pe2dave
Established Member
I've had a whetstone grinder (10" wet wheel and 5" dry one (precursor to this perhaps? ) for some time. Bought for chisels it did the job slowly and carefully. Not quite suitable for turning tools.
Last week I bought the Record 8". Nice 8" wheel, one white one 'grey'. 40mm wide white wheel, about 1" for the grey wheel. Used it a few times and thought it worth a comment.
I'm comparing it with what I've had. A slow (speed and cut) grinder. I'm not comparing it with Creusen kit at a few hundred quid. It cost 55 pounds which puts it into the low cost kit as far as I'm concerned.
Balance. Not perfect. It has tiny rubber 'feet', which is a good job. My bench is made of morticed 6x2 timbers and it vibrated most of the stuff on it whilst getting up to speed and slowing down. Running it's capable of walking off the bench if you don't watch it. Once up to speed vibration is clearly higher frequency and less noticable. I screwed it to a piece of wood which I clamp to the bench, initially without the rubber feet. Mistake. They're needed to damp vibration.
Operation. Good... One exception. The crappy toolrests are tiny benl steel, about 1" square. No way I can keep anything at a constant angle to the wheel with that. I've built a simple wooden angled rest for turning tools, screws tight to keep a constant angle. Can't use it as is, since the grinder has a piece jutting out which forbids butting anything close to the wheel. Thinking about sawing the arm off to allow my rest to be clamped to the bench in front of the wheels.
Speed is about right. I needed to really hit it hard to get any real heat into the metal, which is wrong.
Minor nit. Good kit has electronic braking. This grinder takes minutes to run down. Not that I'd want to do much with it quickly, just that is a little dangerous when spinning and I've forgotten all about it. Perhaps marker pen on the outer
edges of the white wheel will help
Summary. Good buy. The rest is annoying but can be resolved.
Anyone wanting a whetstone grinder, with a tiny 5" wheel? Tenner and it's yours if you can pick it up from Peterborough. pm me if you're interested.
Last week I bought the Record 8". Nice 8" wheel, one white one 'grey'. 40mm wide white wheel, about 1" for the grey wheel. Used it a few times and thought it worth a comment.
I'm comparing it with what I've had. A slow (speed and cut) grinder. I'm not comparing it with Creusen kit at a few hundred quid. It cost 55 pounds which puts it into the low cost kit as far as I'm concerned.
Balance. Not perfect. It has tiny rubber 'feet', which is a good job. My bench is made of morticed 6x2 timbers and it vibrated most of the stuff on it whilst getting up to speed and slowing down. Running it's capable of walking off the bench if you don't watch it. Once up to speed vibration is clearly higher frequency and less noticable. I screwed it to a piece of wood which I clamp to the bench, initially without the rubber feet. Mistake. They're needed to damp vibration.
Operation. Good... One exception. The crappy toolrests are tiny benl steel, about 1" square. No way I can keep anything at a constant angle to the wheel with that. I've built a simple wooden angled rest for turning tools, screws tight to keep a constant angle. Can't use it as is, since the grinder has a piece jutting out which forbids butting anything close to the wheel. Thinking about sawing the arm off to allow my rest to be clamped to the bench in front of the wheels.
Speed is about right. I needed to really hit it hard to get any real heat into the metal, which is wrong.
Minor nit. Good kit has electronic braking. This grinder takes minutes to run down. Not that I'd want to do much with it quickly, just that is a little dangerous when spinning and I've forgotten all about it. Perhaps marker pen on the outer
edges of the white wheel will help
Summary. Good buy. The rest is annoying but can be resolved.
Anyone wanting a whetstone grinder, with a tiny 5" wheel? Tenner and it's yours if you can pick it up from Peterborough. pm me if you're interested.
