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apatti

Well Known Member
My Ryobi brand (Home Depot) bench grinder is dying after only 2 years or so of not so much use. Two questions:

1) Are they worth repairing? I have to give it a good spin or two before it will finally "catch" and slowly come up to speed. Do bench grinders have startup capacitors. Sounds like this could be my problem.

2) Assuming the answer to number 1 is a no, what brands/size are you running that you would recommend? Where did you buy it?

Thanks,
 
Some two-handed advice

Harry Truman wanted to meet a one-handed economist (...on the other hand..). Now I will be guilty of same. Sorry, Harry.
My dad had a hardware store in a working class area near the Detroit auto plants. He sold Lufkin tools (the best at the time). He always told his customers only the rich can afford to buy cheap tools. They usually took his advice.
On the other hand, I have a Delta grinder that cost about $25 on sale and it's doing the job of occasional work in the RV shop. I've had it about 3 years. I would do it again.
 
apatti said:
My Ryobi brand (Home Depot) bench grinder is dying after only 2 years or so of not so much use. Two questions:

1) Are they worth repairing? I have to give it a good spin or two before it will finally "catch" and slowly come up to speed. Do bench grinders have startup capacitors. Sounds like this could be my problem.

2) Assuming the answer to number 1 is a no, what brands/size are you running that you would recommend? Where did you buy it?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
I have two of the Harbor Freight $35 model, one with a lamp, one without. I prefer the one with the lamp, it works much better (stronger) than the one without even though the motors are rated the same. I do, however have to give the wheel a spin before I turn it on or it doesn't go. It's probably cheaper to buy a new one than to try and fix it.

PJ
 
Highly recommend...

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Best motor for deburring with a 3M Scothcbrite wheel you can get for the money.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40668

-Jeff
 
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Anyone else have any issues with the Ryobi Bench Grinder Model: BGH616 ?

It's on sale starting tomorrow for 3 days for $20 CAD at Home Depot.

For $20 I don't think you can go wrong, even if it breaks in 2 years. What do you think? Go for it?

Edit: Heck ... I just noticed it has a 2-year warranty.
 
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I built my whole airplane using one of those little Ryobis - bought it in a pinch, figured it was cheap enough to replace when I needed a "real" one....still using it for everything 4.5 years later!

Paul
 
Beauty! Just what I wanted to hear. Looks like I'll buy it tomorrow then. My Isham Kit is in the mail and I'm starting to take over the basement rec. room! :D
 
Adam Oke said:
Anyone else have any issues with the Ryobi Bench Grinder Model: BGH616 ?
Click to expand...
I have the same one and it works fine. The problem is, all that stuff around the wheels really gets in the way. I removed the glass shields and work rests and flipped the lights to the back, but the metal guards are not removable and significantly limit access for deburring large or odd-shaped pieces on the scotch brite wheels.

I ended up putting the stone wheels back on the grinder and getting one of these for deburring:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94393
Access is a million times better, and I wear safety glasses.
 
Bench grinder repair

I have been using a "El cheapo" bench grinder for the last 25 years. It has been used to build 2 RV's and has failed on two occasions.

1. The push/pull on off switch stopped working. Solution: remove the switch, re-bend the contacts.

2. The grinder wouldn't start without spinning it first (made buzzing sound when turned on). The cause of was the centrifugal switch wasn't working. This switch disconnects the capacitor once the grinder is up to a certain RPM. The capacitor is only used during start-up of the motor.

Solution: Remove the side of the case and re-bend the contracts on the centrifugal switch. Takes about 5 minutes to perform this operation.

My bet is that your centrifugal switch contacts aren't working. Try to fix this yourself, if all else fails buy a new one.

I have a bought a replacement grinder just in case mine were to die on me after all these years. The new grinder has been sitting in its box for the past 8 years.

Good luck.
 
The main difference between a Harbor Freight grinder and a high end like Baldor is the diameter of the motor. The Baldor motor is small in diameter compared to the cheaper ones. If you've never used an expensive grinder you won't know the difference. Working with long pieces the motor gets in the way a lot more. One example (not RV related) would be sharpening a lawn mower blade. You will really see the benefit of a good grinder after using one. Having said that, I have used a cheap $25.00 grinder for 90% of building my RV9 just because I didn't want to tie up one of my good grinders in the machine shop.
 
hey adam,
just bought one of those a week ago and am going down there today to get some of my $$ back. it's cheap and works just fine.
i removed the entire light, housing on the right to mount the 3M on it. now it is the perfect deburring machine!

hope they give me some coin back or i'll pack this one up and return it for one that is on-sale:)

adios
 
borislav said:
I have the same one and it works fine. The problem is, all that stuff around the wheels really gets in the way. I removed the glass shields and work rests and flipped the lights to the back, but the metal guards are not removable and significantly limit access for deburring large or odd-shaped pieces on the scotch brite wheels.
Click to expand...

I went out today and had taken a look at a couple Grinders. Canadian Tire's Mastercraft at $59.99 CAD has a removable guard. Home Depot's, like you said, did not. Then I went over to the trusty Princess Auto and checked out their Grinder.

$49.99 CAD ... appears to be a removable guard with lifetime warrenty. I think I may be going for "Power Fist" Princess Auto bench top equiptment particularily for the lifetime warranty. I'm sure it'll go on Sale at some point in time.

Home depot has theirs on sale for 3 days ... I'll hold for a couple more days and think it over if the extra money for the princess auto grinder is worth the lifetime warranty.
 
oh, but it does... take the wheel off and there are some screws and remove it.

pop the switch out and pulled the light off.

Hp-1HOT4nsrEE6PVyeniBQ
 
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I have a Baldor Buffer/Polisher.

rv9aviator said:
The main difference between a Harbor Freight grinder and a high end like Baldor is the diameter of the motor. The Baldor motor is small in diameter compared to the cheaper ones. If you've never used an expensive grinder you won't know the difference. Working with long pieces the motor gets in the way a lot more. One example (not RV related) would be sharpening a lawn mower blade. You will really see the benefit of a good grinder after using one. Having said that, I have used a cheap $25.00 grinder for 90% of building my RV9 just because I didn't want to tie up one of my good grinders in the machine shop.
Click to expand...

You probably dont need it, but I am a nut for good quality tools. I also have a cheap Crastman for steel work, but I would not trade my Baldor for edge finishing. Smooth, powerful, quiet, and it will last a lifetime. What's your time worth?
 
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