Probably needs new bearings but should I paint it - giggle

I've give up trying to find a 6in grinder that supports the wheel well enough to run them reasonably true so bought this one

It actually has sensible flanges to locate the wheel. Came with the scratch brush on and out of balance so bounced all over the place. It hardly moves around at all with it off. Must be modern as it uses metric bore wheels and is by Black and Decker and made in England.

While we can't expect extraction points on cheap grinders why do all of the cheap 6in ones use stupid pressed flanges.

£16 off ebay and is usable as it comes really. As the bearings are a bit worn it makes a nice cyclic thrumming noise so I suppose I might fix that.

John

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One mature Lady owner. Never been further than Margate. They don't make them like this anymore. Some service history. Easy maintenance. No accident damage. A quick polish and it'll be good as new. 37 point inspection. When it's gone it's gone. A sound proposition for the discerning purchaser, as God is my witness, Squire.

Pete

Edited By Peter Hall on 15/09/2015 21:29:45

Edited By Peter Hall on 15/09/2015 21:30:28

Pete,

You omitted to say:

"The guarantee expires when the van turns the corner at the end of the road" !!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

 

I bought an old Wikes 6" bench grinder at a car boot for a silly 'take it away' price that vibrated like a good'n. After tripping over it a few times having been discarded on the workshop floor, it was either down to the tip or do something with it. In my book it's got to be seriously unrepairable before anything gets thrown out so I set about investigating the problem. The runout on both wheels were excessive to say the least! I made up some new Delrin centres which improved the runout but still not enough for my liking. The next attempt was to fill the centres up with epoxy resin and once set I bored out the hole to size to a snug fit on the shaft. After redressing the wheels it now runs with little vibration. I did skim the pressed steel flanges to ensure they were flat on the wheel clamping sides and the locking nut seating. It's a handy size but I still prefer the floor standing 8" grinder for most of my lathe tool sharpening. 

John

If it's amything like the old bits that have made their way into my shop - don't paint it! the minute you do, it will develop some major fault like burned coils or broken centrifugal switch etc. The worse these old things look the better they work - or so it seems. Chances are you'll get a lot of use out of it.

The bearing thrum can be reduced by sitting the grinder on some globs of partly cured silicone rubber/sealer applied to your bench. Let the silicone cure before using the grinder. The rubber stops some of the vibration reaching the bench and acting like a sounding board. Good luck.

The nice thing about the older ones with this type of flanges is that I can machine any size I want as the spindles are long enough to take decent ones. The flanges serve as bushes as well and take the spindle up to 20mm. The actual spindle is probably 15mm dia or something like that. This gives a decent length to ensure the flanges are square to the shaft. They are a very good fit on the shaft. The fact that I could actually see the flanges is why I bought it. I had noticed that these and some of the other black and decker ones usually sell and had thought about getting one before but if the flanges were just pressed no point. Even my larger newtool one in the garage has decent flanges - that's about 18 years old and wasn't that expensive but penny pinching marches on. Probably be 1/4" dia spindles next or metrication such as 10mm instead of 1/2".

One good thing about them is there isn't much to wear out - just the bearings which should be easy to change. Only problem having used some what worn ones at work the quiet rhythmic thrumming noise has a certain amount of nostalgia so I will probably just regrease them.

I do wonder about the wheels that are being sold on the cheap ones. I took one off and noticed something that has a rather dark colour in the centre. I wonder if that's something cheap which is then coated with the actual abrasive. For a 20mm bore I will probably have to go to a proper shop.

John

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I wouldn't paint it, keep it original, the collectors like that, do you have the original box ?

Always give any grinding wheels the 'ring test' before use; if it rings nice & clear... can be used safely... if it gives a dull flat sound... break it up &' bin it'.

I asked the seller about the wheel size as I knew B&D have been known to go rather small. He said 6in but they are metric wheels 125mm dia 20mm bore. I think I have found a supplier that can do these in al ox grade 30 to 120, maybe green grit too but if not the seller is going to have to have it back.

I stripped it yesterday to start cleaning it and will phone the supplier on Monday. It even has dowels through the spindle that mate with the flanges so that the drive is positive.

John

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And "It won't last long at this price".

Wont last - it's done a lot of grinding going on the dust caked inside the covers yet the bearings are still fine. It's stamped with the motor output power not the input. No mention of running times before it over heats and etc. The motor will also have been designed specifically for 240v 50Hz and if one was made these days I would guess it would come in at well over a hundred quid retail, probably 2+. If only the wheels that seem to be about these days were so good.

It is a pity it uses 125mm wheels though. They did use 4in on some, 6in is more available. Imperial wheels are much more common than metric - could be that everyone in the USA must have on in their house some where. The size of the EU market should have fixed that. This seems to be an area that has escaped metrification.

I believe they also did some with universal motors but this one is capacitor run.

I'm wondering if I can make use of the extraction points maybe with a PC fan - not with the dust going through it of course.

John

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John, a bit of flexible tube on the outlet port, and down to a box of some sort should do it, the draft generated by the wheel might be just about enough to clear the grinding dust. If I was going to fit a fan, it would be on an out let from the dust collection box, but with a filter between the box and the fan. Vent the fan out side.

Ian S C

I've been wondering about cyclone separators Ian. Not down to Dyson really. I worked at a lead acid battery factory for a while that had several huge ones. long before he looked into a saw mill filter to see how they work. Good ones let nothing out. There is a bit about them on the wiki. They should still work if air is sucked through them. Trouble is I have a lot of other things to do.

John

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John, that sound likely for dust extraction, worth experimenting, just for the sake of doing it, or you can just cap the vent holes and grind.

Ian S C

I'm having problems with 125mm 20mm bore wheels. I grade available and others on 6 weeks.

Anyone know the German for grinding wheel ? The off had type of course. The correct word might even contain that.

John

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.

Google Translate:

off-hand grinding wheel

Schildhandschleifscheibe

MichaelG.

Thanks Michael. I tried my usual trick and searched grinding and obtained several german words but none of them would isolate them. That one came up zero results. I had to wade through the general term they use which brings up flap wheels and other things but found some 125x20x20 which I have ordered. I decided to try a very coarse 46 grit and a finer than usual, 100 grit. In corundum which seems to be a form of aluminium oxide from a search.

Made in Germany which in my experience can mean either good or bad and often not in between.

I'd guess metric ones are thin on the ground here because the grinders last so long. I should be able to get a green grit if I need one though - maybe when carbide got more popular some bought new grinders.

John

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Axminster do 1.25"o 20mm reducing bushes if you want to try a 5" wheel

I bought these Jason. They should arrive a bit quicker than ordering from the UK as only a few grades of 125mm dia seem to be stocked in the uk so I was quoted 6 weeks. Green grit is available with a 20mm bore.

**LINK**

Postage isn't too bad, 1 euro for an extra wheel. I did look at axminster but no suitable wheels. I've used their 6in white aluminium oxide ones before and they are ok on HSS but the 2 grades they do don't seem to have much effect on removal rates so thought I try a much coarser and finer ones.

I might get a green grit at some point for something I haven't done for a long time. Regrind a braised tip carbide parting off tool for screw cutting. They stay sharper longer but I recently ground up one in Tantung G so will see how it lasts.

John

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John,

It's presumably a bit late now, but; for future reference [bench grinder] schleifbock should get you into the right general area.

MichaelG.