Woodcraft 8" grinder and CS Apprentice Tool Rest

[Jerry Allen]

GRINDER:
I normally use a modified drill press with an 8" disk to sharpen my chisels. Lately I have been using my 6" grinder to do my scrapers and wanted to try a slow speed 8".
I bought a Woodcraft 8" grinder last week based on comments here and elsewhere.
It seems to be pretty much a crap shoot, with an advantage of getting one that works right.
I received mine yesterday and out of the box it stalled because the left wheel was hitting the guard. I took it apart and messed with it to get rid of a severe wobble. As it turned out, the step on the motor shaft that the flange butts against was tapered instead of square. The factory had not finished turning the motor shaft! The right side was fine. Othr than that not a bad grinder.
The good news is that it's Sunday, and Woodcraft processed a replacement going out tomorrow with a return label included so I will not have to wait twice as long or pay for shipping the return. I am very impressed with their customer service.
I started looking at Delta's instead of trying again, but looking at the reviews, it looks like that's a crap shoot also, so I'll try one more time to get a good one.

TOOL REST:
I also got a new grinder tool rest from Craft Supply USA called an Apprentice Tool Support. For the most part it looks almost identical to the Versa-Rest sold at Hartville Tool, shown at Hart Design, and the one reviewed by Fine Woodworking. The difference is that the side arms are much beefier, The adjustment knobs are ratchet type like the Veritas model, it is on sale for ~$27, and includes the sliding tool holder clamp. CSUSA does not sell the extra bases, but it looks like the ones at Hartville are exactly the same for $3.99/pr. There are other ways to move the rest to the other wheel though.
I have used it and it is very stable and easy to adjust. I highly recommend it at the price. I chose USPS (~$6) shipping and it still got here in 3 days.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Sharpening___Universal_Jigs___Apprentice_Universal _Tool_Support___apprentice_tool_support?Args=

[Tim A. Mitchell]

For the grinder, how far apart did you have to take it? My new one has a bit of a wobble. I was able to true the wheels to work, as it was nt that far out. It does seem to have some vibration left though

[Joe Delfino]

My first Woodcraft grinder had to go back. First we tried new wheels off the shelf and vibration was worse. Then we tried a new grinder and it seemed to run fairly smooth so I exchanged mine. The folks at Woodcraft were willing to do what ever it took to make me happy.

[Jerry Allen]

I have never dealt with Woodcraft before, but was really impressed with great customer service (even on a Sunday).

I think all grinding wheels have some inherent inaccuracy since they are cast and need to be trued. But this wobble was caused by the motor shaft being machined incorrectly. You only need to remove the inner flange, Tim, that holds the grinding wheel to see the step in the shaft. It's pretty obvious if it is not a sharp 90 degree step where the flange seats. Mine had a 45 degree slope on the left wheel's shaft. It could be messed with to get the wobble down to 1/32" or so, but could easily get worse again because it is not supported properly. We're talking about lateral wobble here. If the wobble is up and down, you have to take more of the outer perimeter off. Of course the shaft could be bent also. Mine were not and I measured the runout to be less than .001". If they had just finished grinding the left shaft step, I would have been very happy with the purchase.

I can't believe no one bothered to turn the darned thing on before shipping to the US. It would sure save some shipping costs, paper work and establish a good reputation if the manufacturer bothered to do that.

[Paul Engle]

I was just at HD on Saturday and they have the 1/2 hp 3600 rpm Ryobi bench grinder for 57.99 ,with wet tray and magnifier on one side, loaded with two 8 in Norton stones, 36 grt and 80 grt. The stones ( general purpose are 9.95 each) . Is that a deal? Nope dont own no stock .....

[robert hainstock]

Remember when stuff was made in the USA and pretty much worked out of the box?
I bought one of those grinders last summer, and it works fine, but I also remember an overnight stop in a Chinese city 35 years ago where I learned that they would manufacture anyrhing you wanted to any specifications. It all depended on how much money you were willing to spend what quality you wuld get. I just looked at my slow speed, and there is no indicqation of where it was made. Tells me the Mfg. wasn't too proud of it. :eek::eek::eek:
Bob

[Jerry Allen]

Paul,
I saw those stones at HD the other day and they are gray aluiminum oxide, and they are harder than the white or pink ones and run hotter. That is one of the benefits of the Woodcraft 8", besides the slow speed you get two white alum oxide wheels which would be at least $60 themselves.

Robert,
Yeah, pretty sad: We have lost our manufacturing to Cheaper, Faster.
Taiwanese products have an edge over the stuff made in China. Early Taiwanese stuff was pretty much like current Chinese products and like you said, I always heard the same shop made HF tools and Delta tools, just different specs.

[Jerry Allen]

I got my second WC 8" grinder Friday. It is fine. It was a tiny bit wobbly, but I took the wheels and flanges off, cleaned the spindle, and reassembled. Works great.

It was snowing here Friday and I figured the Fedex delivery would be cancelled. The delivery guy showed up in his own 4WD truck. Amazing! Great service from Woodcraft, too.
The delivery guy was the same one as last week. He recalled I had gotten one a week earlier and told me someone else several miles away had returned his 3 times and finally gave up. Guess it's a crap shoot, but Woodcraft stands behind it for 1 year. I'm happy. Beats the heck out of my 6" 3450 RPM grinder.