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Thread: Bench grinder set up

  1. #1

    Bench grinder set up

    Hello fellow woodworkers,
    I’m looking to get a good low speed bench grinder set for reshaping chisels, plane irons and turning tools.
    I have a budget of $350 and I’ve been looking at the 8” Rikon from LV and the tormek bench grinder accessorie. So any advice that will keep me from wasting my would be greatly appreciated.
    I do all my sharpening and shaping on shapton stones 1k, 5k and 8k and all my blades and chisels are A2.
    What I’m wanting to accomplish is to re-establish my primary bevel or camber with the bench grinder and establish my secondary bevel with my stones.
    So any grinders, wheels or jig advise would be great.

    Thanks Tim
    Last edited by Timothy MacMurtrie; 05-23-2018 at 12:11 AM. Reason: Also all my hand planes are low angle planes

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Calgary AB
    Posts
    179
    Hi Tim, the 8" Rikon from LV looks to be a good one, I have its little brother (.5hp) which I got on sale from Amazon and it has done well for many months now. If LV had carried the Rikon sooner I would've snapped it up back then. The Tormek Jigs are nice but pricey, The Veritas tool rest is decent and decently affordable. There's a Veritas grinding jig that you can also get along with the rest; personally I don't need it or want it, free hand is pretty easy after a couple tries. The Tormek ones will probably allow you to dial in on very accurate angles especially for stuff like hollow grinding chisels but if you're looking to just grind a bevel and hone a micro bevel the veritas tool rest will do fine. The rests that come with the Rikon are garbage like most stock bench grinder rests. The wheels that come with the Rikon are okay, just go slow and don't let your tools build up any heat. I went and replaced them with CBN wheels. If you're in the US; Ken at Woodturners Wonders carries a Rikon grinder & CBN wheel package, if you live in Canada its not a bad buy but shipping wise it could be easier and cheaper just getting everything from LV. Derek Cohen has the dream setup with CBN wheels and the Tormek jig; look up his writeup it's pretty tempting once you've seen it. Personally I get by with the Veritas toolrest and a homemade jig that allows for very accurate angle setup on plane irons. I'm still saving for a Tormek jig; it's ease of setting up angles for a chisel is too good for me to ignore it.

    Hope that helps.

    Vinny

  3. #3
    I have no clue on how to hollow grind!! And I did read Derek write up ty for that. Now will I be able to maintain a flat primary bevel with a grinder cbn set up?

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Timothy MacMurtrie View Post
    Hello fellow woodworkers,
    I’m looking to get a good low speed bench grinder set for reshaping chisels, plane irons and turning tools.
    I have a budget of $350 and I’ve been looking at the 8” Rikon from LV and the tormek bench grinder accessorie. So any advice that will keep me from wasting my would be greatly appreciated.
    I do all my sharpening and shaping on shapton stones 1k, 5k and 8k and all my blades and chisels are A2.
    What I’m wanting to accomplish is to re-establish my primary bevel or camber with the bench grinder and establish my secondary bevel with my stones.
    So any grinders, wheels or jig advise would be great.

    Thanks Tim

    Tim

    I followed a similar route some time ago, getting a JET wet stone ginder (a Tormek type clone).

    I now find the JET sits unused on the shelf. It's just much easier to use the same honing guide for all operations. If I need a primary grind I'll just do it on some 80 grit paper and then move over to finer stones without have to swap from one honing guide to another.

    Just my two cents worth, your experience might differ.

    Regards

    Jim

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Timothy MacMurtrie View Post
    Hello fellow woodworkers,
    I’m looking to get a good low speed bench grinder set for reshaping chisels, plane irons and turning tools.
    I have a budget of $350 and I’ve been looking at the 8” Rikon from LV and the tormek bench grinder accessorie. So any advice that will keep me from wasting my would be greatly appreciated.
    I do all my sharpening and shaping on shapton stones 1k, 5k and 8k and all my blades and chisels are A2.
    What I’m wanting to accomplish is to re-establish my primary bevel or camber with the bench grinder and establish my secondary bevel with my stones.
    So any grinders, wheels or jig advise would be great.

    Thanks Tim
    I have several of the Rikon bench grinders, the old Woodcraft "no name", a Tormek, and a couple of other grinders. The Rikons are inexpensive but fine. The 1/2 HP is a little underpowered for my tastes - some people mentioned it labored to start up with two heavy steel CBN wheels. The 1 hp is fine. The fit-and-finish of the Rikons are a little rough compared to some and the light on the 1 hp is worthless, but the price is right and those I have spin true.

    Years ago I made an adapter to use the Tormek accessories with one of the bench grinders and it work well. I use it for turning tools.

    tormek_B.jpg

    If you want to try out a wolverine-type sharpening system for almost no money, Josh Boweman and I collaborated on documenting his idea for one made easily from wood - he claims for less than $10: https://www.ptwoodturners.org/Tips%2...20homemade.pdf

    sharpA_system_smaller.jpg sharpE_jig_dim_small.jpg

    If you are interested in going with CBN wheels on a grinder, you might check with Ken Rizza at Woodturners Wonders. He offers package deals (https://woodturnerswonders.com/colle...rikon-grinders) but if you call he can supply any CBN configuration or grit. So far I've bought all my CBN wheels from him, from 80 grit to 1200 grit for the Tormek: (I use the Tormek a lot for turning tools.)

    Tormek_CBN.jpg

    JKJ

  6. #6
    Thanks for all the advise. I will read Mr. Derek’s post again and give Mr. ken a call

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