Grinders - Tell me what I need

[Strokes77]

I don't have a grinder, nor have I ever used one.

I do a lot of plane restorations and blade rehabs.  I'm curious what you guys recommend for a grinder, either new or used.  Also curious what wheels you guys think are useful, either wire wheels or polishing/buffing wheels or whatever.  This is a very broad question because my knowledge is so limited.  Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I'm not considering the Tormek sharpening type stuff... I'm more talking about general shop use, and helping me clean the roughest of the rough planes and blades that come through the shop.  

Things I would like it for:

1. resetting bevel on terrible blades
2. polishing the brass parts
3. removing very stubborn pitting/rust that evaporust or steel whool won't touch.
4. cleaning the crevices inside the plane body, in the corners down by the frog mating surfaces.
5. sharpening my axes/lawn equipment - does this work?
6. other shop uses I haven't considered yet?


Thoughts?

[Bibliophile 13]

To start with, here's a good blog post on the subject by Joel at TFWW.

I currently use an old hardware-store brand 6" grinder with a blue Norton wheel.  It works great.  It had no tool rest when I was given it, so I got the Veritas tool rest, which works great for occasional use.  

When I want to use a wire wheel for cleaning rust off stuff, I have one for my drill press.  There's more clearance around the chuck of a drill press than there is around a wire wheel mounted on a grinder.  

If I weren't using that, I would use a stationary belt sander.  If you don't actually want a hollow grind, the belt sander is just as effective as the wheel and IME less likely to burn an edge and draw the temper.  For bigger blades like axes and hatchets, it's a lot easier to use than a grinder.  Also nice for flattening backs.  If I were going to actually go out and buy powered sharpening equipment, I'd probably get a small stationary belt sander.

[Admiral]

Any 6" or 8" bench grinder will do, nothing magic, invest in a good norton wheel; 8" will less of a concave grind; There are slow speed ones out there, but when grinding irons and chisels, a light touch, patience, and quenching after each pass no matter what speed.  But for brushing and polishing, you just can't beat the HF buffer; here it's $45, but I got mine maybe 5 years ago for $30, it goes on sale for $35, so watch for the sale.  Mine is still working fine and I use it a lot, I have a fine wire wheel on one side and a buffer on the other side, and when and if it ever dies, I'll immediately buy another as it fits my needs.

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-buffer-94393.html

Do yourself a favor and get a good grinding jig for the grinder; I have had the LV for 15 years or so and its simple and works well.  I also like their cheap fine wire wheels, which have a polishing action, but again, a light touch works best with patience.

Jig:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.as...at=1,43072


Wheel:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.as...3415,43439

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

I could not live without grinders. You can start with a good 6". Use white or pink stones for your plane blades. I like the HF buffer idea. I use a Delta slow speed grinder with a scotchbrite wheel but it is just what I had available. I like the HF buffer idea. I also use wire wheels on a hand drill, a dremel, and my drill press. The DP gets most rust removal jobs.

Many people like the Veritas jig. I burned one up and am in the process of burning another up. That dang aluminum just does not last long for me. I use a Wolverine jig on my large grinder and I like that one a lot.

Save your gray wheels for the lawnmower blade. So it looks like you need at least two grinders and a HF buffer. Start hounding the procurement dept.

[Admiral]

Save your gray wheels for the lawnmower blade. 

Actually, I stopped using a grinder for lawnmower blades and use a big old single cut bast**d file instead and I get more life out of the blades. 3 blades for my mower deck takes me 10 minutes, max.

[Strokes77]

You guys are awesome, thanks.

[Slav Jelesijevich]

Look for a grinder with a speed of 1725 rpm', it is much more forgiving, much easier to burn your work with a 3450 rpm grinder. Slow speed grinders don't come up that often. When using a 3450 you have to use a feather touch.

Slav

[iclark]

1. resetting bevel on terrible blades
2. polishing the brass parts
3. removing very stubborn pitting/rust that evaporust or steel whool won't touch.
4. cleaning the crevices inside the plane body, in the corners down by the frog mating surfaces.
5. sharpening my axes/lawn equipment - does this work?
6. other shop uses I haven't considered yet?

First, _always_ wear a faceshield or safety goggles when using a wire brush wheel. As soon as they get a little age on them, they start shedding wires. They come off like little wire darts. Getting one in the eye is very bad.

1) some people like the Worksharp 3000. A stationary belt sander does well, too. An 8" grinder wheel with a good support will get it done, but you would like one that has a blade holder for plane blades (especially when you are first learning)

2) NO! you want to use a liquid brass cleaner to clean and polish brass. If that needs some help, use a toothbrush or a hand brush (like you use to clean your fingernails after working on your car)

3) I'll leave this to others, but will point out that you do not need to grind out every pit.

4) Unless you are trying to strip out all of the japanning, a powered wire brush is a bad idea. A powered steel wire brush will also start taking off the cast iron on the plane body. You are better off with q-tips and dental picks.

5) grinding wheels, stationary belt sander, or a good file will all work. Once the sparks start coming over the top of the blade, you have ground to the edge.

6) you can use the spark pattern from steel on a grinder to tell if something is tool steel or high-speed steel. That is useful for turners who pick up older chisels to know how delicate they need to be about drawing temper. If you get tool steel blue on a grinder, you have drawn its temper and its hardness. Until you re-heat-treat that blade, do not expect it to hold an edge. If you are grinding tool steel, keep water handy, quench often, and use a light touch even when fixing a bevel.

Other thoughts: if you have a 1" strip sander, LV sells belts for them that are the right coarseness for sharpening. Sorby sells a benchtop belt sharpener (pricey) and Shopsmith sells a sharpening conversion kit for their 1" strip sander.

Whichever way you go, practice first on tools that you do not care about. DAMHIKT

[Boatman53]

I put a CBN wheel on my hand grinder and I like it a lot. I had it on my powered grinder first and it is excellent there also. I just need something mobile and hand powers and it is much better than a regular stone on hand grinder.
I got it from Woodturners Wonders. There is a slight crown to the face of the wheel which helps prevent burning the edges.


<img src="http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/boatman53/IMG_2030_zpsedjolkuq.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2030_zpsedjolkuq.jpg"/>

Jim

[Strokes77]

So pickup the cheap buffer from HF for the purpose of polishing/cleaning.

Jim, that fine wire wheel, would I use it on the buffer or the grinder?   

Why would that HF Buffer not be able to spin a norton wheel on one side?

Also need a grinder to shape bevels.  any cheap grinder will do, but get norton wheels, and a Wheel dresser?

Is it possible at all to use my Ridgid oscillating belt sander somehow?  Has anyone made a jig that maybe rides in the miter slot, and holds the blade sideways?

The tool rest for a grinder can work with any machine right?  It's universal?

What attachments do ya'll use for the dremel?  I have a dremel.  Which are useful for getting in those small places?