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Surface grinders(possible FS)

Ok, here is the situation. I currently have a Harig 6x12 surface grinder. It is functional and does what it needs to do. It is full manual.

I have a coworker that would like to trade/sell me a DoAll 12x20 with full power feeds. This thing is HUGE in comparison. The footprint is easily double in both directions.

Can anyone tell me of a benefit of the larger machine. I assume that it would be more stable. I have not used the grinder I have much(mostly due to the fact that my shop is in various stages of repair at the moment). Are the power feeds a big deal?

Is anyone interested in either machine?

I am in SE MN.

Jeridiah

Reply to
Jeridiah
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Can you supply the new machine's power requirements? Probably 3 phase.

In general, I find larger machines to be a pain with smaller parts. It takes time to accelelerate all that weight and then slow it down. Since grinding is very repetitive in the speed up/slow down cycle, this may become an issue.

Also, what size wheel is the larger one? It may become difficult and/or expensive to get replacements.

However, it's always recommended that you buy the largest machine you can (considering things like available floor space, power requirements, speed requirements, etc.). It's nice to have in those one or two situations where the smaller one is simply too small.

Regards,

Robin

Reply to
Robin S.

The larger machines are just that, for larger parts. A smaller machine like you have does get used much more than the bigger one. It is very hard to grind smaller parts by hand wiyth a hydraulic machine, just to much mass to move. This is probably why he wants to trade. I am a toolmaker been at for

38 years the smaller machine is much more practical.

Reply to
Dennis J Brown

So a hydraulic machine can't be moved by hand, or it just takes more effort? Sorry if that's a dumb question, I am not real versed in surface grinders.

JW

Reply to
Jeridiah

A 12x20 surface grinder weighs several thousand pounds and will have a multi-horsepower three phase motor. If you have the space and can power it (have you seen it yet?) then your question has meaning. If the machine doesn't come with a wired-in working electromagnetic chuck and a wired-in working coolant system, then I recommend you pass. Nothing about a 12x20" grinder is cheap.

That having been said, I've run a big DoAll. I wish I could have one. At least 90% of everything I've ever done on my little 6x12 KO Lee I could have done a whole lot faster and at least as good if not better on the big machine. It's surprising how many times I've wished I could grind something in the 8-9" range in one pass and couldn't.

AFAIK you *can* crank a hydraulic machine by hand.

Grant

Jeridiah wrote:

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Reply to
Dennis J Brown

Electrical power is not a problem. I have space, but this is something that would have to be worked around a little bit. He wasn't sure about the chuck. Thought it might be PM. Didn't ask about the coolant.

I have seen it, but it was only in passing about a month ago. I am going to go take a closer look at it this weekend.

Inquired on the history of the thing, apparently it was part of a lot that IBM Rochester had purchased and then had "tweaked" by DoAll to maintain higher precision for some sort of HD platters. The guy I know that has this used to work at Celestica(an IBM spinoff). I trust him and believe the story as I know of several machines of various ilk that came from the same IBM plant over time. When it no longer meets their standards, it is still usually way above most other peoples. I know of one production shop that picked up a "scrap" CNC lathe from them for scrap rate and has been turning out precision work for several years.

thanks for the feedback everyone.

JW

Reply to
Jeridiah

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