# Single Lip Cutter Grinder



## Moderatemixed (Mar 12, 2019)

Good afternoon all..... Last summer I picked up an Alexander Single Lip/D Bit Cutter Grinder. It is the “Made in England” version of the famous Deckel. It has been sitting on my bench, unused since the day I brought it home and cleaned it up. I am trying to decide wether to get rid of it or keep and use it. I just watched a YouTube video that Stefan Gotteswinter made showing uses for it and I am leaning toward keeping it. That said, as a hobby guy, with very little and precious shop space, is this tool worth the “realestate”? I just received a rotary broach kit from Hemingway and apparently this grinder will sharpen the broaches, and will sharpen my end mills. Thoughts, suggestions, and comments welcomed. I only have $400 Canadian invested. I have it pictured below, the 3/4 hp motor is removed simply for space and mobility reasons. If I keep it I am contemplating replacing the AC motor with a DC motor. It was suggested to me that the DC motor will run smoother with less vibration. Any thought on the validity of that statement? Thanks as always. Derek. 
	

		
			
		

		
	







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## macardoso (Mar 12, 2019)

Unless you need variable speed I would suggest keeping the AC motor, even if just to have the original components all there. Nice little machine!


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## darkzero (Mar 12, 2019)

Nice score! I'd love to have that, especially for the price you paid!


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## benmychree (Mar 12, 2019)

Looking at the pictures I cannot tell if the workhead is adjustable in the vertical plane to provide clearance for an end mill; a lot of machines like this do not, making them unusable for end mill sharpening, most are only for sharpening conical engraving points only, using eccentric relief.


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## Moderatemixed (Mar 12, 2019)

It will do end mills. 


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## benmychree (Mar 12, 2019)

I have two Gorton grinders, one will, the other will not.


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## Holescreek (Mar 12, 2019)

What a great deal! I drove several hours and paid considerably more than that for an old Deckel.   I keep a diamond wheel on mine and use it for making 1/8" carbide cutters and sharpening boring bars etc.


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## Moderatemixed (Mar 12, 2019)

I respect that. I checked. Followed Stefan’s lead and instructions and my smaller diameter (and short) milling cutters will fit.... the others might as well, I just need to play with it more and I only have 5 of the collets for it. 


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## Moderatemixed (Mar 12, 2019)

Holescreek said:


> What a great deal! I drove several hours and paid considerably more than that for an old Deckel. I keep a diamond wheel on mine and use it for making 1/8" carbide cutters and sharpening boring bars etc.



I was looking at putting the diamond wheel onto it. Or a CBT wheel. Do you use yours often enough to keep it?


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## Holescreek (Mar 12, 2019)

I bought mine for a specific job that I don't do very often anymore, but when the time comes, I have the capability.  Jump to about 2:20 here:





I have often thought about mounting a stone wheel on it but the diamond wheels are what I am used to.  I started using Deckel SO grinders back in the early 80's when I ran two jig grinders for a company,   jig milling contours on the dies that stamped out aluminum can lids. I had to make my own cutters out of 1/8" carbide blanks.

"Do you use yours often enough to keep it? "

If I was in your situation where space was a concern and wasn't really sure what I needed it for, I think I'd sell it for a tidy profit and put the money into something I was sure I needed and was more comfortable with.  The guy buying it will probably find it useful for his specific purpose and you'll have doubled your money or better.

If you do decide to keep it make sure you install proper dust collection. A diamond wheel turns carbide into a very fine dust and it gets everywhere.


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## pontiac428 (Mar 12, 2019)

Nice cutter grinder.  If you want to sell it, you will get your $400 for it readily.  I use mine for end mills, taps, reamers, drill bits, lathe bits, counter sinks... Some angles need to be cut with a flared wheel like Stefan Gotteswinter points out... (speaking of whom, his great video on the Deckel clone leaves very little not covered).  I have a few attachments to make grinding some of the common tools a little more practical.  So while folks say they were designed for only sharpening rotary single flute bits, that is true, but it is not at all they are limited to.  Thinking outside the box will give you more utility with it (use all 3 lips on your wheel to reach different angles, for example, or switch to a thin disk for flutes).  I use the machine once for every two hours of machine work on average (not from breaking tools, but reaching for a dull cutter mid-process) so I'm keeping mine.  Before I got it, the dull bits were piling up.  Now I'll buy lots of cutters and bits on eBay not caring if they're dull or sharp, because I can actually do something about it!


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## C-Bag (Mar 12, 2019)

pontiac428 said:


> Nice cutter grinder.  If you want to sell it, you will get your $400 for it readily.  I use mine for end mills, taps, reamers, drill bits, lathe bits, counter sinks... Some angles need to be cut with a flared wheel like Stefan Gotteswinter points out... (speaking of whom, his great video on the Deckel clone leaves very little not covered).  I have a few attachments to make grinding some of the common tools a little more practical.  So while folks say they were designed for only sharpening rotary single flute bits, that is true, but it is not at all they are limited to.  Thinking outside the box will give you more utility with it (use all 3 lips on your wheel to reach different angles, for example, or switch to a thin disk for flutes).  I use the machine once for every two hours of machine work on average (not from breaking tools, but reaching for a dull cutter mid-process) so I'm keeping mine.  Before I got it, the dull bits were piling up.  Now I'll buy lots of cutters and bits on eBay not caring if they're dull or sharp, because I can actually do something about it!



I totally agree with pontiac428. It isn't something I use everyday but when I do it's worth it. Mine is a clone that uses R8 collets as that's what my mill uses and it took some digging but found one on eBay.I think all in I have $700 with the different attachments. I originally found a used one for $400 but it used the Deckel style collets that only went to 12mm ( needed to be able to chuck up 3/4")and the guy that was selling it told me it wouldn't do end mills. I decided the main drawback was the collets after watching several YouTube. Stephan said you can't do end mill flutes in his vid but i have the attachment for flutes and I needed to mod an old endmill so gave it a try. It was tricky like everything the first time, but the endmill works great. It was an oversize and I needed 5/16" so I was able to cut the flutes down in the process of sharpening. I got a pile of dull and worn out endmills with my mill and have been able to fix them (great practice!)and in several instances make custom grinds for specific jobs. I've not tried the drill bit sharpener yet.


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## Moderatemixed (Mar 12, 2019)

Pontiac428 and C-Bag, thank you. Actually, thanks to you all. I will keep it and learn how to use it. Perhaps I will look at customizing the collets, maybe look at some different applications. I picked up a Harig Cutter Grinder Fixture that I can use on my surface grinder for anything that this Alexander won’t do..... once I sort out how to use it. Time to slow down on buying stuff I think. Best regards, to you all.


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## ddickey (Mar 12, 2019)

I was almost ready to pull the trigger on a Deckel clone like the one in the video but i heard or read they do not sharpen drills or end mills very well. That was the main reason for me to get one.


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## pontiac428 (Mar 12, 2019)

ddickey said:


> I was almost ready to pull the trigger on a Deckel clone like the one in the video but i heard or read they do not sharpen drills or end mills very well. That was the main reason for me to get one.


There is truth to that. You need a linear shaft work head to do flutes, but those are common. You lose the ability to plunge aggressively with end mills because this system can't grind the back cut for chip clearance all the way to center. Other grinders can. So that is a compromise I have to live with. As a hobbyist, it gives me some great capabilities, making the end mill trade-off a triviality. 

(from mobile)


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## Moderatemixed (Mar 12, 2019)

pontiac428 said:


> There is truth to that. You need a linear shaft work head to do flutes, but those are common. You lose the ability to plunge aggressively with end mills because this system can't grind the back cut for chip clearance all the way to center. Other grinders can. So that is a compromise I have to live with. As a hobbyist, it gives me some great capabilities, making the end mill trade-off a triviality.
> 
> (from mobile)



I am willing to sacrifice the ability to plunge cut. In most cases I have cutters in multiples. What I might do is keep one for plunge cuts and the remainder for facing. I can always send out my “plunge capable” cutters to be sharpened or just buy new. However, being able to sharpen the remaining cutters, and in effect lengthening their usable life in my “hobby” shop, the machine will pay for itself, probably sooner than I think. 


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## C-Bag (Mar 13, 2019)

Like so much of machining the ability to adapt something that wasn't necessarily meant for the job but is very close is key. It took some thought after getting mine and getting actual grind spec angles before I was more comfortable with the concepts. My main problem was getting enough clearance between the head and the grinder as I was mostly grinding 1/2" and larger endmills. I was trying to use the 1/2" collet that came with the machine and noticed it was broached shorter(shallower?) than my old set of Enco collets that came with my mill/drill. To be able to use these deeper broached collets made clearance much easier. There is a ton of other adjustments on the head to be able to slide it back further (y axis of the head) plus an X axis adjustment. I really had to learn to think in all directions as they are all interdependent.

Mine also suffers from the usual lack of attention as my flute grinding attachment is very sloppy and this adds to the already tricky nature of grinding flutes. It is far from perfect and if I was actually trained on a real tool and cutter grinder I'd probably not be so happy with mine. But I so appreciate being able to finish a weekend project and not have to wait on ordering a cutter.


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## ddickey (Oct 31, 2019)

Just an FYI. Grizzly stopped selling their Deckel clone, Taiwan made.


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## Dabbler (Oct 31, 2019)

Nice piece of kit for 400$  - you will love it!


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## C-Bag (Nov 1, 2019)

ddickey said:


> Just an FYI. Grizzly stopped selling their Deckel clone, Taiwan made.


The Grizzly one I'll not miss. They wanted $1500 and it used the little Deckel collets and no attachments. The Shars unit is the one IMHO. And it's still under $1,000 with ll the attachments.


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## ddickey (Nov 1, 2019)

Did the higher quality justify the price difference? IDK.


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