Bench grinder wheel dressing/balancing

[Paul A Andrews]

I have a bench grinder that tries to dance around the shop during warm up and shut down so I've been looking for guidance on how to make sure the wheels are perfectly round and mounted so they run true vertically. One of the systems I read up on was the Geiger Solutions Tru-N-Dress tool and the Grinder Tune Up kit which consists of the aforementioned tool plus steel bushings, shims etc. Some excellent UTube videos demonstrating their use. I was pretty keen until I saw the price. $110 for the tool and $130 for the kit. They do look like a good answer to my problem but is there a simpler and less expensive way to accomplish the same thing?

 

[olaf Vogel]

I took a class, years ago, where the professional turner had the smoothest grinder ever. An $800 industrial one.
But his advice was buy a cheap grinder, get a balancer and set it up.
https://oneway.ca/products-category/sharpening-grinding-jigs/Balancing Systems

Works very well.
Unless your wheel is severely messed up, should solve your issue.

But, IMO all grinders should be bolted down anyway.

 

[Paul A Andrews]

I will investigate the Oneway product. The Oneway plant is about 45 minutes from my house and makes quality products. I covet the 1640 lathe they make. I'll see if I can find a demo video. BTW, my grinder is bolted down. Perhaps "dancing around the shop" gave a different impression but I guess I was trying to communicate the severe vibration. Thanks for your response. Much appreciated.

 

[robo hippy]

Buying CBN wheels is a 'do it the right way so you never have to do it again' solution (Woodturner's Wonders, or D Way, or up in Canada Tradesman). Some times you can take a standard wheel and tune/true it up by hand if you have a good platform, a steady hand, and one of the T dressers. If you bought the wheel new and it has plastic bushings, get rid of those and get some metal bushings from the fastener places, or your big box store may have some. Do check your grinder without the wheels on to see if the axle runs true. Some times just rotating the wheel 90 or 180 degrees can help balance them better.

robo hippy

 

[Bill Boehme]

Don Geiger's site also tells you how to do it for basically no cost. Go to a hardware store to get some Oilite or steel bushings and also some sticky labels to take out the wobble. The T-handle tool isn't the greatest, but you can make a fixture to hold it square to the tool rest and do nearly as good as the Geiger or Oneway truing tools. My complaint about the Oneway balancing kit is that it doesn't fix any of the problems, its more like putting a band-aid on it and down the road, you may need to repeat to balancing as the wheels wear.

 

[Paul A Andrews]

Thanks Bill. I decided not to wimp out and do it myself. The techniques required are, as you pointed out, amply described and demonstrated online. So I started to take the wheels off except I couldn't figure out how to immobilize the wheel while I removed the nut. Owners manual said take the wheel off, without saying anything about how. Called my buddy around the corner and he consulted the manual for his grinder and it said use a piece of wood to jam into the space between the wheel and the wheel cover, on the top to remove and on the bottom to reinstall. I guess Rikon expected me to know that. Anyway, we're on to the balancing now. Thanks for your help.

 

[robo hippy]

Most of the time, I can just grab the wheel and use a wrench to loosen the nut. Care must be taken with standard wheels when putting them back on to not over tighten. If you clamp things down, you can crack the wheel, or put enough stress on it that any catch can make it blow up. Get it snug. They do not unwind during use, and left side is reverse threaded.

robo hippy

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Other than my Stubby, the most money I spent was for a 3/4 Hp industrial Baldor 8in grinder. Best money I ever spent... Now I have 2 cbn wheels, the wheels run for over 10 minutes after I turn it off.

 

[john lucas]

Be aware that one wheel is left hand thread and one right. So for at least one wheel you can put a wrench on both sides and one nut will loosen. You will have to either jam something against the other wheel to loosen that nut or in a worse case a pair of locking pliers on the shaft of the wheel you just removed will hold it so you can loosen the other nut.

 

[Paul A Andrews]

Got the wheels off. Now off to the store to get the other supplies I need. Incidentally I don't see any plastic bushings or anything else plastic for that matter.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Got the wheels off. Now off to the store to get the other supplies I need. Incidentally I don't see any plastic bushings or anything else plastic for that matter.

That's good. Many wheels have a large hole maybe ¾" or larger and a cheap set of nested plastic bushings so that the wheel can be used on various shaft diameters. If your wheels have holes that match the shaft diameter or has metal bushings then that's one item that you don't need to buy.

 

[Paul A Andrews]

Holes match the shaft diameter! Yippee!

 

[Paul A Andrews]

More dumb questions to come. The good part of doing this is I get to know the tools. Don Geiger's site says to use some light cardboard and glue it on the wheel, leaving 1/4" gap to the circumference, using photo mount spray. My research into the spray reached two conclusions. Its pricey and its a permanent bond. Its probably not all that pricey if you use a lot of it but I may never use it again. Question 1. What adhesive would you buy? The second question is about the permanent bond and really focusses on how you decide to replace a wheel. Obviously if the wheel is dressed often it will shrink. Probably take a while to reduce the diameter by 1/2" but I presume you could continue to sharpen with it when it's been shrunk into the cardboard? The cardboard is on the side and you're not using the side to sharpen. If your grinder is 8" like mine when do you replace the wheel? Obviously new territory for me.

 

[Bill Boehme]

You can use Elmer's Multipurpose Spray Adhesive. It is really cheap ... about $3 for a 4 oz can. The picture on Don's site shows Elmer's Craft Bond spray adhesive. I don't know how much it costs. It might have lower tack, but just use the cheap stuff very lightly.

He said to use light card stock, not cardboard. something on the order of index cards in thickness. You could even use printer paper. Photo papers would be great.

When you use the spray adhesive let it dry before sticking it to the wheel. It shouldn't be too difficult to peel the paper from the wheel using a pocketknife or just leave it.

 

[olaf Vogel]

Got the wheels off. Now off to the store to get the other supplies I need. Incidentally I don't see any plastic bushings or anything else plastic for that matter.

I'm an advocate of not spending big $$$ on premium stuff. But there is a big difference between a cheap wheel and a higher end one.
I've used the ceramic (white) one, with great success. Still on the first one after 6 years.

A lot of people like the CNB, you have to decide if its worth spending the money on one.

Get the right diameter hole, stay away from the spacers - they add wobble / noise.
And check that the clamping washers / plates are big and thick. Clamping the wheel down well (not necessarily tight) is important.
As others have said, these nuts are designed to be self tightening. So torquing avoid torquing them down - I find hand tight is enough, then turn the grinder on.

 

[Paul A Andrews]

With the much appreciated assistance of people responding to my post I now have my grinder tuned up. Wheels don't wobble and they're round. I purchased the Oneway dresser jig this week and then, before I used it, went to a Guild workshop and attended, among several, a sharpening clinic. The guy teaching had the little homemade jig I think Bill mentionned and today I made one for the T-handle dressing tool and it worked great so the Oneway kit is going back to Lee Valley in the morning. End of saga and very little cost. Thanks!