Well, I got me a carbide tool grinder finally!

[Finster]

That looks like a fine score, and it also looks like there are plenty of options for fixing any shortcomings you may find with it.

I've never had a grinder like this at home, but most of the shops I've worked in kept one of the Baldors around for carbide. Without exception, they've always ran the green silicon carbide stones on the left for roughing and a finer diamond wheel on the right to finish the edge. Not sure about grit on either wheel, though. I've kept a fine diamond bench stone of some sort in my tool box for years and find if I keep the cutting edge honed (not truly "honed" but a much finer edge than what's left by the diamond wheel), I don't do much actual grinding on carbide cutters.

Well I believe the rough wheel should be around 60 grit. I doubt the wheels that come on this are of very high quality but I'll give one a try. I don't know about grit for a diamond wheel. Most of the shops I worked at years ago used a white wheel but I have no idea what it was and we used mostly HSS. I'm sure others will chime in on this.

 

[ghostdncr]

I would guess those white wheels to be aluminum oxide? Pretty sure that's what most all I've encountered were. I don't think it's been mentioned, but you might consider dressing these wheels when you get it setup. Getting the sides and face of the wheels trued up will usually cut WAY down on vibration from out of balance wheels.

 

[royesses]

When I first got my grinder I planned on a green silicon carbide for carbide tools and a white aluminum oxide for HSS. The white wheel is very difficult to find. Camel makes them in white so I ordered 2. They would not fit. The mounting bolts heads for the wheel hit the inside diameter of the wheel. They would need to be mounted on a lathe and a diamond tipped boring bar used to open up the inside diameter of the wheel. That's why I went with CBN and diamond wheels from Shars. They run about $100.00 each. They have countersunk holes for the mount bolts on the CBN and non countersunk holes on the diamond wheel. I used shcs on the diamond wheel and countersunk flat head bolts on the CBN wheel. I snugged up the bolts on both wheels and used a dial indicator to get less than .001" or better tir on the wheels and tightened them down. I can easily balance a nickle on edge while the grinder is running and it will stay there without moving. This may be the wrong procedure but it works. I may have gotten a defective set of the Camel white wheels, but I wasn't about to try for another set. I am not recommending you do what I have done, just trying to give some information. Here are the specs for the Shars wheels:

6x1 D6A2C Diamond Plain Cup Wheel
SKU 505-2220
Wheel Type 6A2C
Wheel Shape straight cup
diameter 6
Wheel Thickness 3/4
Hole 1-1/4
Diamond Depth 1/16
Rim Width 1
Grit 150
Concentration 75
Bonding resin
Coating uncoated
Core Material bar stock aluminum
 Dia: 6"
 Thickness: 1/16"
Product Spotlight
 For carbide tool grinders in 6" diameter
 Diamonds on outer rim
 Bolt holes on countersink wrong- not countersunk
catalog page 187


6x1 D6A2C CBN Plain Cup Wheel
SKU 504-2220
3
Wheel Type 6A2C
Wheel Shape straight cup
diameter 6
Wheel Thickness 3/4
Hole 1-1/4
Diamond Depth 1/16
Rim Width 1
Grit 150
Concentration 75
Bonding resin
Coating uncoated
Core Material bar stock aluminum
 Dia: 6"
 Thickness: 1/16"
 Hole: 1-1/4"
 Depth: 1"
 Grit: 150
 Concentration: 75%
For carbide tool grinders in 6" diameter
 Diamonds on outer rim
 Bolt holes on countersink

And the Camel grinding wheels:
CGW Type 50 White AO Grinding Wheel And Silicon Carbide Grinding Wheels
800-447-4248
UPC #: 34948
Name: White Aluminium Oxide
Wheel
Opening Diameter: 6″
Arbor Hole Size: 4″
Height: 1″
Grit: 46 (Medium)
Grade: K (Medium)
Bond: V (Vitrified)
Specification: WA-46K-V
Max Operating Speed: 3,450 RPM
Colour: White
Material: Aluminium Oxide
Type: 50 – Plate mount wheel

Roy

 

[Tozguy]

So what two wheels do you reckon I should put on this? One side I will need for grinding brazed on carbide. The other side Maybe HSS lathe tooling when I'm trying to get that perfect angle. I would like to stay reasonably priced. I'm not made of money and I could hear my wife's eyebrows raise over the phone when I told her I bought this.

I'd wait and try what comes with the grinder. From the pictures the wheels already on it might not be half bad.

 

[Finster]

When I first got my grinder I planned on a green silicon carbide for carbide tools and a white aluminum oxide for HSS. The white wheel is very difficult to find. Camel makes them in white so I ordered 2. They would not fit. The mounting bolts heads for the wheel hit the inside diameter of the wheel. They would need to be mounted on a lathe and a diamond tipped boring bar used to open up the inside diameter of the wheel. That's why I went with CBN and diamond wheels from Shars. They run about $100.00 each. They have countersunk holes for the mount bolts on the CBN and non countersunk holes on the diamond wheel. I used shcs on the diamond wheel and countersunk flat head bolts on the CBN wheel. I snugged up the bolts on both wheels and used a dial indicator to get less than .001" or better tir on the wheels and tightened them down. I can easily balance a nickle on edge while the grinder is running and it will stay there without moving. This may be the wrong procedure but it works. I may have gotten a defective set of the Camel white wheels, but I wasn't about to try for another set. I am not recommending you do what I have done, just trying to give some information. Here are the specs for the Shars wheels:
View attachment 230079
6x1 D6A2C Diamond Plain Cup Wheel
SKU 505-2220
Wheel Type 6A2C
Wheel Shape straight cup
diameter 6
Wheel Thickness 3/4
Hole 1-1/4
Diamond Depth 1/16
Rim Width 1
Grit 150
Concentration 75
Bonding resin
Coating uncoated
Core Material bar stock aluminum
 Dia: 6"
 Thickness: 1/16"
Product Spotlight
 For carbide tool grinders in 6" diameter
 Diamonds on outer rim
 Bolt holes on countersink wrong- not countersunk
catalog page 187


6x1 D6A2C CBN Plain Cup Wheel
SKU 504-2220
3
Wheel Type 6A2C
Wheel Shape straight cup
diameter 6
Wheel Thickness 3/4
Hole 1-1/4
Diamond Depth 1/16
Rim Width 1
Grit 150
Concentration 75
Bonding resin
Coating uncoated
Core Material bar stock aluminum
 Dia: 6"
 Thickness: 1/16"
 Hole: 1-1/4"
 Depth: 1"
 Grit: 150
 Concentration: 75%
For carbide tool grinders in 6" diameter
 Diamonds on outer rim
 Bolt holes on countersink

And the Camel grinding wheels:
CGW Type 50 White AO Grinding Wheel And Silicon Carbide Grinding Wheels
800-447-4248
UPC #: 34948
Name: White Aluminium Oxide
Wheel
Opening Diameter: 6″
Arbor Hole Size: 4″
Height: 1″
Grit: 46 (Medium)
Grade: K (Medium)
Bond: V (Vitrified)
Specification: WA-46K-V
Max Operating Speed: 3,450 RPM
Colour: White
Material: Aluminium Oxide
Type: 50 – Plate mount wheel

Roy

Thanks, that's some good info. It will help!

 

[Finster]

I'd wait and try what comes with the grinder. From the pictures the wheels already on it might not be half bad.

I plan on giving them a shot but I don't have high hopes. I like to have a plan B

 

[coffmajt]

So what two wheels do you reckon I should put on this? One side I will need for grinding brazed on carbide. The other side Maybe HSS lathe tooling when I'm trying to get that perfect angle. I would like to stay reasonably priced. I'm not made of money and I could hear my wife's eyebrows raise over the phone when I told her I bought this.

For carbide I would get a $40 diamond wheel from Shars. My grinder came equipped with 2 green wheels but they will not put a really sharp edge on carbide compared to diamond. For hss I use several wheels mostly from MSC in different shapes depending on what I'm set up for (end mills drill bits. Dovetails. Etc). Jack

 

[Finster]

That is exactly the same grinder I purchased from Enco. I got it for $220 on sale. If you need parts you can get them from Grizzly, they sell the same grinder and all of the replacement parts for it. I use Shars cbn and diamond wheels on mine. I made a lot of improvements to get the grinder to run smooth. There are many YouTube videos on the grinder mods, here is one;

I found the wave washer was missing on the shaft bearings causing it to howl from excessive end play. They assembled it with the bearings not pressed on all the way and used the motor end bells to push the bearings on the last bit so it would have no end play. It quickly developed end play. I replaced the shaft bearings with Nachi bearings and put in a wave washer I purchased from McMaster-Carr. I made new nuts to hold the wheels on and turned new bushings to keep the back plates running true. Lots of filing and fitting on the work supports and angle brackets to make them tilt easily and smoothly. I milled the wheel cutouts on the support plate to be parallel to the miter gauge slots. The grinder is now vibration free and a great addition to the shop. The base was rocking on its stand and had to be cut .125" to true and level it. I used a belt sander to true it up as my mini mill was too small to accommodate the base. I turned the wheel plates on the lathe to true them up. It's a lot of work to do for a new grinder but it was actually fun and a lot cheaper than a used Baldor. This grinder is the same as the harbor freight grinder and in fact the instruction manual that came with mine says to call harbor freight if you have problems. They must have forgot to remove that from the manual. The Chinese tools are more of an unfinished kit than a working tool when you get them.

Roy

Ya know, the guy in this video really knows what he is doing. even if you don't have a grinder that you are thinking about tweaking, there is a lot to learn here that will be useful else ware. I have seen this before but if you really listen and understand, It can be applied to many things. Thank you for the post.

 

[woodtickgreg]

All this conversation makes me want to get off my but and rebuild my baldor that I got for repairing a friends snow blower. Hows that for a trade.

It needs some love but the price was right. It wasn't even in a machine shop, it was in a fab shop and all they used it for was sharpening the tungston for tig welder torches. Notice the grooves in the wheels. It has a couple of broken bolts for the table locks to repair or replace, needs a coat of paint, and the tables cleaned up, and i'm listening to this conversation about wheels. I think for me as I will use it mostly for lathe cutters a green wheel on one side and a diamond on the other.

 

[royesses]

All this conversation makes me want to get off my but and rebuild my baldor that I got for repairing a friends snow blower. Hows that for a trade.

It needs some love but the price was right. It wasn't even in a machine shop, it was in a fab shop and all they used it for was sharpening the tungston for tig welder torches. Notice the grooves in the wheels. It has a couple of broken bolts for the table locks to repair or replace, needs a coat of paint, and the tables cleaned up, and i'm listening to this conversation about wheels. I think for me as I will use it mostly for lathe cutters a green wheel on one side and a diamond on the other.

Wow that is a definite You Suck deal, it even has the stand! Get that Baldor up and running ! Too nice a tool to just leave sitting. Show us some photo's when you get it done.

Roy