Bench grinder wobble

[DamicoTileCo]

I bought a Porter Cable 8" bench grinder. The wheels are so outta whack. The course one the most.
The flanges are the stamped type and must be just as outta whack. Does someone sell machined flanges and what brand of wheels are the best?
Porter Cable used to be a good brand. Doesn't anyone in this country put quality before profit anymore?
I really need help on this on guy's.
Guy

 

[ridgeway]

Hold a a quality wheel dresser on the wheel till it runs true.

 

[Dave Smith]

if this is a new grinder I would return it for replacement--if not new--I would check each shaft to see if they are not true and bent--if they are ok then you may need to carefully dress the sides of wheels slightly so the stone runs smoothe-----I would use a good diamond dresser----if you have a lathe you could make your own flanges---Dave

 

[Ray C]

This seems to be a very common problem these days. It seems darn near impossible to get a quality wheel where the hole is actually in the center and drilled at 90 degrees to the side surface. -Sad state of affairs! I went through many bench grinder wheels that were just like yours and I had to return/replace them until finding ones that worked.

Like others suggested, make sure the shaft is running true and try to get that cheap metal backing plate to align square.

If you do use a surfacing wheel, diamond point or carburedum stone, wear safety goggles or preferably a full face shield. It's nothing to play games with. You can lose your eyes with a wheel blow-out.


Ray

 

[d.brown]

Doesn't anyone in this country put quality before profit anymore?

You can either have price or quality.....you can't have both. I'd return the PC & buy a Baldor.

David

 

[DamicoTileCo]

I bought this Porter Cable about a year ago and it just started blowing fuses. I returned it yesterday and got a new one.
It wobbled out of the box. Bought a new wheel, same thing. I am sure it's the flanges.
What gets me is that a machine like a bench grinder which should be balanced and true are being sold to the public in a completely and potentially dangerous fashion.

Has anyone made a set of flanges on a lathe and cured the problem?

 

[Ray C]

Yes, I made flanges and it helps keep the wheel from wobbling sideways. The flange must be a VERY close fit to the shaft. Even still the wheels are out-of-round and way off balance and need truing to get them under control.


Ray

I bought this Porter Cable about a year ago and it just started blowing fuses. I returned it yesterday and got a new one.
It wobbled out of the box. Bought a new wheel, same thing. I am sure it's the flanges.
What gets me is that a machine like a bench grinder which should be balanced and true are being sold to the public in a completely and potentially dangerous fashion.

Has anyone made a set of flanges on a lathe and cured the problem?

 

[xalky]

I bought this Porter Cable about a year ago and it just started blowing fuses. I returned it yesterday and got a new one.
It wobbled out of the box. Bought a new wheel, same thing. I am sure it's the flanges.
What gets me is that a machine like a bench grinder which should be balanced and true are being sold to the public in a completely and potentially dangerous fashion.

Has anyone made a set of flanges on a lathe and cured the problem?

Yes, I've made flanges too. Fit them as tight to the shaft as you can and make them as thick as you can, so the shaft and flange can stay true to each other. I have concaved them on the wheel side to make sure the outside edge of the flange is pushing against the wheel. one flange on each side of the wheel, Thye work really good this way. Then it should be a simple matter of dressing the OD of the grinding wheel. I wheel dressing stick is all you need to dress a bench grinder wheel.

 

[Phonnold]

Hey all,

Check out the following video on Youtube by Keith Fenner. This is part one of three. He bought a cheap grinder that had the same issues it seems your grinder has. He then went through it and "fixed" it so that it runs true and the wobble was within a thou or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xRy8wGfcIk


Didn't seem like a lot of work, but still a shame that it needs done on a new machine. Maybe it will be useful to you.

Philip

 

[llarson]

Especially with the crummy flanges coming out nowdays, another thing to look at is to make sure the end face of the attaching nuts run true so it pushes evenly on the flange. Turn the nut around backwards on the shaft and ck. with an indicator.