Question About My New Rikon Slow Speed Grinder

[Mike Goetzke]

I bought this 1HP Rikon grinder a few weeks ago. I put two CBN wheels on it and maybe sharpened my bowl gouge 5 times and I now hear a once per rev squeak when it makes it's last few rev's. I can get it to squeak when I turn it by hand too. Got it at Woodcraft and they are backordered till April. Is this a bearing noise?


Thanks,

Mike

[Reed Gray]

Bearing would be my first guess. Maybe run it for an hour or so to see if the squeak goes away. Another possibility is on the grinder side of the wheel cover. They punch in holes and thread them for screws and/or bolts to attach the tool rests. If you CBN wheels are not far enough away from the guard, they can rub on them. I had to add an extra washer because mine wouldn't even spin.

robo hippy

[Mike Goetzke]

Squeaks without the wheels too. Me being me I went to take off the left side end housing. This side has the centrifugal switch which I suspect may be the issue. The top two bolts were very tight and the bottom ones loose:eek:. I don't see an easy way to pull this cover to get at the centrifugal switch (I saw someone on-line lubed the switch and his once per rev noise went away). So I just re-tightened the bolts and noise not as noticeable. On coast down when the centrifugal switch re-engages it is very noticable so maybe the switch causing noise?

Thanks

[Reed Gray]

Okay, you stumped me..... Centrifugal switch??? Not even the slightest clue. My Rikon does make a whirring sound when it runs, which my Baldor does not. Any relation?

robo hippy

[Mike Goetzke]

Sorry - Centrifugal swith for start capacitor.

Mine is nice and smooth/ quiet when it's up to speed though.

[Aaron Craven]

I haven't had that problem, but I just picked up a Rikon grinder as well, and haven't been terribly impressed. Mine sounds pretty smooth, but came with a wheel that wobbled (laterally) pretty significantly. I played with the flanges on it for a bit and got the worst of the wobble out, but there's still a little there. From the research I've done, mine (80-805) is actually a decent unit, but they tried to save money by using cheap bushings and stamped (instead of milled) flanges on the wheels. Seems a poor choice to me -- why would you cut corners on such simple parts...

At some point (probably when I eventually look at replacing the wheels), I'll upgrade the bushings and flanges.

As for yours, if it's not something very simple (like a wheel rubbing the guard), I think I'd take it back and go for something else.

[Reed Gray]

For the price, I think it is a good deal. Not a Baldor for sure. The wheels that came on mine, I wouldn't give to some one I didn't like....

robo hippy

[Mike Goetzke]

Took a short video of start up and coast down. Comes up to speed quickly, runs smoothly, power it down, brake it with my fingers, can hear start capacitor drop in, and then the small squeak.

Runs so well at speed I'm still guessing maybe the squeak is the start cap centrifugal switch?


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yt9j9PuK55A