Cheap Bench Grinder? - Help please

[OPJ]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a fairly cheap (reasonabley-priced) bench grinder for use at home - mainly for regrinding the angles on old plane irons and chisels. As for the sharpening/honing part, I'm happy to stick with a good old oilstone.

So, we're not talking a Tormek here!
(Perhaps in a couple of years, though...)

The Clarke ones from Machine Mart seem a popular choice, from 'shops I've seen - but how would they compare with the Axminster and Perform models?

What exactly should I be looking for? A decent tool rest? Quality of the stone?

Many thanks for your help as always; much appreciated.

 

[Harbo]

I have had a Clarke one for years and it works fine. And I suppose the wider the grinding wheels the better?

You need to replace at least one of the wheels with a cooler (steel friendly) stone. Sorby and others do them.

I have it mounted on a small table with a shop made wooden adjustable jig in front but Axminster do a fairly cheap one?

Rod

 

[timj]

Hi, i have a axminster NG6A which i use for my woodturning chisels and everything else! only fault is the rests, made my own.


Tim.

 

[OPJ]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I take it the supplied stones mean you have to regularly 'clench' the iron or chisel in water to stop it over-heating? I would never have even thought of looking for a more friendly stone without asking here!

I also assume it's quite easy to make your own rests, then?

I have noticed you can buy rests specially designed for holding drill bits, at the side of the machine - do you know if these are any good?

Thanks again for your help so far, looks like I won't have to spend too much to get what I want after all! :wink:

 

[chippy1970]

Have you looked at the Record ones I have a Record 6" grinder and it runs so smooth no vibration whatsoever.

It was only £40 and they do an 8" one too.

 

[woodbloke]

Likewise, I use the 8" Record grinder with a 2" white wheel...has a 5 year guarantee as well - Rob

 

[OPJ]

I know some people complain about Record, but you can't really go wrong with a 5-year warranty now, can you! That's why I bought one of their extractors, earlier this year. :wink:

So, looking at the 8" grinder here...

http://www.recordpower.co.uk/index.pl?p=RPBG8&a=i

I notice there is one fine stone, but is the 'coarse' stone supplied with this machine, going to suit my needs or will I need to replace it with something more 'tool-friendly', as was mentioned earlier?


I'm also looking for some advice on sharpening (well, honing) stones to choose from as well. The grinder will do all the initial grind work, so that's both a coarse and medium stone out of the way.

But what about fine stones? I'm comfortable using an India oil stone. But after that, you can go extra fine - either diamond or ceramic? I've used both at college; so is it purely down to preference or will I still need both types of stone? I'm not a fan of waterstones but I do like the ceramic I've tried.

Again, I'll be sharpening plane irons and chisels; eventually moving on to turning and maybe small carving chisels.

Thanks again for all your help, by the way.

 

[Harbo]

The Record comes with a 36 and 80 grit which are much too coarse for sharpening irons, chisels etc.
Keep the 80 for things like cold chisels but you will need a white (or red) tool friendlier stone.
There's been lots and lots written on the Forum about sharpening (try a search?) and people all have their different favorite ways.
You need to go down the 1000, 4000, 8000 (for example) stages to finish up with the final honed edges. Diamonds do not go down to these levels unless you use a paste (I have not used ceramics so cannot advise on that).
If you do not like waterstones then you will probably have to use grades of wet & dry for example secured on a flat (glass) base.
Rutland do a kit using various grades of paste
If you are not an expert then use some form of honing guide (like the Veritas one).

Rod

 

[jaymar]

My Record 8" has a wide white stone and a grey narrow one. I have made a clone of the Wolverine jig and find for woodturning tools it works superbly. I combine a variation of the jig displayed by CHJ for finger-nail profiles. Using the jigs I find I don't get any blueing of the tools. The wolverine clone could be used for initial grinding of chisels.

 

[Jake]

The Record comes with a 36 and 80 grit which are much too coarse for sharpening irons, chisels etc.
Keep the 80 for things like cold chisels but you will need a white (or red) tool friendlier stone.

The coarser the grit, the cooler it runs, so you are less likely to ruin the temper of your blades with a 36 grit than with anything finer. I use a 36 grit for all primary grinding.

There's been lots and lots written on the Forum about sharpening (try a search?) and people all have their different favorite ways.

So, so true.

You need to go down the 1000, 4000, 8000 (for example) stages to finish up with the final honed edges. Diamonds do not go down to these levels unless you use a paste (I have not used ceramics so cannot advise on that).

For example, I disagree here. I finish on extra-fine diamond, and if I can be bothered, hone with Autosol. I have gone finer in the past but (whispers) I don't find any noticeable difference in the shavings, finish, or ease of use - and certainly not enough to make sharpening more of a chore than it already is.

Better I think to keep a blade sharp (but perhaps not totally perfectly mirror polished) than to obsess over each sharpening but end up extending the interval between tocuh ups because there are some many stages, and that messy water to deal with, etc.

Each to their own though.

If you are not an expert then use some form of honing guide (like the Veritas one).

Agreed.

 

[Chris Knight]

I am with Jake on the grinding bit - no need for fancy stuff there. Coarse stone and over and done with quickly, an ordinary high speed grinder is fine for this stage - just avoid overheating.

The sharpening/honing is another story with many authors and chapters!

 

[Russell]

The Record one is good I have had one for 4 years now. The tool rests are not brilliant on the them as is the case with most cheap grinders but a descent angle platform is easy to make.

 

[Smudger]

Has anyone used the Record wet grinder? At £100 it looks quite attractive.

Also - is it possible/easy to fit polishing wheels to the smaller machines?

 

[NKE]

I have the scangrind 200s http://www.scantool-group.dk/page115.aspx which I think is identical to the record http://www.recordpower.co.uk/index.pl?p=SCAN200S&a=i apart from the slightly different adjustment screws on the tool rest.
I think the polishing wheel could easily be fitted to the 200, but the on the 150 the wheel I think has a smaller diameter and also the legs on the tool rest (where the polishing wheel is mounted on the 200s) are a bit shorter so it might not be possible to fit a polishing wheel there.
I got the Scangrind from Rutlands tools earlier this year when they had it on sale for if I remember correctly £80 and am delighted with it.
neil

 

[OPJ]

I made my first visit down to Yandles yesterday and bought the 8" Record Power grinder for £39.99 - £10 cheaper than everything I've seen online! (Same applies to the smaller 6" model.)

I'm only really looking to use this for regrinding the initial sharpening angles on chisels and plane irons etc. I recently bought three grades of India Oilstones (and an ultra fine ceramic) but find regrinding to be incredibly laborious, even on the coarse stone. Some of my chisels don't have square edges either.

All in all, this should make the task a lot easier. A friend also gave me a redundant tool rest-jig-thing he no longer uses and it looks pretty good (saved me spending £20 on a Veritas one!) Photos will appear later. :wink:

My main concern now is that this machine will probably create a fair amount of sparks - how much of a hazard is this going to be? What precautions do other people take?

I guess I also need to make some kind of pedestal stand for it - I've seen the prices of the ones you can buy but I don't see any point in spending ha much.


Really impressed with Yandles overall. I also noticed they had two large Triton routers in stock but I couldn't see a price. I would've asked but I shouldn't be spending any more than I have right now and I spent too much time drooling over the Scheppach and Record Power bandsaws as well as all the exotic timber they stock! :wink:

 

[Rich]

Hi Olly, if it's any help, I bought a cheap one fromAldi last saturday for £19.99, it has a standard grinding wheel on the left and a belt linisher on the right, it does what I want at the moment as I'm not experienced enough at wood chisel angles and tend to buy ready to use ones and touch them up on my oilstone.
regards, Rich.

 

[LarryS.]

I made my first visit down to Yandles yesterday and bought the 8" Record Power grinder for £39.99 - £10 cheaper than everything I've seen online! (Same applies to the smaller 6" model.)

I'm only really looking to use this for regrinding the initial sharpening angles on chisels and plane irons etc. I recently bought three grades of India Oilstones (and an ultra fine ceramic) but find regrinding to be incredibly laborious, even on the coarse stone. Some of my chisels don't have square edges either.

Olly,

Which set of oilstones did you get and where from ? I've read loads of threads on the subject and have only ended up more confused so if you've got yourself the full solution and are happy with it I'd like to copy it
thanks


Paul

 

[Andy Pullen]

Hi Olly, if it's any help, I bought a cheap one fromAldi last saturday for £19.99, it has a standard grinding wheel on the left and a belt linisher on the right, it does what I want at the moment as I'm not experienced enough at wood chisel angles and tend to buy ready to use ones and touch them up on my oilstone.
regards, Rich.

I bought one of those and its going back! I tried it for the first time yesterday and the linisher quickly grinds to a halt if much pressure is applied and the fence on the linisher shifted jamming the abrasive belt and causing the grinding wheel to nut to undo itself, leaving the wheel spinning on its shaft for ages. Not at all safe IMO.

 

[Gary]

If anyone still meeds one my local B&Q Warehouse had a number of them in yesterday. I think they were Performance Pro and were £9-95 each.

 

[Rich]

Hi Andy, Iv'e only used the grinder so far, if the same happenns to me it will be straight back to Aldi, thanks for the tip.
regards, Rich.