My 8" grinder...

[Greg Koch]

I needed a grinder, to clean, sharpen and polish things so I went to my trusty Sears store and took a look around. Jim, the sales guy there, said I should go for an 8", as they have about the right amount of power, size and....they were on sale. I'd asked around and the advice I got from others was to go 8" rather than 6 or less, so I picked up this one. I got grinding wheels, wire wheels and a couple of polishing wheels. I'm pretty happy with it, and have used it a lot. I want/need to make a separate table for it as being at the inside end of my bench is kinda crowded, but about the only place for it on my small bench.

[Bill Fields]

I carefully waited until HF had a grinder stand down to under $20 and I bought it. Then made a triangular mobile base--topped out the mounting plate with a 9" a x 12" ply top--then put my large grinder on one end and the small grinder on the other.

Works great and stores small.

BILL

[Greg Koch]

Bill,

I assume HF means "Harbor Freight"? I've heard of them but never been to one of their stores. $20 is a good reason to check them out...:D

What size grinders to you have...you mentioned 1 on each side of the stand.

Greg

[Steve Ash]

Greg, my dad occcasionaly goes to the nearby salvage yard...(looking for old tractor parts) and came across a bunch of metal stands that a high school was getting throwing out. He bought 5 of them for $5.00, so I have one for my grinder.

Might be worth your time if you have one nearby, you never can tell what you will find and what you can use it for. I remember reading in Fine Woodworking a while ago that the author found cafeteria carts at a salvage yard and uses it to store parts to projects he is working on.

[Bill Fields]

HF = Harbor Freight = www.harborfreight.com (http://www.harborfreight.com)

They are a total hassle to deal with but occasionally have killer prices for stuff.

I usually buy from the web-site, even though I have HF stores locally.

Big = 8" ----small = 4".

Bill

[Andrew Shaber]

I've thought about using HF but I don't like the idea of promoting cheap chinese junk in our country. I'd rather wait till my budget can afford something better; preferably made in US but at a minimum, something made with quality.

[Dan Oelke]

I would be wary of a HF grinder. I have an 8" grinder/anchor in my garage. My well intentioned father-in-law got it for me to replace the 6" grinder I have that takes a little push to get spinning. The problem is that it came from one of those truckload sales, and while supposedly 3/4 HP it can not keep the wheels spinning with anything more than the most modest load. I tried sharpening lawmower blades, or grinding the head off of bolt, and with just a little pressure I was able to slow down the wheel to the point it was about to stall. I can't remember the "brand" name on it - but it is a nice shiny barely used piece of junk.

[Wes Bischel]

Actually, if I read Bill's note correctly, he has a stand from HF, not necessarily the grinders. For $20 a big hunk of steel/iron isn't a bad deal - no precision to it to worry about.;)

I mentioned on a recent thread that I have two grinders on one side of my flip-top stand. The other side has my planer. This arrangement has worked out pretty well so far.

Wes

[Jim Becker]

Congrats on the new grinder, Greg. Always handy to have in the shop. (And welcome to SMC)

Do consider replacing the wheels with AO (aluminum oxide) wheels, which are most typically white, but sometimes pink or blue. (Norton's 3X wheels are a greenish white) The gray wheels that come stock with most grinders are fine for sharpening lawn and garden tools, but will load up quickly and run hot on the types of steel used for woodworking tools. They are too hard and don't release metal that has been ground off the tooling. The extra heat can also quickly destroy the temper of non-HHS tooling.

[Greg Koch]

Yeah, I took a look at their site...all brands I had never heard about...till I Googled them. The closest store is an hour away, so I doubt I'll be going there often.:D

I wish we could go into the scrap yards/dumps but for insurance purposes, they won't let us... I did pick up some plexiglas sheets on the curb at a local store...will use in my greenhouse! Dumpster diving is an art!

[Greg Koch]

Thanks for the info Jim,

I'm beginning to learn/remember, things like wheels, blades, etc., are as, or more important than the tool itself. I need to put your notes into my Palm to have when I go to the local toy stores...

[Alex Berkovsky]

Greg,
I'd like to add my $0.02... If you're going to grind your chisels with it, you want to make sure that it's a slow speed grinder. Otherwise, you can burn the chisels and destroy the temper if you're not careful.

[Steve Beadle]

Greg, you might want to check out the very nice bench grinder accessory detailed in either ShopNotes or Woodsmith (I'll let you know where, exactly, if you're interested. I don't have the info with me at the moment.) sometime this last year. It has a nice range of adjustment (in/out, angle-to-wheel), with left/right sliding tables, including hold-downs. The auxiliary table on the left side in this picture is for grinding the bevel on chisels. The other side could be used for grinding plane blades. I think it could be used for grinding jointer and planer blades as well, and for free-hand grinding, too (see the steel angle iron laying underneath, which can be mounted up top and used as a tool rest). I found it a very useful addition to my slow-speed grinder!

[Greg Koch]

That would be great Steve...It looks very interesting. Post if you can find it. Thanks.

Greg