Bench Grinders

[Andy Heaton]

Hi
I'm new to turning and in the process of buying the things I need. I have managed to pick up a Record Power lathe that is in really good condition and it came with various tool rests and other bits and bobs.
I've bought a few chisels to get me started and, as they all need sharpening, I just bought the OneWay Wolverine sharpening system. I ordered a Record Power 6" bench grinder to go with it but when I received it I was amazed at the quality of it. It was supplied with the wrong size flanges and the wheels......! They look round to the naked eye but spin them and they wobble from side to side so badly that it wouldn't be long before it wrecks the bearings inside. I have since discovered that this is a common problem if reviews are anything to go by. I returned it.

I'm sure this must have come up on here many times but a quick search didn't find anything so, help, PLEASE! What bench grinder can I buy that just might arrive with round wheels and, hopefully, was not put together by someone with no thumbs?

Many thanks
Andy

 

[sunnybob]

in the world of chinese manufacturing, you pays your money and you takes your chance.

Amazingly I have a clarke bench grinder now 12 years old and its still as good as i need it to be.

 

[nev]

I imagine half of us here started with and probably still have the RP rpbg6 and suspect you may have got a duff one. In its price range I dont think theres a better one especially taking into account the wide white wheel. If you purchase it from a real tool shop it maybe worth asking them to take it out of the box and check it before they send it to you?
Spending (a lot) more theres the Sorby Pro-edge which by all accounts is the bees pyjamas.

 

[Rhyolith]

I use a Creusen slow speed grinder for my blades, is excellent though pricy.

For build quality though older is better, I use this 1950s Wolf for most things and it wipes the floor with any 240v modern one I have seen. It does need restoration though, the switch has been fixed since this picture was taken.

Untitled by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I learnt to be more picky with the wheels after finding two silverline ones I bought were off centre :shock: I mean seriously, thats actually dangerous!

 

[Andy Heaton]

Yes it was the RP rpbg6. I thought that perhaps I had just been unlucky but then I started to read reviews and duff wheels seems to feature quite a lot. I suspect that the machine itself is probably good and it's just the wheels but then it actually becomes quite a pricey machine if you throw the wheels away and buy better ones for it. I would like to buy a machine that works as it should out of the box and not have to fix it first. Apparently RP have discontinued this grinder now so any out there are old stock.

 

[Brandlin]

Yes it was the RP rpbg6. I thought that perhaps I had just been unlucky but then I started to read reviews and duff wheels seems to feature quite a lot. I suspect that the machine itself is probably good and it's just the wheels but then it actually becomes quite a pricey machine if you throw the wheels away and buy better ones for it. I would like to buy a machine that works as it should out of the box and not have to fix it first. Apparently RP have discontinued this grinder now so any out there are old stock.

the thing to remember about reviews is that a large portion of people who get a duff machine will complain (rightly) yet most people who get a good machine will say nothing. So in absolute numbers if you get 5 bad reviews, that might be 5 bad machines out of 10,000. I'm not saying that bad machines are acceptable, just be careful reading too much into a small number of reviews.

 

[JWD]

I use the Axi trade slow running grinder and there is little to fault it on! Big, heavy, quiet and powerful with wide wheels

 

[Andy Heaton]

I agree, reviews can mislead for the reasons you say. I tend to read the lowest reviews to see if there is a trend. I actually found a 5 star review on this grinder but the person had also received duff wheels.
It is so frustrating that, with so much coming from China these days, quality is hit and miss. Fortunately, most suppliers still give good customer service.

 

[Andy Heaton]

I use the Axi trade slow running grinder and there is little to fault it on! Big, heavy, quiet and powerful with wide wheels

Thank you, I will check it out

 

[Robbo3]

I use the Axi trade slow running grinder and there is little to fault it on! Big, heavy, quiet and powerful with wide wheels

And yet the wheels are still out of balance. Adding expensive CBN (Cubic Boron Nitride ?) wheels still leaves a slight wobble but at least they are balanced & allow tools to be sharpened without bounce.

 

[John15]

I have the Axi Hobby 6" machine. The first one had quite a wobble and vibrated badly but the replacement works well, and for £55 is not a bad deal.

John

 

[heimlaga]

I bough a Chineese bench grinder once. It lasted 15 minutes of very light use (technically no load at all) before it overheated. It also vibrated badly.
I tried to get my money back but the importer claimed "this is a hobby machine not intended to last any longer than that".
I tore the damned thing apart and found that the shaft was tuned from a bent piece so the turning bit had only touched half the perimeter. Because of this the rotor wasn't centered.
Junk.....junk..... junk
The importers look for the cheapest monkey to make their machines and of cause the resulting product doesn't even comply with the monkey grinder section of ISMB (International Standard of Monkey Business)....

Now I have three old European made bench grinders.
A Swedish made All-Elektro
A Finnish made Koneteollisuus
An East German made Galvanotechnik.
The first two are good and the third is decent.
I don't buy monkey grinders anymore.

 

[Rhyolith]

You’d think in the this h&s obessed country someone would something about these clearly inadequate ginders and wheels, I mean off centre wheels, motors and the like are all things I’d consider quite dangerous on a bench grinder... suppose capitalism is still more important

I will say that there was and is no vibration at all with my Creusen.