Homemade Grinder Advice

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

A few thoughts:

1. If the belt breaks, you will need a lot of work to renew it, so it could be better if the motor was above the worktop.

2. This would also save a big hole in the bench which could be awkward when you change the device or move it.

3. If you are making your own pulleys it would be simple to add a couple of alternative ratios at this stage, but much more work later.

4. You could ensure that the spindle does not float endways by adding a tubular spacer both sides of the pulley, locating each side between pulley and bearing. I assume you will be using ball bearings not bushes.

5. As you are using metric for the small screws, it makes no sense to change to whitworth for the big nut. It means an extra spanner for this job only, and no advantage in strength etc. Use M12, and the thread size does not need to match the spindle size.

6. There is no real way to hold the spindle to tighten or loosen the big nut. I suggest six flats on the left end for a spanner.

7. And why abandon the idea of a possible wheel both ends?

Hope this helps

Cheers, Tim

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

For the spanner at the L/H end of the shaft you only need 2 flats, or a hole for a tommy bar.

Ian S C

[James Jenkins 1Participant @jamesjenkins1]

Thanks so much for all your feedback. We are going away today on our hols, but will be looking at this on our return and finalise the design using the feedback most recently received.

Kind regards,

James

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Even if you put a wheel on each end, a pair of spanner flats, or a tommy bar hole between the bearing s , beside the pulleys would be a good idea.

Ian S C

[James Jenkins 1Participant @jamesjenkins1]

Hi all,

I'm coming back to this, as I need to get something in place to allow me to properly sharpen lathe tools and drill bits.

With fresh eyes and thoughts, I've started to wonder if building something is best use of my time and money. It maybe a good route, but I've been looking tonight at Clarkson Mk1 grinders for around £350/400. That might end up being £200 more, but obviously the time in building a grinder and then a rest could be put to other projects, and the motor on a Clarkson could easily be replaced with a solar powered DC unit.

I realise that a Clarkson is a very capable machine, so would hopefully grow with me and allow me, in time, to sharpen items that a home made setup couldn't dream of (e.g. reamers), but how easy is it to set it up to touch up a lathe tool? Do you end up spending hours on what should be a simple task, because it is so complex?

Also I don't have a surface grinder, so is it possible to use one of these for small surface grinding tasks?

All and any feedback very welcome and appreciated.

James

[fishy-steveParticipant @fishy-steve]

If you go down the route of buying a Clarkson T+CG try and get one with lots of the accessories. They can be very expensive. If you buy just the bare machine your back to the "best use of your time" problem. You will have to make all sorts of additional tooling to make any use of the machine.

I still find that if I need to grind up a lathe tool I will do it free hand on the bench grinder.

Steve.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Like FS, most cutters can be ground on a bench grinder. Finishing is easier, no doubt, using a proper cutter grinder, but a few minutes finishing by hand is not that time consuming, for me, as I don’t grind that many cutters.

In fact, the ‘Chrissie prezzy diamond tool holder’s’ cutters won’t need much more than a grind with the bench grinder?

[Anonymous]

Thus far all my HSS tooling, mostly for the repetition lathe, has been hand ground on a small 50 year old bench grinder. That's all you really need. If an accurate shape is needed I mill it first before adding clearances by hand. As it happens I have a Clarkson T&C with an el cheapo 3-axis vice for precision grinding, but I've never had the need as yet.

I also have a tap and drill accessory for the Clarkson. I've ground home made taps with it, but don't bother with small drills. Even quality (Dormer) drills are cheap in the smaller sizes so ti makes no economic sense to sharpen small drills. Quality drills last for hundreds, or more, holes anyway.

Andrew

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Unless you plan to be doing a lot of reaming I would not bother about getting something that can do them, I'm still using the same reamers I bought for my first Stuart engine some 35yrs ago and they are common sizes not ones you use once in a blue moon.

Like Andrew my lathe tools get done freehand on the 40yr old bench grinder or belt sander and small drill and milling cutters just get replaced when eventually blunt.

Edited By JasonB on 04/01/2019 08:22:00

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

T+C grinder is overkill for lathe tool bits. The geometry is so simple and does not need to be precise freehand is plenty good enough. Angles can be checked with a protractor if you want to be more exact.

And end mill cutters and reamers are so cheap these days I don't bother with resharpening them. Certainly never wore out a reamer yet. Milling cutters: consumables.

[James Jenkins 1Participant @jamesjenkins1]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your feedback, looks like I was on the right track the first time, so that's what I will go with.

I'm not happy with the results I'm getting freehand, so I will probably make the simple Harold Hall tool rest.

Thanks again,

James

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