Autobalancing grinding wheel arbors

[Mill Lee farm]

I had some of these but on a larger scale. I had some on my jeep wheel hubs to balance out the large 37" bias ply tires I had on it. I can't remember who sold them. This was back in 2001 or so.

Yes! The old school Landcruiser trick is to throw 3-5 golf balls inside your Swamper tires when mounting.
Very cool when you come to a stop and the balls all start bouncing around inside the tires/rims!

Big rig/semi use product thats granular and works on the same principle.

IMI Products Equal

 

[chip maker]

Just a few questions, what are the dimensions of the hubs, what size balls did you end up using and how many did you use in the hubs? This looks like a great way to solve the problem for sure. Another thing I did notice is the screwdriver slots in the shafts to hold them well you tighten the nuts did you do that or is your grinder made that way? I never seen your first postings so maybe the answers were in those. Thanks

 

[pontiac428]

I bet for heavier wheels, you could make a dynamic hub with two concentric trepan ball grooves for even more balance weight capacity.

 

[Just for fun]

Looks like a good idea but with my cheap grinder I think the shaft is too short for anything like that. But something to look into for sure.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

Just a few questions, what are the dimensions of the hubs, what size balls did you end up using and how many did you use in the hubs? This looks like a great way to solve the problem for sure. Another thing I did notice is the screwdriver slots in the shafts to hold them well you tighten the nuts did you do that or is your grinder made that way? I never seen your first postings so maybe the answers were in those. Thanks

sorry about the delay, crazy week. Here are some pics

I'm pretty sure the balls in the grinding wheel hub are 1/8" and the ones in the wire wheel are 3/16 or maybe the next size smaller. For fill, I think between a 1/3 and 2/5 of the groove.

Pontiac - yes you could do that, but you'd be better off making a larger groove and using larger balls. The further out the mass, the greater effect it has. There is a limit though.

 

[mozz]

Very interesting, I might give this a go on my 10" grinder, the wire wheel is way out of balance and I have tried a few different things but this this might just be crazy enough to work. I am guessing around 6mm balls were used by the looks? Cheers

 

[mattthemuppet2]

They were spare balls from bike hubs, so I’d guess 3/16”

 

[homebrewed]

For balancing bigger wheels (or to address a serious balance problem), tungsten carbide balls might work. The density of WC is about twice that of steel. But you will pay a premium for them. I found a 10-pack of 3/8" balls on ebay selling for the low, low price of $102. They do get cheaper as they get smaller. 50 1/16" carbide balls cost $14.95.

 

[homebrewed]

FWIW pure tungsten is even denser. I found some 2mm tungten balls, 10 for less than $15.

Lead shot is a possible in-between alternative. It's about half-again as heavy as steel.

 

[mozz]

Well I made it and it works great! Hard to believe it smooths out 95% of the vibes. I used 65mm diameter stock & 1/4" balls. I made it so the cover plate screws on with 4 mm cap heads just in case it comes off and I lose all my bearings!!

Thanks to all for the info.