Bench Grinder or Grizzly T10010?

[Andrew Thuswaldner]

I am learning to sharpen my chisels and plane blades with water stones. I realize the water stones aren't much good for aggressively removing material from a badly damaged blade. I don't own a grinder yet but I am wondering if a 3450 rpm bench grinder has any advantages over a Grizzly T10010 (Tormek clone)? What can a bench grinder do that the T10010 can't do? I feel there is less risk of burning the metal with a low rpm T10010 so I am leaning towards purchasing that. Advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Andrew

[David Weaver]

Bench grinder. With a light touch and a friable wheel, it's hard to burn things on a grinder.

Pink surface grinder wheels are friable and so are the Norton 3x type.

[Harold Burrell]

Bench grinder. With a light touch and a friable wheel, it's hard to burn things on a grinder.

Pink surface grinder wheels are friable and so are the Norton 3x type.

Man...I SO want to be like David when I grow up! I burn EVERYTHING on a grinder. Even with a white Norton wheel.

I have the Grizzly 8" slow speed wet grinder and I like it. However, it does take a while to grind something down. Also, in my unheated shop, I can't really use it in the winter (and my wife won't let me grind in the living room). So...I just recently picked up on of those PC 6" variable speed grinders from Lowes of $79. So far I really like it. You might give that a serious look. I'm finding it to be a pretty good compromise.

[David Weaver]

Harold, what is the grit of the wheel? I would say "personally, I wouldn't buy an expensive dry grinder, either", but I'd be a hypocrite if I said that. I do have to admit that other than satisfying my desire to have quality good for the sake of it, the baldor does not grind tool hollows any better than the wobbly $39 ryobi grinder that it replaced.

A freshly graded 46 grit wheel, no matter the type, should work well unless you're:
* removing too much metal in one pass, or for some reason desiring to remove too much metal in genearl
* spending too much time at a spot, especially if you're trying to be delicate on the corners and keep an even grind
* not grading the wheel and keeping the surface fresh

I've had good luck with the crappy T grinder that HF used to sell and woodcraft sells on sale sometimes for 10 bucks. I've had one 5 years and it's still fine. I was sure it wouldn't last.

[Chuck Nickerson]

For plane irons and chisels I recently moved from the Tormek to a 6" slow speed grinder. (The Tormek still does carving chisel work.)
The last thing to get through my ham-headedness is the importance of dunking the warm blade. Just setting the blade aside to cool is much less effective.

[Chris Griggs]

Harold. Keep your hands nice and close to the cutting edge when you are grinding. That way, you'll burn your fingers before you burn the steel.

[Don Dorn]

I've been using Ian Kirby's grinding system (modified for my own use) and it's served me well. I haven't had any issue with burning, but if a blade does get what I think is too warm, I don't dunk it, but rather set it on top of the tablesaw which acts as a very effective and quick working heat sink.

[Harold Burrell]

Since we are on the subject...where is a good place to get grinding wheels???

[Chuck Nickerson]

Since we are on the subject...where is a good place to get grinding wheels???

I recommend Tools For Working Wood. Joel has written extensively about grinding and sells what works.

[David Weaver]

Probably TFWW's 3x. Friable surface grinder wheels work a trick, too, but other than the two Camel brand wheels that I got from a woodworking supply place on clearance earlier this year, I don't usually find them in a bench grinder size any cheaper than the 3x wheels.

McMaster Carr has an N hardness 6" wheel that works well, but N hardness is not what you want if you have a history of burning things. I used the gray wheel and the brown N hardness wheel from McMaster for a while, and all was fine as long as the wheel was dressed or the amount of metal to remove wasn't too much. Even with that wheel, as part of regular routine hollow refreshing, it was rare that I couldn't take an iron or chisel and drag it slowly across the palm of my hand without getting burned. Because of that, I don't generally keep water at the grinder.

Heavier grinding, of course, will heat things up, though - like if you're repairing or resquaring a damaged or badly out of square edge.

If you are absolutely the worst offender at burning irons, do one pass straight across the grinding wheel and dip, over and over - not back and forth, just one drive-by type pass. Obviously you want the dip cup close to the grinder wheel if you're going to do that.

[Harold Burrell]

I recommend Tools For Working Wood. Joel has written extensively about grinding and sells what works.


Probably TFWW's 3x. Friable surface grinder wheels work a trick, too, but other than the two Camel brand wheels that I got from a woodworking supply place on clearance earlier this year, I don't usually find them in a bench grinder size any cheaper than the 3x wheels.

McMaster Carr has an N hardness 6" wheel that works well, but N hardness is not what you want if you have a history of burning things. I used the gray wheel and the brown N hardness wheel from McMaster for a while, and all was fine as long as the wheel was dressed or the amount of metal to remove wasn't too much. Even with that wheel, as part of regular routine hollow refreshing, it was rare that I couldn't take an iron or chisel and drag it slowly across the palm of my hand without getting burned. Because of that, I don't generally keep water at the grinder.

Heavier grinding, of course, will heat things up, though - like if you're repairing or resquaring a damaged or badly out of square edge.

If you are absolutely the worst offender at burning irons, do one pass straight across the grinding wheel and dip, over and over - not back and forth, just one drive-by type pass. Obviously you want the dip cup close to the grinder wheel if you're going to do that.

Are the ones TFWW sells different than these:

http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Norton-White-Grinding-Wheel-P38C20.aspx :confused:

[David Weaver]

Pretty significant difference, though you can find soft friable white wheels if you can get the letter grade. I can't remember what hardness wheel I have, it's either H or I, but it's a lot more friable than the white norton wheel (I can't remember what that one was).

There's a fairly large gap between 46 and 60 grit, too, and the grit size means as much for cooling as friability.

I have not, though, used the 3x, so I don't know if anyone has gouged them with anything. The pink surface grinder wheels are friable, but not so much that they just shed gobs of grit everywhere.

(I had one of those white wheels in 80 grit - like you showed - that's all rockler has up the road, and it definitely is a hotter running wheel than a standard hard freshly graded cheap 46 grit wheel)