Has anyone tried using a surface grinder?

[Andy RV]

Reguarding removing the magnetic table be aware that for a surface grinder to operate to its full potential the table will need re-grinding everytime it is removed from the machine to ensure it is flat and parallel to the spindle.

Do not run the machine in reverse unless you want the wheel bouncing around the shop and do not adjust the speed at which the machine runs at, it has been designed and geared to rotate the wheel with a peripheral speed which matches the ideal grinding surface speed.

 

[graduate_owner]

Oh dear,
there seems to be an awful lot to know about this, and I thought it looked such a simple, basic machine. I'm certainly glad I posted the initial message - I've learnt a lot already, and am certainly much more wary of the machine than I was. I'm going to delve more deeply into the safety aspects of this before (and if) I start making any modifications.

K

 

[heimlaga]

A surface grinder would be nice to have. It would relieve me of a lot of hand scraping when I rebuild woodworking- and other machinery and it could maybe be equipped with some kind of jig to grind planer knives. I would never tear such a useful machine apart to make it into something else. I have spent almost a solid week scraping the parts for a morticer over the last month.

For cutting tennons the correct machine is a spindle moulder with a sliding table. They aren't terribly expensive when old enough.

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi Heimlaga, and thanks for the comments.
I hadn't intended cannibalising the machine so that it no longer could be used as a surface grinder. My idea was to remove the grinding wheel as necessary to use it for sanding, and replace it for grinding. I don't think I could justify the purchase cost or space taken up just for use as a grinder, although as I previously stated, it would be useful for regrinding chisels and plane irons prior to honing. I suppose I could replace the grinding wheel with a hard felt wheel and use it for honing too.

The point of my initial post was to find out if anyone had used a surface grinder for any of these alternative purposes, and if so, how effective it was. Perhaps I'll be the first on the forum to do this, in which case my experience may provide useful help for others which is, of course, what the forum is all about.

K

 

[graduate_owner]

I forgot to mention in previous posts that the owner has tried selling the grinder but without success. I think he was going to scrap it if no-one was interested because he already has a larger surface grinder with whistles and bells, and this one was just in the way and taking up valuable space. So by buying it I will be rescuing it from being scrapped, and putting it to good use (hopefully - that is yet to be seen). The thing I'm mainly interested in doing (as I said previously) is replacing the wheel with a plywood drum covered in abrasive, and having a micro-adjustable sander.
I also thought - extending this idea - to put strips of say 2" wide abrasive of 3 different grades on a drum, and using it for honing tools after grinding them with the wheel. I'm thinking that with a bit of work the beast could save my having to make several other devices. I'm rather going off the idea of mounting a saw blade though - as someone pointed out there are better ways of cutting tenons.

K