Thoughts on Grizzly's 10" Wet Grinder?

[Tony Shea]

I have been really contemplating on buying myself a wet grinder for rehabbing all my old blades and to keep up with re-establishing bevels on my user blades. Not that the old blades wont be users once I get them in working condition. I was curious if others have bought the Griz instead of the crazy expensive T-7. Does it function precise enough to get square edges ready for honing? Should I just save my money? It sounds like the guides for the Grizz aren't anything to write home about but hear the Tormek jigs will fit the Grizz. Is this true? Any opinions on this machine would be very helpful.

[Joel Goodman]

Not to hijack the thread but there's also a T-3 much cheaper -- anyone try that?

[Don Dorn]

I think the Tormek and quality wet grinders are a great thing. A friend has a T7 and it does a flawless job. That said - I chose a different route using a 8" slow speed grinder. I found it in a book by Ian Kirby on "Sharpeneing with Waterstones" and it hasn't let me down yet. Works quickly and if you keep a spray bottle handy and use a white wheel, you won't burn them. I haven't so far, but I guess it's always possible. I have a video that was made to show a friend what I mean but I don't know how to limit the rest of the album in Photobucket, but if anyone wants it, I'd be happy to email.

[Tony Shea]

Hey Don, I would certainly take the video. Ill PM you with an email address. I have a regular grinder with a white wheel and kinda struggle a bit with it in creating nice bevels and have certainly blued a few edges with it. Now I am a a little gun shy and it seems to take me forever as I;m constantly dipping in water. I also don;t have the best touch with it as far as freehanding the bevel. I have a nice tool rest (Veritas) as well as the right angle jig but find it too be too finiky. There is too much play between the front of the slot in the rest and the bar on the jig that slides in the slot. I just end up free handing but do not get perfect results every time. May need more practise with it.

[David Weaver]

Quite a while ago, I had HF's version, which is generally the same thing (has a sheppach wheel on it - made in germany, like the grizzlies at least did for a while - the replacement wheel that grizzly lists for about $50 or something is junk and not worth having - chinese and the one that I got just fell apart).

I could put a square edge on fine with the HF thing, and since the wheel was a sheppach wheel, it was decent quality. A bit softer than a tormek wheel, but it cut well. The softness might be trouble on turning tools, but on chisels and planes, it wasn't a problem. The side of the sheppach wheels is not lapped as far as I know, it wasn't on the HF machine. Square edge jig was kind of junky.

I found a used tormek in the interim and got that and gave the HF away to a friend. The tormek wheels are longer wearing and there is a very long track record with the machines and the only person I've ever heard of wearing one out is wenzloff using the machine to grind saw plates. The grizzly machine, don't know, but it should be a simple apparatus.

I wouldn't get the T-3 - for the same money, I'd wait for an old supergrind 2000 instead. I do not turn on anything other than a dry grinder and a belt grinder with any regularity, the tormek gets used only when I turn, which is only when I have to. I find the dry grinder more convenient, and the only way I would use the tormek over it for maintaining a hollow would be if I couldn't tolerate the grit from the dry grinder being all over the place.

[Derek Cohen]

I would support everything that David has written. I bought the Scheppach equivalent of the Grizzly (or is it vise versa ? :) ). Made in China but badged to loook like it was made in Germany (the German-only decals stated that it was designed in Germany with no mention of country of manufacture). It was poorly built - very little square. The wheel wobbled on a skew axle. There was no way it could be turned into a value-for-money version of the Tormek. It went back to the store at the end of the weekend, and was immediateley replaced by the Tormek 2000 (that they gave me a good deal on). The machines are chalk-and-cheese. In addition to the better quality wheel, and the build to close tolerances, the Tormek's tool rest has micro-adjustability - and this is essential in getting the best out of this type of machine. It has been a few years now since I bought it and not one day have I regretted doing so. I would not have felt this way if I had retained the Scheppach/Grizzly.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

Just do not buy a Jet wet wheel grinder. I got a new in the box one cheap. It stopped running. Dealers all told me they often don't run right out of the box. Jet repair facility gave me a lecture on how proud they were of their products!! I eventually found out they stop because of their LITERALLY beer can press on wire connectors that are plugged on to the circuit board. They crack while being shoved on at the factory,and soon fail. I got mine fixed. Next time I went to use it,it didn't start again. I need to get around to soldering ALL of the wires onto the circuit board,I HOPE!! Could be something I CAN'T figure out this time.

REMEMBER what I have said about the connecters. This info has saved several guys from a lot of grief,and you cannot always even see that they have enough of a little(apparently corroded) crack that the electricity is stopped. Otherwise,you'll be packing up units,paying frieght,and waiting for a repair using the same beer can parts that will fail again. Just solder them all and be done with it. I swear,I do not exaggerate how thin those parts are.