hand crank grinder help please

[Howard Pollack]

I have an old hand crank grinder with a 4" grey/black wheel on it. Does anyone know where to get a white one that small? Or, even better, has anyone figured out how to modify those to accept a 6" wheel. The 4" wheel will create a pretty deep hollow grind, will that be a problem? Thanks -Howard

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Have you measured for interference? Some of the hand cranked grinders I've come across actually take comparatively tiny wheels like this, but sometimes you come across one that's just had the same wheel ground down over decades of use, and you can actually fit a 6" wheel in there.

You could try looking for grinding wheels for chainsaw grinding machines - they don't come very thick, but they're the only grinding wheels I can think of off the top of my head that come in smaller diameters.

EDIT:
Also try McMaster Carr - they've got some smaller sized aluminum oxide wheels.

[george wilson]

You can buy smaller wheels for toolpost grinders used on metal turning lathes. They may not be real cheap,though. They also may have small center holes,too. It is perfectly possible to drill out a too small hole in a wheel if you have a metal lathe,or a slow running drill press. Lathe is best.

Put the wheel in a chuck,center it up well. Stuff the hole in the chuck with cloth or paper to keep ground up wheel abrasive out. I usually keep a shop vac nozzle on the hole as I drill it,too. Set the lathe on its slowest back gear speed. The slower the better. Take a drill that is not your best one. With the lathe running very slow,the drill will go right through the wheel,crushing the abrasive grains as it goes in. The drill may not suffer much damage,but the worst thing is that the end of the drill may become tapered if used much for this operation. Then,the drill is messed up.

[Steven Satur]

McMaster Carr has them.

Steve