Bench grinders and their dust

in numerous photos of workshops the bench grinder just sits on its stand and I never seem to see any provision for catching the grinding dust which one is often told has very negative results on the other machinery. My recently acquired grinder has a slot in the lower rear of the cover of each wheel, approx. 35 x 8mm. I am thinking of making a suitable box for the rear of each wheel to collect the dust and then hoover it out afterwards.

Am I missing something that is obvious and shouldn’t do this? What do others do about their grinding dust?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks, Martyn

*So far as I can see* all or nearly all of the dust from my cheap Chinese bench grinder falls very close to the wheel, around the casing and the bit of old shelf it sits on.

Every so often I look at it and am overcome with disgust. Then I vacuum the stuff up with my cheap Chinese cleaner.

I've never detected any grittiness on the table of my cheap Chinese bench drill, which is close to the grinder and I don't really care about, or on my less cheap Chinese lathe, which is further away and I do.

I've had the same concerns. I had contemplated a closed container (galvanised metal bucket) with water in it and a lid, with a hole in the top/ side and a bit of galvanised rainwater downpipe or flexible steel pipe to connect it to the back of the grinder. Empty bucket regularly and refill with water. Have not progressed beyond design concept stage at the moment!

Most of the dust from my grinder shoots out the front and not at the rear of the wheel. One of the reasons to wear protective glasses.

Paul.

First off the metal removed by the abrasive wheel is sparkling and usually deposits itself under the tool rest. This will build up like a pinnacle. The abrasive grit is then sent all around by the centrifugal driven air off the wheel.

Most wheel housings have a tube outlet at the back where a suction device could be fitted, at least good ones have this. The dust will get everywhere over time and will get under tooling on the granite or cast tables.

That's because cheap Chinese grinding dust is nowhere near as effective at ruining your machines as Good Old Best British Grinding Dust.

Neil

I bought a cbn wheel for my grinder. Expensive but no abrasive dust, no doubt there will be some hard dust from the item being ground but compared to a grinding wheel much cleaner in operation.

Yes, Yes. The Rolls Royce of grinding dust, that is.

It seems to me that most of my finest Australian-made grinding dust goes down the front of the bench my Abbott & Ashby grinder sits on. So I keep it right next to the open shed door, away from the finest of British lathes, the Drummond Flagellator, and the Morris Minor of lathes the Myford ML7.

So I don't think a collection box at the back would do much good. But hooking up your best Chinese vacuum cleaner (they do suck, don't they) to the slots in the rear of the wheel guards might work rather well. On of those extra moveable guards at the top of the wheel, set almost touching the perimeter might help keep dust inside the cover area and help suck it all up.

Edited By Hopper on 26/02/2018 04:04:56

My solution that has worked a treat for capturing the metal bits, BUT not the dust for obvious reasons.

Grinder is in the Carport for the above reason.

Annotations say what that magnetic 'wand' does, and it also picks up 99% of swarf generated by my machines when I clean as well as from the floors in Workshop and Carport wher a surprising amount lands when I forget to use the 'wand'

New Combi boiler installed by A.Mellor Plumbing Casleton, Rochdale, who did an excellent job and all in one day!

Geoff - Thank you Anthony Mellor!

Good idea ouballie you have me idea how to used old speaker magnets norm

I cut 2 stubs into the bottom of the wheel guards on my Creusen for connection to my tool vacuum cleaner , from whose socket the grinder is fed , thus ensuring automatic start-up .

Another vote for stubs and vacuum pick up of some type.

Spent too much, even at E-Bay bargain prices, on RJH Antelope belt sander and RJH Gryphon grinder (Creusen head) with integrated vacuum collection bases. Amazing how much cleaner the dirty corner of the workshop is now tho' compared to when I had an ordinary open bench grinder and belt sander. Only dirty if I use the Clarkson T&C grinder or Guyson blast cabinet now.

Be nice to share one of the RJH collectors with the Clarkson. Guyson extractor / filter is pretty effective but there are limits to what it can do.

Clive

Dirty jobs that involve abrasives should be kept as far away as possible from precision machinery. Dressing of wheels is definitely a job for outside. A quick touch up of a tool will probably not do much harm but the grit that is released from the stone will go somewhere and you really don't want it on machines. Any heavy grinding is best done as far away as possible and preferably with a physical barrier between grinder and machines.

Mike

Ah, so I'm OK - thanks! None o' that Best British dust in my workshop - can't afford it.

Oh, wait - will Chinese grinding dust wreck my Best British Record 110 vice..?

Thanks everyone. On the basis of your advice I am planning a moveable grinding stand to go at the main door of the garage/workshop for both my grinders. They can then be moved outside to dress the wheels. Possibly be able to hook up my vac to the rear slots as well.

Main lesson learnt is to keep it all away from my machines.

Thanks again, Martyn

All my grinders are connected to a vaccum cleaner via 45mm sink waste pipe. It removes 90% of the dust, due to there being a partial vaccum in the wheel gaurd.

Over the years I have had a few fires not large but but grinding dust fanned by a dust extractor causes quite a smell and smoke. The true cause was probably the lack of cleaning as metal deposited sticks to the underside of the tool rest and area and like wire wool burns rapidly if heated with a heavy grind.

David