Tool Room Grinder Wheel Source/options for 6x1x4?

The Turn Wright Machine video is quite old. It may not be as relevant on a newer production grinder. We have to remember that Chinese import tools and machines are often not ready for use as received, but rather assembled for shipment "kits" that look like what we want to end up with. We choose them for the desirable low pricing, and put our own sweat equity into making them perform like we want them to. That is simply reality, not a plug or a put down. Some come ready for use, others need considerable work to meet our personal needs, we roll the dice. It is not really fair to choose by only considering cost and then complain that they are not the equal of an expensive and high quality machine. Also remember that hobby machinists quite often are required to adjust and repair their equipment. We are usually the riggers and the maintenance department as well as the machinist turning the knobs.
 
You know Bob, I did not look at the date on the video.
I agree with you about the Chinese products. We love the prices and I am learning we roll the dice.
I can work with this grinder, it will work out fine. I will do what I can to reduce the runout.
I bet the painted green wheel on the left side will clean up after I dress it. I have a good quality diamond point dressing tool.
Thanks as always.
 
The video from fenner is still relevant. It shows every aspect of balancing the grinder. Very informative just needs to be applied to your design.
When I received mine it was used but in good shape. After watching the inspection of his grinder it showed what challenges were ahead of me. Luckily mine had minimal runout. But one thing that had bothered me was the original owner either took the keys out of the shaft or they didn't put them in originally. I don't see the second option there is a key way in the shaft and a slot in wheel hubs for key way. When I dressed the wheel I did do the OD and the face just so it runs as smooth as possible. I was told you should not grind on the OD of these types of wheels only the face. I'm guilty for a light touch up but no hoggin.
 
Cadillac said:
The video from fenner is still relevant.
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The video Keith put up was well done and gave him a chance to vent his frustrations with getting it working up to his standards. What changes over time and sometimes across different assembly plants is the specific stuff they cheap out on. Old issues sometimes get upgraded, and other new ones appear. The issues Keith found with his grinder may well be different than the issues you find with your grinder. If the spindle ends turn true, without runout, then you will likely be able to fix it up to your satisfaction without too much hassle. If the spindle ends do not run true, do not buy it!
 
We converted a 6-inch Delta VS bench grinder into a "tool room" grinder and here are our experiences making it run smoothly. The grinder itself, without wheels attached, ran smoothly, so we concentrated on the backing plates and wheels alone. Hope this helps.
  1. I purchased the backing plates that fit your grinder from Grizzly (PN 7762005). I found them to be flat, but poorly machined on the back side. I turned them, but still had to balance them due to voids in the castings.
  2. For carbide, I bought this CGW green silicone carbide grinding wheel off Amazon. It was shipped by Travers, but the Amazon price was cheaper than the Travers website price. I dressed the wheel, but still had to balance it. It's a good quality wheel.
  3. For HSS I bought this CGW AOx grinding wheel off Ebay. I dressed it, but it was still wildly out of balance, so I had to remove a whole lot of metal from the mounting plate to get it into balance. It's a CGW wheel, but of surprisingly poor quality. It now works OK.
  4. I took a chance and bought this diamond cup wheel (from China) off Ebay for less than $20.00. What a surprise. It works great as the final sharpening step for carbide. Only thing I had to do was balance it by removing material from the adapter.
In the end, the grinder runs relatively smoothly. Doesn't meet the "standing nickel on the housing" test, but is a lot smoother than Keith's. Here are photos of the grinder with the diamond wheel mounted and a brazed carbide bit that we ground and sharpened using the green wheel, followed by the diamond wheel.

Grinder with Diamond Wheel.jpg

Sharpened Brazed Bit.jpg
 
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Great information. Nice custom job.
Interesting about Traver's price and Amazon.
How did you "balance" the parts?
 
Janderso said:
Great information. Nice custom job.
Interesting about Traver's price and Amazon.
How did you "balance" the parts?
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Thanks, Jeff.

First I balanced the backing plates then balanced the wheels.

My balancing set-up was pretty crude. I secured two pieces of drill rod -- in parallel and a couple of inches apart -- on the surface of the mill table, extending them several inches over the edge. Then I put a tight-fitting arbor into the backing plate (with wheel mounted). The table is precision-leveled, so I placed the wheel arbor onto the extended rods (perpendicularly) and found the heavy point. Then I double-stick taped weights to the opposite (light) point to balance.

Then I weighed the added weights and from that, calculated how many 1/4" holes I needed to drill into the wheel mounting plate -- at the heavy point -- to equal the added weights. Then I repeated the process until the wheel balanced.

You can see in the photo just a few of the holes I had to drill into the AOx wheel plate.
AOx Wheel.jpg

Bill
 
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So the grinding wheel is in between the two rods? If so, I have the picture in my head.
I'm picturing you trying to capture the chips to weigh. No, I guess there are more ways to skin a cat.
 
Janderso said:
So the grinding wheel is in between the two rods? If so, I have the picture in my head.
I'm picturing you trying to capture the chips to weigh. No, I guess there are more ways to skin a cat.
Click to expand...

Exactly right. The guy in this short video is balancing a Type50 wheel using the same approach as I described, but using a different set up. He also uses trial and error to find out how much metal to drill out of the mounting plate, rather that weighing the balancing counterweights.
 
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