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Bench Grinder Question

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Parrot14A

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I'm trying to put a 6" 3M C/P 7A-MED Deburring wheel (like the one available from Vans and Cleaveland) on my bench grinder.

I put the first flange on and then the wheel with the reducer bushing (1' to 1/2'). When I try to put on the outer flange there's no smooth arbor left. Only threaded arbor is left exposed and the flange slips into the grooves so it will move about a 1/16' of inch back and forth. There no way to force it stay centered.

Any ideas?
 

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N8DAV8R said:
gasman said:
Your bigger problem is..... mounting it on a bench...:eek:
View attachment 48827

Or...using a grinder instead of the polisher. :)
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I've seen several people posting that they prefer the polisher. I looked and the specs for the polisher (at least at HF) and it's a few dollars more than the grinder, 1/2 HP vs 1/3 but other than that they both spin a 1/2" arbor with a 6" wheel at 3450 RPM. So I didn't see much difference unless that extra HP comes in handy. Maybe I'm missing something.

I needed a grinder for other projects so I bought mine to leave a stone grinding wheel on one side and then put the deburring wheel on the other.
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Grinder or polisher -- I suggest that you find one that has a motor diameter that is less than that of the deburring wheel. Such a configuration is best when you need to do edge deburring work on long/straight pieces of aluminum.
 
Parrot14A said:
N8DAV8R said:
I've seen several people posting that they prefer the polisher. I looked and the specs for the polisher (at least at HF) and it's a few dollars more than the grinder, 1/2 HP vs 1/3 but other than that they both spin a 1/2" arbor with a 6" wheel at 3450 RPM. So I didn't see much difference unless that extra HP comes in handy. Maybe I'm missing something.

I needed a grinder for other projects so I bought mine to leave a stone grinding wheel on one side and then put the deburring wheel on the other.
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1/2HP vs 1/3HP single phase is a big difference but for edge finishing, not large surface polishing, it probably doesn’t make a difference.

However, a “true” polishing machine will have extended arbors allowing you to polish larger pieces at lower angles. Grinders have short arbors.

I don’t trust HF descriptions. Go to Baldor and you can see the real difference in a grinder and a polisher. Most folks don’t want to spend the money and a cheap grinder will do the job. Baldor is a lifetime commercial tool and bears the price to go with it.
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Parrot14A said:
I thought about putting it on a separate stand but I built a sturdy bench for nothing but bench top power tools.
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The problem is, all the dust (product of deburring) ends up on your bench and anything else that is on the bench.

The MAIN problem is, deburring long items, you will be passing the part over the wheel just below the shaft (wheel) centerline at about 45deg moving from high right to low left, providing you are right handed and you have the wheel on the left side of the motor. So, you want nothing under the wheel so you have full access.

Leave it on the bench for now.... You will understand all of this later when you start to use it.

If you were going to set up to polish, you would need way more power and a longer shaft to have clearance for the bulky parts. The grinder will do everything you need to build an RV
 
Bench

Parrot14A said:
I thought about putting it on a separate stand but I built a sturdy bench for nothing but bench top power tools.
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Mine is on the bench as well. Ryobi motor is smaller than the wheel. Well sort of. Wheel is about 1/2 gone. Scotchbrite on the left just off the edge of the benchtop. Right usually has a polishing wheel. One hit on a rough wheel and you'll understand why. If I need to use the right side, I just swap wheels and replace the polishing wheel when done. I also made a cardboard wheel. It sometimes lives on the right side. Pretty benign wheel. It doesn't do anything if hit by accident.
I suggest swapping the wheel for one with the correct hole size. That wheel gets a lot of use.
As far as dust? That's it's job. I vacuum the bench. All the other tools generate trash too.
 
When I visited the original Synergy Air for a class, they had a Harbor Freight buffer set up on a stand with 2 deburring wheels.

I copied that setup with one medium, one fine wheel - you need an adapter to fit arbors on the HF buffer, usually sold wherever the wheels are sold.

Works great because you can adjust angle of the pieces so much easier than with the short arbors on a regular grinder. (already mentioned by someone else earlier)

Buffer:

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-buffer-61557.html

Stand:

https://www.harborfreight.com/unive...nd-59196.html?_br_psugg_q=bench+grinder+stand

I had to drill some new holes in the stand to match the buffer. No big deal.
 
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Parrot14A said:
N8DAV8R said:
I've seen several people posting that they prefer the polisher. I looked and the specs for the polisher (at least at HF) and it's a few dollars more than the grinder, 1/2 HP vs 1/3 but other than that they both spin a 1/2" arbor with a 6" wheel at 3450 RPM. So I didn't see much difference unless that extra HP comes in handy. Maybe I'm missing something.

I needed a grinder for other projects so I bought mine to leave a stone grinding wheel on one side and then put the deburring wheel on the other.
Click to expand...

It's mainly the extension of the arbors. They stick out further so you have more clearance around the wheel for parts. Having used both, my opinion is that it's a worthwhile benefit to go polisher.

I also found it worth while to have two grits of scotch-brite, one on each side. The coarse wheel is nice for the big burrs on thick parts or cleaning up things you have to fabricate.
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N8DAV8R said:
It's mainly the extension of the arbors. They stick out further so you have more clearance around the wheel for parts. Having used both, my opinion is that it's a worthwhile benefit to go polisher.
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I think you're right that the benefit of the polisher/buffer is the longer arbor, but you can get arbor extensions for a grinder that provide the same clearance. I have an 8" grinder that has a big motor housing and made it difficult to use for a Scotch-Brite wheel. I put an extension on it (McMaster Carr I believe), and it's worked fine for deburring. I also have it mounted on a bench and haven't really had any issue with that. Granted, for really long or awkward pieces I tend to skip the large wheel anyway and just run an edge deburring blade over them and then hit them with a 1" Scotch-Brite on my die grinder.
 

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Sometimes you can find Baldor buffers on CL. I got lucky and found a 1HP 3 PH buffer ( I have a phase converter ) for $125. Bearings were sound and it runs as smooth as silk.
This thing is a beast and way more tool than one needs for an RV build, but with its extended arbors, you can maneuver anything through it.

Keep your eyes out. Once you get used to using quality tools, it’s hard to go back.

PS I built my airplane with a cheap Craftsman grinder but upgraded later, so there!
 
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