Tool sharpening

Here's a picture, albeit a poor picture, of the tool grinder (on the right) I bought from HF. The wheels are junk but they will grind a lawnmower blade, and I had to square up the tables on the mill but once that is done I really cannot see a downside considering it was considerably less than a Baldor. Will it last as long? Most definetely not, but I simply could not justify the cost of a Baldor, new or used!

grinders on roll about stand.JPG
 
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Anyone have an HF 20% cupon I can borrow? My local HF has the grinder shown above on clearance for $159.00, and only one left (still in the box) besides the display model. Downloadable/printable would be preferred.
If these grinders are on clearance, they're probably going away...

Chuck
 
Hoodlum,

Unless you sharpen a lot of carbide tooling, tool grinders are an unnecessary expense. All you need is a simple pedestal grinder (mine is a 6" Craftsman). For the occasional brazed carbide bit, just make one of the wheels a green silicon carbide wheel. Belt sanders tend to round the cutting edge a bit and won't provide as sharp a tool as a hard grinding wheel.

Tom
 
As toolmaker for Colonial Williamsburg,I was on a museum budget,and bought a HF grinder for the shop. It was,at the time,one of the FEW reversible grinders out there. I think ENCO's is reversible now. Probably exactly the same unit as HF sells. Be sure your grinder is reversible,or you will find it awkward to get some of the angles you'll need on lathe tools.

The HF was fine,and never blew out,though you never can tell with chinese stuff as quality control is spotty. I put diamond wheels on it. I also have a Bridgewood unit I bought in 1986. It is at least TAIWAN made. Still works fine. The green wheels are so soft I don't care for them,though they are for carbide.

Blue zirconia belts work fine on a belt grinder for HSS. I have a Wilton Square Wheel belt grinder. Mine runs about 4000 sfpm. You want to try to get a speed close to that for effective metal grinding. I do have a variable speed motor on it for more delicate types of work,though.
 
joe_m said:
But what type of wheel does it take? If I'm understanding the photo it doesn't come with any wheel?
Click to expand...

It comes with two green 80 grit 6" x 4" x 1" straight cup wheels. I bought a diamond 150 grit from Shars for $48 and a white Aluminum Oxide 40 grit for $31 from Enco.

M
 
chucketn said:
Anyone have an HF 20% cupon I can borrow? My local HF has the grinder shown above on clearance for $159.00, and only one left (still in the box) besides the display model. Downloadable/printable would be preferred.
If these grinders are on clearance, they're probably going away...

Chuck
Click to expand...

Sign up for the HF mailing list or purchase virtually any car magazine, where they're printed every month.

There's no risk of the grinder being discontinued. The have been selling then for a long time and they go on and off sale regularly.

You'll need to tidy up the table castings and mountings and true the backing plates, but that's about it.

Mine was $130 out the door with the 20% off.

M
 
chucketn said:
Anyone have an HF 20% cupon I can borrow? My local HF has the grinder shown above on clearance for $159.00, and only one left (still in the box) besides the display model. Downloadable/printable would be preferred.
If these grinders are on clearance, they're probably going away...

Chuck
Click to expand...
Chuck, You can also find printable coupons by Googling "Harbor Freight Coupons".

Joe
 
PurpLev said:
many people use a belt sander to grind HSS (not carbide though). works pretty well. and you don't get the hollowing that a wheel will give you.
Click to expand...

That's the advantage that the Baldor / HF style grinder gives you, as you can grind on the side of the wheel, which is flat.
 
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