Hobby shop cnc tool grinder brainstorming

[greenail]

I slapped this together today. Seems like it will work decently as is and I have some linear rails I could use to make it better. I'm worried about the dust. Any advice on what sort of linear motion would be best here that could be protected from dust? I doubt it will see much use, but when I need it it will be nice to have.

I also plan to mount a 4" wheel + spindle + 3k rpm motor to what ever I end up using for a more permanent Z. This will let me swap that in our out for the rotary tool.

Advice?

 

[f350ca]

I built a grinder for sharpening thickness planer blades. Have the carriage sliding on linear bearings with a 1 inch hardened shaft. To keep the bearings clean I feed air at 2 or 3 psi into the cavity between the bearings, this continuously flushes the bearings keeping the dust out. Has been working for a couple of years.
Must have added the air line after this photo, basically feeds into the middle of the bearing housing.

Greg

 

[Dabbler]

very nice work - smart and effective!

 

[greenail]

Here are the results from feeding it with a stepper and having it on linear rails. The eccentric ground in the middle is about 2.5mm. Material is 5mm HSS.

This had about 3" of stickout and nothing supporting the end. I'd guess the surface finish would be much better nearer the chuck. It wasn't fast though and I think i'd want to make an arbor to hold a 3" cutoff wheel assuming the rotary tool's 1/8HP can keep up.