint. I am concerned because I have 10 on order and am thinking about ordering more while they are still available.

TD

Re: Bench Grinder Poll *LINK*

Leo Van Der Loo

>Hey Mike, I have an old Stanley Grinder off a US Navy ship its a 220V DC, We stuck 4 diotes in and that was the total cost it just hums, they don,t build 'm like that anymore, anyway I wanted a larger grinder and after some debating what, I got myself a Taiwan made 10" grinder 1725RPM it got a very slight wobble, the coarse wheel only, runs fine, no vibration, I get the surface speed without the high RPM of most smaller grinders.

Got it at Busy Bee, the guys there told me that the taiwan's grinders were better and a lot less noisy than the Chinees ones, paid $199,-- Canadian.

Have fun and take care

Leo V


http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum18.html

Re: Bench Grinder Poll

Steve Mushinski

>Mike I also am a big fan of big heavy grinders. If you can find an old one used with good wheels for cheap then that is fine. The key is good wheels. Cheap grinder with old damaged or just cheap wheels is of no use. If you need new wheel add $60 - $100 to the price to replace them.

I have used the best grinders in the industry and I bought the Delta 1800 rpm grinder and I am very happy with it. Very good wheels out of the box and it is heavy. Is it a Baldor NO but it is an excellant buy for the price. Baldor Grinders start in the $250 plus range. I think I looked up the replacement price for the Delta with Baldor and it was in the $550+ range.

I know people swear by the imports but have they used a well balance well powered heavy grinder before to compare it to? It is a buy once have it for life tool so spend what you can afford.

Re: Hmmmm....

Jerry near Lapel In.

>I had mine from the first day Delta brought it out and it's ok. I use it alot.

Re: Don't Stay Away from Delta 23-725

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>I have two of these and they have worked flawlessly. I find it the very best buy in a heavy duty grinder.

However, I recognize that you are not alone in having had problems with this grinder. Interestingly, if one looks at the Amazon reviews or the archives of rec.crafts.woodturning (some reports overlap in both) one finds that while most love the unit, a few have had significant problems.

I suspect you have identified the source, which is the generally inadequate packaging of the lathe which simply doesn't stand up the the great weight of the grinder. I suspect that some of these lathes are coming in damaged, if not when transfered to you, then earlier in the chain and perhaps repackaged. I'd suggest that anyone purchasing this grinder obtain it from a reputable dealer (Amazon works fine for this, as do CS and Packard who have offered them), and be alert to potential damage. Amazon has great return policies, and potential purchasers may want to check with the others.

Despite the occasional problems (and I realize it wasn't occasional for you-perhaps the distribution handling of your source is rougher than most), I highly recommend this grinder. I've found nothing short of a Baldor to be superior (and in several ways I prefer the Delta), with the Baldor being well over twice the price.

Appreciate The Feedback

Greg Humphreys

>I am glad to hear that for the most part people are happy with this grinder. This positive feedback has convinced me to give it another try.

I talked with the place I purchased it from today, and I am going to take this one back and let them try to repair it (they are an authorized Delta repair center). I do think that if I could get one that is in good working condition, the thing would last forever. For the little while this last one was working, it was a pretty smooth grinder. I'll post again when it is all worked out.

Re: Hmmmm....

Greg Humphreys

>TD,

I was still very frustrated when I posted yesterday, and I probably made this grinder and my experience with it seem worse than it really is. Many people seem to be happy with this grinder, and if I could get a good one, I'm sure I would be happy with it, as well. I should mention that I exchanged the first two quickly after my initial purchase, which means they could have all come from the same shipment. The third one sat in my garage until about a month ago, when I unpacked it and set it up. I should have set it up sooner, but I was busy with other things, and I wasn't turning anything at the time. When I started turning pens for X-mas gifts, I needed to sharpen my turning tools, and I mounted the grinder on my stand and began using it.

As I said, I should have tried the grinder right away after my experience with the first two, but I thought there was no way I could have received a third unit that was bad. As it stands now, I'm past the return period (my fault for not checking the grinder out right away), and I'll have to get it repaired under warranty instead of exchanging it for another. For what it's worth, the place I purchased it from said that it is the most popular grinder they sell, and they do not have many returns. I did ask them if they had several returns about five months ago, and the store manager said he didn't remember.

Anyway, I'm taking mine in and I'm going to let them repair it. I'm sure I'll be happy with it once it is working correctly.

Re: Bench Grinder Poll

Leo Van Der Loo

>Hey Steve I could have had a big grinder for the same price as the Stanley, (for free) but it was a 540V DC, there's no way I could have used it, we ran it and does it ever grind you could barely slow it down, to bad it was 540, I don't have 3 phase so I could n't even think of using a transformer and than rectify.

Had a heavy cast stand, must have weight more than 200lbs.

O well can't win 'm all I guess.

Have fun and take care

Leo V