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Bench Grinder for shaping material?

O

osaleh

Active Member
hi,
i am working on the training project. I was using files, vixen, etc... to debur the edges of the various pieces. I also used right and left snips to trim the stiffeners. Today i bought a bench grinder. I used the grinding wheel to shape badly cut stiffener and it worked great. I then used the scotchbrite wheel to debur and round the sharp edges. I also used the scotchbrite wheel to debur and round all the rest of the pieces. So my questions are:
1) is a file really needed or is it replaced by the bench grinder?
2) Can we use the grinder wheel to shape the stiffeners instead of cutting with a snip? i did that and it seemed to work, the stiffener became very hot. i wanted to know if anyone does this.
3) do i still need to buy a belt sander?
4) will a Band saw do a better job of cutting my pieces instead of a snip or grinder wheel?

I appreciate any help.
Thx
 
What ever you do, Don't use the grinding wheel for aluminum.
A good chance the stone will explode if you now use steel on it. I have seen the end results, not very nice and caused major injury to the person using it at the time.
You can have the stone refaced to remove the aluminum, but I would throw it away and get a new one. I have the Scotchbrite wheel fitted to mine and it works well for a initial debur, I then use a file for finishing.
One of the best workshop tools is the belt sander with a disc on the side, You will clean up those parts quicker and will wounder how you survived without it.

Cheers
Mick H
 
osaleh said:
......is a file really needed or is it replaced by the bench grinder?.....will a Band saw do a better job of cutting my pieces instead of a snip or grinder wheel
Click to expand...
At the aircraft manufacturing facility I long worked in, every production department had a common area including a drill press and 12" bench sander. Between those two tools, a worker can accomplish a lot of fabrication. Personally, I rarely if ever use tin snips and almost always relegate that task to a much more efficient band saw. Also, in my home shop (and hangar for that matter), I have a 12" Grizzly bench sander installed and always ready to go. That tool alone goes a long way towards quickly finishing any number of production tasks...just like at work. To illustrate just how useful a bench sander is when fabricating parts, see post number 19 here: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=35687&highlight=Grizzly+bench+sander

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another opinion

osaleh said:
hi,
So my questions are:
1) is a file really needed or is it replaced by the bench grinder?
Click to expand...
I use my files all of the time. I don't think it is something that can be replaced. They are both useful in their own ways. The grinder can take stock down to a nice shape quickly, and the file can put a nice straight edge on the piece. Files can work up slowly to a dimension, whereas the grinder works fast.
2) Can we use the grinder wheel to shape the stiffeners instead of cutting with a snip? i did that and it seemed to work, the stiffener became very hot.
i wanted to know if anyone does this.
Click to expand...
I have used the grinder in this fashion when the amount of material to remove is fairly small. The grinder will heat up everything. Sometimes to the point of serious pain on thicker pieces! Wear gloves and take your time.
3) do i still need to buy a belt sander?
Click to expand...
I wish I had one, but I've run out of room in my shop. I can see where it would be very handy for many tasks.
4) will a Band saw do a better job of cutting my pieces instead of a snip or grinder wheel?
Click to expand...
I have a band saw and it works fine for most small pieces that will fit under the throat. I have used the tin snips in some places where the piece to trim just wouldn't fit into the band saw. The snips can make rather wavy cuts, so leave a gap between the final line on the part and your initial cut. Use the grinder to get close to the line and finish off with the sander or file to the final dimension. Then a last smoothing with the scotchbrite deburring wheel.
 
Mick posted already about this but I want to second his comments on using a stone grinding wheel on aluminum. This can be a very dangerous situation given the right circumstances. Please be aware of this danger if you are going to continue using it. Of course we are all free to choose how we build our planes but I would not recommend using a stone grinding wheel on aluminum parts.

An inexpensive belt sander can replace all the functionality of a grinding wheel when working with aluminum. The sander will make very fast work of shaping aluminum parts. I would consider it a must in any airplane factory.
 
Belt sander is the choice for me as well, works nice on alum. I dont use the grinder much at all for alum...and could do without it. Hand files, especially small ones, are certainly a 'nice-to-have' tool...and pretty cheap.
 
I like snips, hack saw and files

While the power tools noted (except for grinding aluminum on a wheel made for steel) are very handy, I find that the parts for an RV can be made very nicely with non-power hand tools.

Even after using a band saw, for instance, the cut edge is wavy and can be better straightened by proper use of a file. Afterwards the scotchbrite wheel is used to debur. The scotchbrite wheel is a such a great tool, I consider it a required one.

A bench power sander (which I have used at work but don't have in my shop) of either wheel or belt style are great for shaping aluminum. However, the same can be done with accurate hack saw and file and decent vice.

From a minimum purchase standpoint, the scotchbrite wheel and a drill press are the only bench power tools I would consider crucial to construction. The rest are luxuries.
 
non ferrous materials on grinding wheel

As Mick and Steve said, you should never grind non ferrous materials on a grinding wheel. The reason is the material will imbed itself in the wheel, then as you continue to grind the material may expand and this will force the wheel to expand as well. As the wheel expands on the perimeter it will propagate cracks all the way to the arbor, this is when the whole wheel comes apart while spinning at very high RPMS. The proper tool would be either a scotch bright wheel or belt or disk sander.

Keith
 
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