grinding on lathe?

[JWD]

Hi Everyone.

Anyone ever tried using a shaft between the centres on the lathe with grinding/buffing wheels mounted to sharpen the tools? i wanted to buy a record 8 inch but haven't heard very good reviews, figure this way i might be able to customise it a bit better!

cheers
joe

 

[RossJarvis]

I've stuck a buffing mop in a lathe on a spindle it worked fine just in a chuck, not between centres. This was a mop designed for drill use. Never tried a grinding wheel. I think it depends on how you are able to hold it and the strength of the spindle.

 

[Rorschach]

Be careful of your speeds, an exploding grinding stone/disc would be nasty. Other than that though crack on, I have used wire wheels and buffs in lathes many times. In fact when I built my custom 3 mop 12" buffer I used a lathe as the basis for that tool. It was cheaper to buy a lathe than buy a motor on it's own, let alone bearing and pulleys etc. It has done hundreds of hours of buffing by now and runs like a champ.

 

[JWD]

yeah i've thought about the RPM and the slowest i can do is 425, i've no idea how fast some bench grinders go but i'd imagine its not far off?

i was thinking of a couple grinding wheels and a buffing wheel on a steel shaft with one end in the chuck and the other led by the tailstock.

 

[Robbo3]

Alan Stratton's solution
- http://www.aswoodturns.com/2013/10/port ... g-station/
- http://www.aswoodturns.com/2013/11/shar ... revisited/

or
Take your pick of these MDF disks used with green honing compound
- https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... ning+wheel

 

[duncanh]

If this is for regular sharpening of turning tools then it's a bad idea. You need to sharpen regularly and often part way through a turning. If you're part way through a turning project with something mounted on the lathe you will have to remove it before you can sharpen. You'll soon get frustrated with this stopping and starting and probably try to continue turning with tools which need to be sharpened. This will lead to more frustration.
Even if it's just for occasional sharpening, or if you have a 2nd lathe just for sharpening - I'd advise against it as you'll need to make guards and tools rests to fit the lathe. It'll also take up a lot of space.
Just buy a grinder like almost everyone else.

I know someone who has an mdf wheel with abrasive glued to the face for shaprpening. It's always mounted on the outboard end of his Graduate. I never really liked it as a solution because you might have something mounted on the lathe which requires different speed from what you need for grinding.

 

[JWD]

Ah, stupidly i'd never thought of the whole atop start thing!

ok, other than a record 8 inch grinder which ive heard not very good things about, what can you recommend? i could make a dedicated sharpening station with a small motor but like you said that takes time

cheers

 

[Honest John]

I've used a record 8 inch grinder for about the last 4 years. It sits on a bench next to my lathe with a wolverine style jig mounted and is used very frequently. So far ive never had any sort of problem either major or minor, and I would certainly buy again. Just my experience of it.

 

[RogerP]

I've used a record 8 inch grinder for about the last 4 years. It sits on a bench next to my lathe with a wolverine style jig mounted and is used very frequently. So far ive never had any sort of problem either major or minor, and I would certainly buy again. Just my experience of it.

I too have used the Record 8" for years with no problems.

 

[JWD]

Thanks fellas, it seems to get very mixed reviews but i guess its got the 5 yr warranty anyway

 

[monkeybiter]

I seem to remember seeing Tony Wilson grinding from a wheel of some sort mounted to the left hand side of his headstock when giving a demo' at Harrogate. I didn't see it stopped so I don't know what sort of wheel it was.