Cheap Import Surface Grinder - Coolant

A while back I picked up an inexpensive (relatively speaking) 6x12 surface grinder. It does a pretty decent job for light cuts if the heat doesn't start to build up.

I discovered pretty quick that heat was an issue when trying to surface grind a piece of hard steel. There really isn't a provision for any sort of coolant. Flood would just make a mess, and I don't really see any good provision for adding splash guards for even an open top enclosure that wouldn't impair the envelope of the machine.

Longer back I found that an air blast worked really well milling medium hardness steel. It would make even more of a mess in some ways, but atleast it wouldn't soak everything in the area. I am considering that as an option. If it doesn't work I can remove it quickly, and for testing I can borrow the rig off the mill where I typically cut steel.

I'm also thinking about mist. (Pressure feed. Not venturi feed.) Its a little more involved to test out. First I either need to buy or build one. I have flood coolant with decent recovery on every other machine where I use liquid coolant. Several mills, horizontal bandsaw, lathe etc.

Most of the larger commercial surface grinders I have seen run flood coolant, so I am thinking that's probably the best solution other limitations not withstanding. I have to ask though. Do you use or have you seen somebody use air blast or spray mist with good results on a surface grinder?

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You might try a coarser, softer wheel, like 46 I.

A while back I picked up an inexpensive (relatively speaking) 6x12 surface grinder. It does a pretty decent job for light cuts if the heat doesn't start to build up. ==================================

Many grinders mount their wheels on tapered spindle adapters so you don't have to dress the wheel each time you change it.

Yeah, I have looked at that. This one too. To be truly useful of course one must have multiple taper adapters. I looked at the parts cost to assebmle them, (they don't sell the whole assembly as one part or parts package) and it gets pretty expensive when adding up all the individual parts.

Yeah, I have looked at that. This one too. To be truly useful of course one must have multiple taper adapters. I looked at the parts cost to assebmle them, (they don't sell the whole assembly as one part or parts package) and it gets pretty expensive when adding up all the individual parts. ======================================================= I have a rough-turned tapered arbor and several adapter blanks waiting for me to fit a taper adapter from a 14" SB lathe onto my 10" lathe.

I thought very light cuts was what you do with a surface grinder? Machine on eg. mill within 10thou / 0.25mm, then very lightly grind to get the surface-ground finish. Watch the machining marks having their tops removed until they disappear. I realise though now that I never needed an exact size - only that the surfaces were truly smooth, flat and parallel... Makes a difference?

I thought very light cuts was what you do with a surface grinder? Machine on eg. mill within 10thou / 0.25mm, then very lightly grind to get the surface-ground finish. Watch the machining marks having their tops removed until they disappear. I realise though now that I never needed an exact size - only that the surfaces were truly smooth, flat and parallel... Makes a difference?

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That's what I was taught too, remove less than 0.001" per pass when using a horizontal shaft surface grinder. Vertical shaft Blanchard grinders are for the heavy production jobs.

I've seen a wheel shatter when the operator tried to take too much. I was on another grinder perpendicular to the path of the fragments, one of which loudly dented the loading door.

However the seller of my small grinder told me he had nearly worn it out pushing it to its limit. He asked $50 for the grinder and $50 for the mag chuck. Apparently it tolerates a heavier cut because it is more adjustable and thus more flexible than a standard grinder, though less precise. I was able to resurface my ancient British anvil on it.

I found its swivel table for cutter grinding in a used machinery store that didn't have the grinder or know what the table was for. I had to make the missing base for it. The head and column rotate to angle a cup or dish wheel so the far side clears the work and poppit heads. The Quorn appears to be a smaller copy. The grinder earned its cost back quickly by salvaging cheap dulled large pipe taps, brand name end mills and the cutter head of my woodworking jointer. Grinding the carbon steel blades without burning required cuts so light I could barely hear them and didn't see sparks.

Notice that there's no provision for coolant, unless one puts a baking pan under the mag chuck and caulks around it. A drain can be fabricated from a brass pipe fitting by turning one end into a thin tubular rivet and expanding and soldering it into a depression hammered into the pan.