There's alot to learn about grinding metals, and I have only a few
bench grinders, all long ago dedicated to their limited tasks. Can
anyone help me with a long-standing dream?

I would like a bench grinder with easily changed wheels, wheels that
centered easily and 'perfectly', as would a lathe faceplate or live
center. Then I could buy different wheels and try them when the grey
wheel doesn't work, for example on Stellite or aluminum. Or might a
softer wheel not burn this HSS?

When I have change wheels on the normal 1/2 " shaft grinder, the
centering is so poor that clouds of grit have to be dressed off with a
diamond stick. No fun. I even have a grinder with an untrue shaft;
the wheel has to be 'untrued' to run true.

I have seen 1-1/4 i.d. wheels set up with a taper-centered steel hub,
not real different from a volkswagen rear brake drum. It looked like
these grinding wheels went onto surface grinders, where the operator
would have a similar desire as my own.

So I thought of getting a head assembly from a dead surface grinder,
but all such grinders at the machinery place were 3 phase. A look in
MSC showed the same - all 3 phase.

I even have what appears to be a balancing shaft, as mentioned in MSC,
for a surface grinder. Its 4-1/2" long. Its tapered portion
measure/calculates to 2.994" of diameter per 12" of length. Probably
3" per foot, but not the 3-1/2" per foot mentioned in Machinerys for
"Steep Machine Tapers". Is this taper of 3" per foot a standard? Its
o.d. at the large end of the tapered portion is just about exactly
1.000".

I would even spring for a new and quality machine with
angle-generating tables and extended housings, perhaps a reversing
switch, if this repeatable mounting feature was available. Even a
super nasty wire wheel could be in the bag of tricks, where that wheel
would never be considered for everyday use. I guess my dream machine
would need a spindle stop with extracting nut or drift-pin equivalent
to get the taper unstuck.

How long would people put up with an automobile that required mounting
the rubber tires directly to a slot on the outside of the hubs? Any
settings made to the tires, like balance or being aired up, would have
to be destroyed for every tire change. No, we have separate metal
devices with a tapered nut centering system to easily make changes,
like to the spare, or to the winter tires. Have I missed something in
the world of grinders?

There is a world of dazzling grinding wheel types waiting for
sampling, but this wheel-changing issue has me stuck.

BTW, is this the address of the FAQ's?
http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal/faqa.html

Appriciate all your past postings on metal stuff.

Tom Thoreau

On Sun, 01 Aug 2004 18:35:17 -0700, Tom T.
wrote:

There's alot to learn about grinding metals, and I have only a few
bench grinders, all long ago dedicated to their limited tasks. Can
anyone help me with a long-standing dream?

I would like a bench grinder with easily changed wheels, wheels that
centered easily and 'perfectly', as would a lathe faceplate or live
center. Then I could buy different wheels and try them when the grey
wheel doesn't work, for example on Stellite or aluminum. Or might a
softer wheel not burn this HSS?

When I have change wheels on the normal 1/2 " shaft grinder, the
centering is so poor that clouds of grit have to be dressed off with a
diamond stick. No fun. I even have a grinder with an untrue shaft;
the wheel has to be 'untrued' to run true.

I have seen 1-1/4 i.d. wheels set up with a taper-centered steel hub,
not real different from a volkswagen rear brake drum. It looked like
these grinding wheels went onto surface grinders, where the operator
would have a similar desire as my own.

So I thought of getting a head assembly from a dead surface grinder,
but all such grinders at the machinery place were 3 phase. A look in
MSC showed the same - all 3 phase.

I even have what appears to be a balancing shaft, as mentioned in MSC,
for a surface grinder. Its 4-1/2" long. Its tapered portion
measure/calculates to 2.994" of diameter per 12" of length. Probably
3" per foot, but not the 3-1/2" per foot mentioned in Machinerys for
"Steep Machine Tapers". Is this taper of 3" per foot a standard? Its
o.d. at the large end of the tapered portion is just about exactly
1.000".

I would even spring for a new and quality machine with
angle-generating tables and extended housings, perhaps a reversing
switch, if this repeatable mounting feature was available. Even a
super nasty wire wheel could be in the bag of tricks, where that wheel
would never be considered for everyday use. I guess my dream machine
would need a spindle stop with extracting nut or drift-pin equivalent
to get the taper unstuck.

How long would people put up with an automobile that required mounting
the rubber tires directly to a slot on the outside of the hubs? Any
settings made to the tires, like balance or being aired up, would have
to be destroyed for every tire change. No, we have separate metal
devices with a tapered nut centering system to easily make changes,
like to the spare, or to the winter tires. Have I missed something in
the world of grinders?

There is a world of dazzling grinding wheel types waiting for
sampling, but this wheel-changing issue has me stuck.

BTW, is this the address of the FAQ's?
http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal/faqa.html

Appriciate all your past postings on metal stuff.

Tom Thoreau
IIRC there was an article in Home Shop Machinist many years ago where
the author had built a grinder head with a collet to grip stub shafts
carrying the individual wheels.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

Gerald Miller wrote:

IIRC there was an article in Home Shop Machinist many years ago
where the author had built a grinder head with a collet to grip
stub shafts carrying the individual wheels.

Indeed there was, used 5C collet. I built one myself using the spindle
out of a cheapo 5C spin indexer. Forget the bearings used, but by happy
chance, the OD was a slight press fit into standard bearings. I machined
an aluminum housing for the bearings.
I use this for wire wheels, scotchbrite, and nylon abrasive bristle
wheels, haven't gotten around to trying it with grinding wheels, but it
ought to work fine.

Jon

Lee Valley Tools make an balancing arbor for use on a regular grinder.
kit includes a ball bearing balancing setup.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...rency=1&S ID=

Jon Anderson wrote:
Gerald Miller wrote:


IIRC there was an article in Home Shop Machinist many years ago
where the author had built a grinder head with a collet to grip
stub shafts carrying the individual wheels.


Indeed there was, used 5C collet. I built one myself using the spindle
out of a cheapo 5C spin indexer. Forget the bearings used, but by happy
chance, the OD was a slight press fit into standard bearings. I machined
an aluminum housing for the bearings.
I use this for wire wheels, scotchbrite, and nylon abrasive bristle
wheels, haven't gotten around to trying it with grinding wheels, but it
ought to work fine.

Jon

--
James P Crombie
Slemon Park, PEI
Canada
Machinist - 3D Cad Design - Amateur Astronomer

http://www.jamescrombie.com

"Tom T." wrote in message
...
There's alot to learn about grinding metals, and I have only a few
bench grinders, all long ago dedicated to their limited tasks. Can
anyone help me with a long-standing dream?

snip-------

Tom Thoreau

Tom,
Instead of looking at surface grinders as a source for a spindle, you might
consider looking at cutter grinders instead. They are made to have the
wheels quickly changed, by removing the hub instead of the wheel, plus they
have appropriate slots for mounting various wheel guards. You'd also
benefit by having a spindle that has the ability to run faster or slower so
you can match the speed to the wheel of choice. Grinding wheels should be
run at specific speeds, otherwise they are either dangerous or don't perform
properly. Wheels that are run too slow behave as if they are soft, and
over speed makes them behave as if they are harder than they are. Bottom
line is what you described is a cutter grinder, one of which would likely
serve all your needs, assuming you bought the right model.

Harold

Tom T. wrote in message . ..
There's alot to learn about grinding metals, and I have only a few
bench grinders, all long ago dedicated to their limited tasks. Can
anyone help me with a long-standing dream?

I would like a bench grinder with easily changed wheels, wheels that
centered easily and 'perfectly', as would a lathe faceplate or live
center. Then I could buy different wheels and try them when the grey
wheel doesn't work, for example on Stellite or aluminum. Or might a
softer wheel not burn this HSS?

When I have change wheels on the normal 1/2 " shaft grinder, the
centering is so poor that clouds of grit have to be dressed off with a
diamond stick. No fun. I even have a grinder with an untrue shaft;
the wheel has to be 'untrued' to run true.

I have seen 1-1/4 i.d. wheels set up with a taper-centered steel hub,
not real different from a volkswagen rear brake drum. It looked like
these grinding wheels went onto surface grinders, where the operator
would have a similar desire as my own.

So I thought of getting a head assembly from a dead surface grinder,
but all such grinders at the machinery place were 3 phase. A look in
MSC showed the same - all 3 phase.

I even have what appears to be a balancing shaft, as mentioned in MSC,
for a surface grinder. Its 4-1/2" long. Its tapered portion
measure/calculates to 2.994" of diameter per 12" of length. Probably
3" per foot, but not the 3-1/2" per foot mentioned in Machinerys for
"Steep Machine Tapers". Is this taper of 3" per foot a standard? Its
o.d. at the large end of the tapered portion is just about exactly
1.000".

I would even spring for a new and quality machine with
angle-generating tables and extended housings, perhaps a reversing
switch, if this repeatable mounting feature was available. Even a
super nasty wire wheel could be in the bag of tricks, where that wheel
would never be considered for everyday use. I guess my dream machine
would need a spindle stop with extracting nut or drift-pin equivalent
to get the taper unstuck.

How long would people put up with an automobile that required mounting
the rubber tires directly to a slot on the outside of the hubs? Any
settings made to the tires, like balance or being aired up, would have
to be destroyed for every tire change. No, we have separate metal
devices with a tapered nut centering system to easily make changes,
like to the spare, or to the winter tires. Have I missed something in
the world of grinders?

There is a world of dazzling grinding wheel types waiting for
sampling, but this wheel-changing issue has me stuck.

BTW, is this the address of the FAQ's?
http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal/faqa.html

Appriciate all your past postings on metal stuff.

Tom Thoreau


I left wheel grinders behind for most tasks long ago, a belt grinder
does the trick for most of what I need ground or sharpened these days.
You can get silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide and
borazon belts, should cover just about everything you need to
free-hand grind. No truing needed with belts and they're pretty fast
to change. There's a reason most knife makers use belt grinders...

Stan