E-Z Change Bench grinder wheels

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?

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Appriciate all your past postings on metal stuff.

Tom Thoreau

Reply to
Tom T.
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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

Reply to
Gerald Miller

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

Reply to
Jon Anderson

Reply to
Machineman

snip-------

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

Reply to
Harold & Susan Vordos

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

Reply to
Stan Schaefer

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