Is there any interest in fixturing and lathe modifications?
Several years ago, I bought a slow speed bench grinder with 8 inch wheels for sharpening my woodturning tools. Recently, I noticed that I could not sharpen my bowl gouges properly, even after dressing the wheels: the gouge bounced on the surface of the wheel, and I could not get a smooth cut on my bowls. When I removed the wheels, I noticed that the hubs were simply epoxy that has crumbled partially, permitting the wheels to move off-center on the axle.
Could I rebuild the hubs? Sure. But how? I wanted the mounting holes to be centered on the circumference and square with the sides of the wheels. I decided to make aluminum bushings to epoxy into the wheels and to mount the wheels on a faceplate to bore the center holes.
I used my Dremel tool with sanding drum to remove most of the epoxy from the wheels. I turned two aluminum bushings, about .850" diameter with 1/2" hole, that fit loosely in the wheels. I used Devcon epoxy to hold the bushings in the rough center holes.
I made the faceplate from a scrap of baltic birch plywood, screwed and glued onto a mesquite tenon clamped in my Nova chuck. I turned a pocket into the faceplate to center the perimeter of the wheel. I clamped the wheel to the faceplate with an assortment of T-nuts, flat head screws, fender washers, and #8 wood screws. I bored the aluminum hubs to fit the axles on the grinder.
The accompanying photos show the construction of the faceplate, the pocket turned on the faceplate, the wheel mounted to the faceplate, and an early bowl. The mounting hole is off-center in the bushing but centered in the wheel, square to the sides of the wheel.
The wheels grind much better now.