Shop-made stand for grinder

[Gene Davis]

I've a vintage Baldor grinder, 6" wheels, 3450 rpm, weighs a ton as these old ones do. It's from about 1950. Currently it sits atop a 36-high bench, and I would rather it be on its own stand elsewhere.

Looking at the Harbor Freight one with 4 legs, currently about $26.50 out the door, I thought I would make one out of a couple boards from the BORG instead. My sketch is attached.

Like the HF bent-metal affair, this one has four canted legs and a rectangular footprint on the floor about 20" wide x 19" deep. The halfway-up platform is from a piece of 1/2" plywood I've left over from something. It gets its corners nipped and is let into mortises cut into the inside edges of the legs.

I'll figure a way to have a cupholder front center, to hold a plastic cup of water to dip the hot ends into when grinding. And a mount for a light fixture at the back so I can gooseneck an LED light over top.

Any cautions? Any ideas for alternatives? I know a lot of grinder stands are heavy welded steel affairs and this seems a lightweight, but I watched a YouTube video showing a review of the HF thing, and the reviewer said things were quiet and steady and firm with the grinder running.

[Wayne Lomman]

Gene, a wooden stand is OK if it is robust. I would make sure the legs are a bit heavier than your sketch suggests and also consider mortising rails on all 4 sides to support the 1/2" ply shelf. Also it is will improve stability to bolt it to the floor - you then have the mass of the building to stabilise it. Cheers

[David Linnabary]

My neighbor is a welder fabricator, has a variety of grinder and vise setups. He's been building these simple setups by mounting a post in a 5 gal plastic bucket full of concrete. He moves them to the work and around the shop on a dolly as needed. He's build some from wood and other from steel well casing.

I'm thinking very seriously about making a couple. I'd like to have one that I can position near my lathe.

David

[mark kosse]

I just don't see putting anything on a open stand. Why not make a small a small cabinet?

[Prashun Patel]

As long as your wheels are well balanced I don't think mass is an issue.

I like the cup holder idea.

[Adam Herman]

I am still a fan of a steel tube welded to an old steel wheel, you can tip it slightly and roll it around the shop as needed.

[Chris E Smith]

Gene, if you put a lightweight stand under a heavy grinder it works fine until one day when you catch your work piece on one of the wheels far enough away from the tool rest that the resulting force pushes the top heavy grinder away from you and the grinder goes over backwards or on it's side. You want a stable and heavy enough base that if you inadvertently catch your work piece on the wheel it can only pull it down to the tool rest rather than push the grinder away from you. A cabinet with heavy stuff stored in it is a good option and utilizes the space but if you want to put a wire or scotchbrite wheel on one side, then mounting on a pipe stand gives better clearance to use the wheel. I have a modern 6" delta on one of the HF stands and it's too top heavy but I accept the risk because it gives me good access to the wheels and I like being able to easily move it around.
Chris