Which Bench Grinder?

[Timberwolf]

According to Joel's Tools for Working Wood, Baldor has discontinued 6" grinders.
Bill

..................
I have three six inch Baldors..one sitting on the floor of the shop...all flea market finds...two are pretty old but they will coast for a couple minutes even now when you turn them off......They use precision bearings...Paid $25 bucks for one......less than $50 for the newest one. Heavy grinders

[msweig]

"According to Joel's Tools for Working Wood, Baldor has discontinued 6" grinders.
Bill"

Yes, the discontinuing is why I have one. Grabbed it when they announced that.

Other companies make grinders. And there are other ways to sharpen. I just figured that I would mention the 6" vs. 8" wheel difference because I have experience with both. I haven't played around with any of the other powered options. Found one that worked and stopped there (can't say I did that with the rest of the sharpening process though, as I've done diamond, water stones, and sandpaper. Ugh).

[Hank Knight]

Bill, if money is no object, this looks like the cream of the grinder crop these days. I'd love to have one.

https://tradesmangrinder.com/product/tra...odturners/

[Bill Lyman]

Wow. Thank you all. I will scout garage sales, Craig's list and eBay for a Baldor or Tradesman.

[bandit571]

maybe one like Underhill uses?
 

   
Clamps about anywhere...
 

   
Not much of "rest", though..
 

   
Mine is about due for an oil change....

[Carl Grover]

For bevel shaping I use the old hand crank thing pictured above with a Lee Valley adjustable tool rest and a soft stone. It works pretty good. However; I also have a cheapie Craftsman 6" grinder that will do the same thing. It is gutless so I can press a little too hard and nearly stop it. That's not a bad thing as it keeps you from overheating the work. There are many ways to grind a blade/chisel. Poke around some and find something that blows your skirt up.

Here's the thing though: Once I get the bevel ground and hone my tool, I don't usually need to go back to regrind that bevel. Rehone often. My estimate is that the typical garden variety high speed steel plane blade will go about 15 minutes working before that blade needs a quick hone. Pop it out, hit it a few licks and go back to work. This way you don't have to work back up through the grits/stones to get to sharp.


carl

[Bibliophile 13]

So as I understand your post, you want something that can reestablish the primary bevel. Then yes, you want a grinder. I was in your situation a few years ago and finally inherited an old Montgomery Ward grinder. Now I wouldn’t be without it.

Practically any off-the-shelf grinder will do fine, as long as it spins without wobbling. But throw out the gray wheel it comes with and get a blue or white Norton wheel in the coarsest grit. Also get a diamond wheel dressing tool. You may also want to upgrade the tool rest. I have the Veritas, which is kind of overkill for what I do, but the little jig really helped me get the feel for using the grinder.

[Bill Lyman]

So as I understand your post, you want something that can reestablish the primary bevel. Then yes, you want a grinder. I was in your situation a few years ago and finally inherited an old Montgomery Ward grinder. Now I wouldn’t be without it.

Practically any off-the-shelf grinder will do fine, as long as it spins without wobbling. But throw out the gray wheel it comes with and get a blue or white Norton wheel in the coarsest grit. Also get a diamond wheel dressing tool. You may also want to upgrade the tool rest. I have the Veritas, which is kind of overkill for what I do, but the little jig really helped me get the feel for using the grinder.

Yep. According to yours and other posts, I should expand my search to other grinders.

[Derek Cohen]

Bill, whatever grinder you get, make sure you end up with a 180 grit CBN wheel. Flat, not crowned.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[adamcherubini]

I am trying to upgrade my plane and chisel sharpening from the scary sharp system which takes hours to return to the base bevel of plane blades even with a 250 stone. Do you recomend a dry grinder or something like the Tormek. If a dry grinder which one. They all seem to suffer negative ratings on Amazon. 
Thank you in advance. 
Bill

Bill, quickly, I recommend a XX coarse diamond plate.  I started carrying one with me to ww shows in case I wrecked an edge (I used to do real work, not demo work in ww shows. I thought it was important for people to see real 18th c work up close). I called it my grinder because I felt it did basically the same job. Good to also have the X Coarse as well. Needed it a couple times.

At home I had a 8" woodcraft grinder.  The trick with these things is to get good wheels, true them carefully, and keep them clean. But even with that, guys will ruin tools with them. You really have to use a light touch and be patient.  That's when the jigs come in because guys lack the patience and steadiness.  So I guess my point is, like all tools, grinders have learning curves.  I don't think one can solve this problem with a tool purchase alone.

A stationary belt sander is another reasonable alternative to a grinder.

If you need to remove a lot of metal, a xx coarse diamond has the advantage of its nearly impossible (or impossible) to generate enough heat to destroy a temper and it does a pretty quick job. Everything else has the potential to destroy a blade (except maybe a tormek, which I would all an electric honing tool, and not really a grinder).

Just in case someone doesn't know this: the oxide colors that form when a tool is overheated on a grinder reflect a change (loss) of temper in that region. Edges have to be ground back beyond the discolored edge to restore the properties of that tool.  Polishing off the color doesn't fix the problem.  What many ww'rs don't know is that the damage to the temper extends beyond the discolored area, possibly by as much as 1/16".

Blued edges are bad, so use your grinder carefully.