Just wanted to drop in and ask what kind of grinders are being used by you guys. Looking at a couple different ones but not sure what to look for in a dedicated HSS grinder. Would also like input on grinding wheels. Thanks
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Grinders for HSS
- Thread starter Pevehouse
- Start date
Ok, awesome. I keep seeing LOW SPEED grinders for tool grinding. Is that a thing?
Yes, designed by people with more patience than I... You really don't need a low-speed grinder for HSS. In fact while bigger is nicer and some expensive stones are a bit faster, your run of the mill hardware store 6" bench grinder can work fine. Now if you have a shot at an 8" or 10" at a reasonable price, I wouldn't pass that up. I also use a belt grinder for a lot of roughing, but because mine has a relatively small front wheel (4"?) I finish all my tools on my bench grinder.
GsT
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- Feb 2, 2013
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regular old gray wheel for roughing
white for finishing
white for finishing
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- Sep 24, 2020
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I have a 1x42 sander for this, also for de-burring.
What kind of grinder? Anything works fine really. Belt grinders are great, but my budget and local availability says that might come one day, but as yet... I could have six grinders for the price of one of those, save for Harbor Freight and their kin, which is another "project in a box", except they really don't give you much to work with, you'd be better off making one yourself. My preference is to have a couple of cheapies set up. Used "anything" is fine too of course, but need vs opportunity... Anyhow, the bog standard cost effective ones are almostly 3600 RPM (just under that for slip), where as the next slower RPM is spendy and uncommon. I went with 6 inch wheels. That slows the surface feet on the grinder/tool interface significantly. Not "slow speed", but very, very managable for the HSS we're turning, vs the carbon steel that the woodworkers are using. It's fine for those too, and you've still got to watch careful, but you still get a decent removal speed as well. (Don't expect "fast", as that's relative. We're talking about stuff that by definition is tougher than most metals are. You won't set any speed records.} The second bonus is that the wheels are very reasonably priced. Sure, more money on a larger wheel gets you more wheel to use up, not a bad "value", but the six inch wheels leave less of a comitment when you change your mind if you need something different. We can all tell you what wheel is best, but we won't all agree..... There's every chance you could want to try something that we didn't recommend...
Grinders, plural? Really? Yeah, really. You'll more'n likely want that, now or in the future. You'll REALLY want a coarse and a fine tool grinding wheel, and if you don't yet have a need, you'll find some tool holder or something that needs custom clearance, grinding extra mild steel out of the way on a braised carbide tool. (Don't shop ahead, but one day you'll want one or more for some special job, if not several). And the wire wheel of course, where you'll find useful cleaning up used poorly stored drop metal, old parts in for repair, that sort of thing. That rust is hard on tools.
Wheels? Well, I'm on a budget that says setting something worthy of swinging super abrasives, plus the superabrasive wheels... Yeah, not today, and probably not tomorrow either. So I've settled on this- I've got a couple of Norton aluminum oxide "white wheels" on one grinder, that one does high speed steel. 60 and 100 grit. You can grind "reasonably" fast, you can turn out a tool that can cut well right off the grinder, or you can hand hone a finer finish to get some more durability out of the tool. Options... The other grinder has a crazy agressive "standard" gray aluminum oxide stone on one side (The kind that typically commes on them) and a wire wheel on the other side.
And a third grinder????... (I told ya....) For little to no money, (watch sales), I grabbed a Harbor Freight saw blade sharpener (table saw, skill saw, "round tooth blade" sharpener, took all the guards off of it, and anything else that looked "in the way", and I can hand dress the small collection of braised carbide stuff I've acquired.
And somebody's gonna tell you something totally different. And probably already did, I see the orange banner is up already..... And whatever they said, they're not wrong. In the end, you've got to take in all you can stand, and then do something. When all is said and done, you've got to make the grinder(s) fit your shop, not mine, and not anybody elses' shop.
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Low speed grinders are popular with woodworkers as they are less likely to burn a cutting tool (chisel, plane blade) edge when grinding dings prior to final sharpening by hand.
HSS tool bits need more aggressive grinding to shape the profile and do not typically have thin edges like chisels that could easily be burned (your fingers will tell you when the blank is getting too hot.
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- Sep 1, 2023
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One thing I would add to the above is make room for a scotchbrite wheel (or other brand equivalent).
I've found the one I have (on a cheap Lidl Parkside belt sander/grinding wheel combi; my Norton 60 grit and 120 grit wheels are on my Warco 6" bench grinder) very useful.
I deffo need more bench space for another cheap Parkside fella for a wire wheel.
I've found the one I have (on a cheap Lidl Parkside belt sander/grinding wheel combi; my Norton 60 grit and 120 grit wheels are on my Warco 6" bench grinder) very useful.
I deffo need more bench space for another cheap Parkside fella for a wire wheel.