Bench Grinder

[Tapper]

I'm in the market for a new bench grinder. Will be grinding metal lathe tools and other miscellaneous items relating to metalworking. Anyone bought one lately that they like?

Doug

[museumguy]

Craigslist? I have an older Craftsman, liked it

[Snipe Hunter]

Here's a nice place to shop grinders.

[Tapper]

Thanks Neil. I've done some initial research and have a few in mind. There are lots of options to choose from. I'm looking for a recommendation from someone who has bought a grinder lately and likes it. An adjustable tool rest that tilts in two planes easily is pretty important. I've found in a short time that it can be a real help when grinding lathe tools.

Doug

[Snipe Hunter]

Get an 8" if budget allows. I don't know about lathe tools but 8" makes sharpening drill bits much easier and faster. Getcherself a nice wide Dayton cutter dresser too. The wider ones are easier to use and make short work of dressing.

[iclark]

I have several slow-speed and 2-speed 8" grinders. I passed one of them along to the niece in Bradenton and I am keeping another one to pass along to the niece in Orlando when she gets a shop.

My current grinder is a Rikon 8" 1hp grinder from Woodturning Wonders with a pair of their CBN wheels and a Oneway Wolverine system that I got from SnS here. I have been very happy with it (other than I may experiment with some different grit CBN wheels when I can find where I stored them). I really like their 4-in-1 and their 4-in-1-plus wheels. Both are very forgiving when doing different grinds on bowl and spindle gouges and are nice when doing wide scrapers or skews (especially when doing the Lacer or Raffin grind on the skew).

I would have gotten a RoboRest with the Wolverine mount but they went off the market before I had the money for one. I do hope that the people who bought the rights from RoboHippy put them back into production again.

[Tapper]

Any machine shop/metalworkers on this board?

Doug

[ajkoontz]

The 8" Rikon, 1Hp, slow-speed grinder gets pretty consistent high reviews on-line and not a lot of bad press about it out there, so that's what I bought when I was in the market. That said, I haven't got it out of the box yet so maybe I didn't need one as bad as I thought. Anywho, it's 15% off at Woodcraft right now, so there you go.

[Tim in Indiana]

Yes, I've been a metal worker for many years. If you want the right tool to grind tool bits buy a Baldor tool grinder or one of the import clones. 

The tables are solid and adjustable, you can have a green wheel on one side and a white wheel on the other. Or you can have a CBN and a Diamond wheel if you choose.

[Poppa Cap]

Got a lot of cash?            Baldor is the answer.

Baldor page