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Slow speed Grinder

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I am in the need for a slow speed grinder. So there are the 1/2 hp Rikon and the 1 hp Rikon. I have searched this forum, but haven’t found what I am looking for. There is also the Delta vs grinder. The 1/2 hp Rikon can be had for $100, and the 1 hp is about $240 including shipping. The delta is in-between. I watched Ken Rizza’s test on the Rikon. The 1 hp was up to speed in less than two seconds where the 1/2 hp took eight seconds. Have no idea about the delta. I will be using steel CBN wheels. I am not a production turner.

My question is once the 1/2h hp is up to speed (waiting the startup eight seconds) is there a noticeable difference between these grinders? When sharpening is there a tendency to stall the 1/2 hp Rikon? I know very little about the Delta. Should I even be considering this grinder?

Thanks
 

Dennis J Gooding

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I have had the 1/2 hp Rikon for about 3 years and have had no problems. The spin-up time is of no consequence to me. If I am using a jig, I turn on the grinder before jigging the gouge and have zero idle time. If I am not using a jig, I simply leave the grinder running. It is extremely well balanced and nearly silent. I see no advantage of more horse power for any woodturning application. Now if I had to sharpen some plow shares or axes ......
 

Dave Landers

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I have two of the 1/2 HP Rikons with CBN wheels. No problems. One spins up reasonably fast, the other is quite a bit slower. Still I have no problem with that (I just put the wheels/jigs I use most often on the faster one). Like Dennis, I usually turn on the grinder before I jig up the tool, so the startup speed is not really noticed.
 
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Like others, I have had no problems with my 1/2hp Rikon. I have 2 CBN wheels on it, and only require light pressure when I am grinding a tool. If the slow startup bothers you, give one of the wheels a spin before you hit the power switch ... motor comes up to speed much quicker and rumor has it that it is easier on the capacitor.
 
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And since everyone else chimed in with their Rikon reviews for ya I'll give you one on my 1/2 hp Delta.... It's the same as the Rikons slow to start up but no problems at all.
 
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Ok, I'll be different. I went with the 1 hp from Ken Rizza. I only live 30 minutes away so I didn't have to pay shipping. The 1 hp is a pleasure to use. It gets up to speed with two CBN wheels fast. My 1/2 hp discontinued noname grinder from Woodcraft was struggling to spin up one CBN wheel and I had already blown one capacitor. In two years, you won't even remember what you paid for the grinder but you'll still be enjoying MORE POWER.
 
Joined
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Minneapolis, MN
I have had a 1HP Baldor grinder for 20 years. Then I got a cheap 3/4 grinder used from Woodcraft. I would compare them to a Ferrari and a scooter with a broken wheel.

Agreed. 7", 1/2hp Baldor for me. (8" wasn't in the budget when I bought.) You know, lathes are, by comparison, so much more expensive now than 20 years ago, but when people are willing to put down $2500-6000+ on a lathe, $100-200 for a turning tool, then insist on buying a $100 grinder to mount their $150+ fancy wheels... something seems amiss here. A $100 consumer grinder can't hold a candle to a $500-1000 industrial grinder designed to run all day long, for decades. Buy once, buy right.
 
Joined
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Appreciate the responses. I’ll keep doing research, but the 1/2 hp Rikon seems to be useable.

I have the 1/2 HP Rikon with 2 CBN wheels and yes it takes a few seconds to start up but sharpening is no different with it than my big Delta. The amazing thing is that after shutting down it takes about 13 minutes for it to stop.

Bill, those bearings and alignment must be right on.

Agreed. 7", 1/2hp Baldor for me. (8" wasn't in the budget when I bought.) You know, lathes are, by comparison, so much more expensive now than 20 years ago, but when people are willing to put down $2500-6000+ on a lathe, $100-200 for a turning tool, then insist on buying a $100 grinder to mount their $150+ fancy wheels... something seems amiss here. A $100 consumer grinder can't hold a candle to a $500-1000 industrial grinder designed to run all day long, for decades. Buy once, buy right.

I don’t disagree with you, however sometimes there are jewels in the dirt. I still use a couple of my first HF chisels. They just work fine. I also have Thompson and D-way chisels.
 

john lucas

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I have one of the older inexpensive grinders that were sold before Rikon. Probably the same machine just different brand name. It has one steel wheel CBN and on lighter CBN. It does take some time to get up to speed but I never really notice it. By the time I have my tool in my hand and set the Roborest of put it in the Wolverine it's up to speed. Of course my car takes about 13 seconds to get to 60 so I guess I've learned to live with less. I did see a Volkswagaon the other day that had 1000hp. Would love to have that to blow away Corvettes at a stoplight but then I dream a lot.
 
Joined
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Besides the power difference, the early 1/2 hp rikon had a very small shaft shoulder which made it quite difficult to Adjust the CBN wheel runout. I don’t know if this was improved. The 1hp model has a larger shoulder facilitating initial balancing. General engineering rule of thumb says it’s better to over power your equipment which reduces stress on your motor and thereby increases service life.
 
Joined
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I have the Ken Rizza 1 HP Rikon set up. Since I usually need the wheels stopped to reference the jig off the wheel surface I'm not switching on till I'm ready to grind. So for me the rapid spin up is a plus. But then 140 bucks in the piggy bank would be a plus, too.
 
Joined
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Windermere, British Columbia
Agreed. 7", 1/2hp Baldor for me. (8" wasn't in the budget when I bought.) You know, lathes are, by comparison, so much more expensive now than 20 years ago, but when people are willing to put down $2500-6000+ on a lathe, $100-200 for a turning tool, then insist on buying a $100 grinder to mount their $150+ fancy wheels... something seems amiss here. A $100 consumer grinder can't hold a candle to a $500-1000 industrial grinder designed to run all day long, for decades. Buy once, buy right.
I agree with you. But most of us try and save money. We can’t afford our 6,000 Oneway lathe, so we wait 2 years to finally find a used one for 1,500. We buy a fancy turning tool once a year at Christmas. And we are willing to stand and stare at our grinder for 30 sec while getting up to speed wishing we had extra money for a tradesman grinder. Knowing if we did we are prolonging paying our property taxes.
 
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Bashaw, Alberta
Agreed. 7", 1/2hp Baldor for me. (8" wasn't in the budget when I bought.) You know, lathes are, by comparison, so much more expensive now than 20 years ago, but when people are willing to put down $2500-6000+ on a lathe, $100-200 for a turning tool, then insist on buying a $100 grinder to mount their $150+ fancy wheels... something seems amiss here. A $100 consumer grinder can't hold a candle to a $500-1000 industrial grinder designed to run all day long, for decades. Buy once, buy right.

I don't see the problem with buying the more affordable option that does the job just fine.
 
Joined
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My first grinder was one of the blue no name 3/4 hp grinders from Woodcraft. It worked, but even with the white aluminum oxide grinding wheels, it just didn't have much power. My second grinder was a 3/4 hp slow speed Baldor. The power difference between the two was about the same difference as the weight, which was at least 2 to 1 in favor of the Baldor. For reasons I don't understand, the amp draw on the WC grinder was more than the Baldor. I do have the steel CBN wheels. As a production turner, and some one who uses a platform for all of my sharpening, all of those times of waiting for the wheels to come up to speed would be big difference. When WC started carrying the Rikon, I looked at the 1/2 hp grinder and didn't even consider it. I went with the 1 hp model. It comes up to speed as fast as the Baldor grinders.

Now, if we are sharpening 'perfectly' then all we do is just kiss the bevel edges. This requires us to be able to perfectly match bevel angles. If you have to do any reshaping of your tools at all, the 1/2 hp grinder is very underpowered because you need more pressure. If you have time to waste, no problem. If you want more turning time, then you need a separate set up for shaping. I don't do much shaping any more. If you search, you can find used grinders for sale. Other brands like Jet can handle 2 metal 1 1/2 inch wide CBN wheels. Of course if you buy new, you will find it for sale the next day or so....

robo hippy
 

Mark Hepburn

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I am in the need for a slow speed grinder. So there are the 1/2 hp Rikon and the 1 hp Rikon. I have searched this forum, but haven’t found what I am looking for. There is also the Delta vs grinder. The 1/2 hp Rikon can be had for $100, and the 1 hp is about $240 including shipping. The delta is in-between. I watched Ken Rizza’s test on the Rikon. The 1 hp was up to speed in less than two seconds where the 1/2 hp took eight seconds. Have no idea about the delta. I will be using steel CBN wheels. I am not a production turner.

My question is once the 1/2h hp is up to speed (waiting the startup eight seconds) is there a noticeable difference between these grinders? When sharpening is there a tendency to stall the 1/2 hp Rikon? I know very little about the Delta. Should I even be considering this grinder?

Thanks

Bill,

I still have one of my 1/2 hp Rikon grinders with CBN wheels. I've used it to take some of Doug Thompson's blanks and make parting tools and skews. It does take a bit to come up to speed but it's fine for this purpose. If I were buying a new grinder, I'd get another 1/2 Rikon :)
 

Mark Hepburn

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I have the 1/2 HP Rikon with 2 CBN wheels and yes it takes a few seconds to start up but sharpening is no different with it than my big Delta. The amazing thing is that after shutting down it takes about 13 minutes for it to stop.

The same for me. Rikon 1/2 hp. The thing just keeps going and going.
 
Joined
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For reasons I don't understand, the amp draw on the WC grinder was more than the Baldor. I do have the steel CBN wheels. As a production turner, and some one who uses a platform for all of my sharpening, all of those times of waiting for the wheels to come up to speed would be big difference.
The cheapy grinder motor has less steel in the laminations and less copper in the windings = less efficiency = higher amp draw.
 

Emiliano Achaval

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Agreed. 7", 1/2hp Baldor for me. (8" wasn't in the budget when I bought.) You know, lathes are, by comparison, so much more expensive now than 20 years ago, but when people are willing to put down $2500-6000+ on a lathe, $100-200 for a turning tool, then insist on buying a $100 grinder to mount their $150+ fancy wheels... something seems amiss here. A $100 consumer grinder can't hold a candle to a $500-1000 industrial grinder designed to run all day long, for decades. Buy once, buy right.
Sharpening is as or more important than what lathe you have. I'm a big advocate for buying quality tools. I have never regretted my big investment in my Baldor. it was way more money than my first lathe, a Sears Craftsman.
 
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I was the President of my home club for 10 years and we would have about 3 Pro turners in a year for a demos and 2 or 3 days of hands on in my shop. I have my own grinder (Delta slo-speed 105 lb) which only I use but I had 2 of the Woodcraft slo-speed grinders set up back to back (with aluminum oxide wheels) for everybody to use. One of my students wanted to buy one of the grinders and the setup and I let him buy it for what it would cost me to replace it. Well about that time Woodcraft had a problem with those grinders and pulled them all. There were no reasonably priced slo-speed grinders to be had for the longest time. Then Woodcraft started selling the 1/2 hp Rikon for $139. I bought one and got it setup and I turned it on. Not only was it quiet the aluminum oxide wheels ran perfectly true, never saw that before even with my Delta (when I put 2 $220 CBNs on the Delta it also runs perfectly true). I then put 2 CBNs on the Rikon for all to use (I have it marked in the shop exactly how long it runs after shutoff because I was amazed how long it took to stop). I have recently set up my daughter with a lathe and all the trimmings including the Rikon grinder. I had found another Woodcraft grinder (new in the box) to replace it. I know Baldors are great grinders as we had them at GE where I worked but I saw no great need to get one for general grinding in the shop. When I got the Rikon I don't even know it the 1 hp Rikon was available. All I can say is that the 1/2 hp Rikon works admirably and I would not be afraid of buying another if the need came up. Ken Rizza usually has Rikon grinders with CBNs for very good prices.
 
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This has been interesting to me. As a hobbiest I am going to go with the 1/2 hp Rikon. Those that have the 1/2 hp Rikon seem to be OK with performance. No doubt the 1 hp is an ideal grinder and if I was a production turner it would be my choice. I’m also going to add Ken’s washers for the CBN wheels. The Rikon will have one steel and one aluminum CBN wheel.
 

Roger Wiegand

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I currently have the 1hp Rikon with CBN wheels, I have frequently used Baldors. I'm at a total loss to come up with any difference in sharpening performance between the two. They both spin the wheels appropriately, either will pass the "nickel test" easily. The light on the Rikon is crap (the Baldor doesn't have one), but I was able to add a good LED gooseneck and still come out ~$700 to the good. I certainly enjoy quality tools, but at some point good enough really is good enough.
 
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I bought the 1/2 HP Rikon and spent 2 days trying to get the wheels to run true. Rikon Customer service sent one replacement wheel and backordered the other. Meanwhile I bought Kens CBN wheels. When the B/O'd wheel arrived it was the wrong one. Oh well, they tried.

It would be nice to have the faster spin-up of the 1 HP model that we have at the Club. But it's not that big a deal for me. I can't imagine me leaning into it hard enough to need the HP while grinding. (This is reserved for tool grinding only).
 
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When I got my first 1 hp Rikon, the wheels that came on it ran so far out of true, I would not have given them to some one I didn't like. They were so far off that they would have ended up being 1/2 inch wheels by the time I evened up the sides. The second Rikon I got was better, and those wheels would be safe. First thing I did with them was to remove the bottom rubber feet because I wanted them mounted on plywood. I do like to have my own grinder when I demo. The first Rikon grinder cast base needed 1/16 removed/ground off of 2 of the feet so it would sit flat. The second one sat dead flat. The lamp is junk, and I removed it from both of them.

I am curious about all of those who use the 1/2 hp Rikon. Have any of you ever used the 1 hp model, or another grinder where the CBN wheels came up to speed in 2 seconds?

robo hippy
 

Dennis J Gooding

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When I got my first 1 hp Rikon, the wheels that came on it ran so far out of true, I would not have given them to some one I didn't like. They were so far off that they would have ended up being 1/2 inch wheels by the time I evened up the sides. The second Rikon I got was better, and those wheels would be safe. First thing I did with them was to remove the bottom rubber feet because I wanted them mounted on plywood. I do like to have my own grinder when I demo. The first Rikon grinder cast base needed 1/16 removed/ground off of 2 of the feet so it would sit flat. The second one sat dead flat. The lamp is junk, and I removed it from both of them.

I am curious about all of those who use the 1/2 hp Rikon. Have any of you ever used the 1 hp model, or another grinder where the CBN wheels came up to speed in 2 seconds?

robo hippy

Yes, I have a 1/2 hp Delta with 40 and 80 grit stone wheels that I use to sharpen the 24 inch blades on my brush hog tractor mower. It starts rapidly and does not bog down under the considerable grinding force that I use.
 

Dennis J Gooding

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By the way the 1/2 hp Delta is a 3600 rpm unit, whereas the 1/2 hp Rikon is 1800. Therefore for equal horsepower, the Rikon will produce twice the maximum torque as the Delta.
 
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I am not a production turner so I don't understand what 6 seconds (the difference between fast startup and the 1/2 HP Rikon 8 second startup). It took me 3 times that to type this. You know you turn on the switch. You pick up the jig and slide the gouge in against the 1 3/4 mark. Tighten the jig and I'm sure the grinder is up to speed.
 
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This is clearly one of those "you pays your money, you takes your choice" dilemmas. No right answer.

But here's another consideration, the size of the motor housing. When using the right side wheel the swing of a sharpening fixture to the left is restricted by the motor housing, and vice versa.
I haven't checked it out , but the housing on the 1/2 Rikon is smaller, so iy may offer more clearance.
 
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I have an old, old baldor powered 7” industrial grinder, probably ~ 1960 vintage, that is up to speed almost instantly. I use it for general use in my shop. I ended up with a cheap wen 8” slow speed grinder. The original wheels were crap, one replaced by wen. I now have a 46 and 80 gr norton wheels on it. Yes it spins up slowly like the 1/2 hp rikon, but works just fine. The 46 gr is used for shaping. Not sure how pressure people use when shaping to make a 1/2 hp bog, but I dont bog it down. Im sure I would with a lawnmower blade, but I use a 4” handheld for that. I suspect most hobbyists would be happy with a 1/2 hp and using the $ left over for other stuff.
 
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I was in town yesterday and looked at the Rikon 1/2 horse grinder. I was not very impressed with the platform, it was plastic and looked like it would last through one use. Just another reason for me to look else-where. I'd rather spend more to get quality rather than cheap plastic chinese crap.
 
Joined
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I was in town yesterday and looked at the Rikon 1/2 horse grinder. I was not very impressed with the platform, it was plastic and looked like it would last through one use. Just another reason for me to look else-where. I'd rather spend more to get quality rather than cheap plastic chinese crap.

Not sure if Rikon made changes, but the base is listed as cast iron.
 
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@Mark Jundanian, I've not experienced the motor housing creating clearance problems with sharpening jigs with my 7" Baldor, but I know what you're referring to. I've seen low price grinders with pretty large diameter motors. Maybe having to do with lower quality motor designs that Don W. mentioned earlier in this thread.

@Doug Freeman, I agree, no need to bog the motor, even if the motor is underpowered. The abrasive wheel is the cutter, and like I've always said, I'll take a "sharp cutter" driven by a weak motor over a "dull cutter" driven by a strong motor. In this case, the cutter is the grinding wheel, and if its surface is dressed and round, just the tool weight against the wheel will allow the wheel to grind, no need to push hard. This applies to both reshaping and sharpening. And pushing hard wastes tool steel, anyway. Now, if you're shoving a bolt head into a 36 grit silicon carbide wheel to recreate a fireworks show, well, have at it, and bring on the ponies!

There does seem to be a lot of like (almost said love) for the Rikon grinders here, and on paper you seem to get a lot of bang for the buck. Honestly, I just recommended it to a friend who is a new turner on a very tight budget, esp. since Woodcraft has a screaming deal on it right now ($110 with white wheels). But, if one has the ability to stretch the budget, I'd still recommend a higher quality grinder (better motor, bearings, castings, machining, quality control, etc) and outfit it with basic white alum. oxide wheels until such time that the budget allows a wheel upgrade.

Steve.
 
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