Shop Made Diamond Tool Sharpener

[Ulma Doctor]

I have been contemplating making a diamond tool sharpener to hone carbide lathe bits and carbide scraper blades.
I would like a Glendo or an Accu-finish sharpening system,
but wouldn't use it enough to justify it's expense.
Even on the used market they are several hundred bucks if you are lucky enough to find a used one.
i have been loosely doodling with the idea for a while now
Well, today i did something about it!


i had a 115 Vac, 300 rpm gearmotor that was salvaged years ago from a conveyor system.
i also had a spare footswitch that i bought form ebay a couple years ago very cheap.

this link's for a person interested in adding a decent footswitch that isn't a pocket killer:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEMCo-Heavy...259?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d3b00b3a3

A month ago, i got a diamond wheel from ebay,
(http://www.ebay.com/itm/75-Concentration-600-Grit-Resin-Bond-Bowl-Shape-Diamond-Coated-Grinding-Wheel/391104426627?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=29005&meid=881f1b00eb194373b35184cd97685bec&pid=100011&rk=1&rkt=4&sd=321175099678)
and contemplated how to put it to work.
an angle grinder spins way too fast for honing carbide, so that was out.

after a few beers yesterday,
(not drunk while working in the shop BTW )
i started thinking about the plan to integrate a footswitch, power unit, diamond wheel & shop made hub, and an adjustable- pivoting table for setting different angles.

i came up with a simple design
(plagiarized shamelessly from other machine tools i have seen-i may add),
that will use a bunch of reclaimed parts.



In the picture above,
i turned a stepped mounting hub for the 4" (100mm) cup type grinder wheel and an end cap from 1.5" delrin
i drilled and tapped the gearmotors shaft for a #10-32 the end of the shaft and turned a stepped cap to retain the grinding wheel and added a set screw to hold the hub to the driveshaft.


heres a top view.
Lucky for me the pre-made mounting bracket will serve as the mount to it's platform, no fuss on my part!

The power unit has been assembled and tested on a few pieces.
there is very little discernable runout upon testing , which will result in a nice degree of accuracy!

coming in part 2: the adjustable table assembly's construction!
thanks for reading!

 

[JimDawson]

Looks like a cool project, and relatively inexpensive to boot!!

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Thanks Jim!
i'm trying to see how inexpensively i can pull this one off ,
to show that with a little imagination,
a little time, and a few select materials,
a will, and belief that things can be done simply-effectively ,and inexpensively .
i hope the thread inspires others to pull the same kind of things (and much better) from their imagination!

 

[brino]

Hey Ulma,

That's a great creed to live and design by.
I will be following your journey.

Thanks for sharing.
-brino

 

[ARKnack]

Looks like an interesting project. I hope you can finish your projects must faster the I.

 

[chips&more]

Excellent reuse of random parts! You must have some Yankee Ingenuity in your blood. I don't see any flaking on it?

 

[Wes]

Very impresive! I like that sort of effective, yet not expensive add ins to home workshop.
Thanks for posting. Appreciate it and will follow with the bits I have in my junk to get similar results.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Excellent reuse of random parts! You must have some Yankee Ingenuity in your blood. I don't see any flaking on it?

Thanks Chips,
my dad's dad, was the consummate tinkerer.
his workshop, modest tools & tooling and early teachings molded my future in no small way.
i believe he'd be proud of what he started!

LOL, just because you don't see any flaking yet,
that doesn't mean there won't be any flaking on it when it's done....

thanks everyone for reading and responding,
questions and comments are always welcomed!

 

[randyc]

I have been contemplating making a diamond tool sharpener to hone carbide lathe bits and carbide scraper blades......

Good job, looks very practical !

You may have just shamed me into completing the same project. I've had the wheel and the motor laying on a work bench for at least six months. I even made a CAD sketch of the design however I somehow lost the sketch on this laptop, which gave me a great excuse for dragging my feet

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Hey Ulma,

That's a great creed to live and design by.
I will be following your journey.

Thanks for sharing.
-brino

Thank you brino, i hope you get something form the ramblings!

Looks like an interesting project. I hope you can finish your projects must faster the I.

Thank you ARKnack, i got an itch that is beggin' to be scratched!

Very impresive! I like that sort of effective, yet not expensive add ins to home workshop.
Thanks for posting. Appreciate it and will follow with the bits I have in my junk to get similar results.

You are very kind Wes, i'll try an insert a video of the working model upon completion.
thanks for reading!!