Budget 8" grinder

[swatson144]

I recently bought a Steele brand 8" grinder from the sears outlet store for 50$ (lots of them in stock). New unopened. It only took a couple hours to fit some 38A wheels to it. A quick search turned up with

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CEYQ8wIwAQ .

It's no Baldor but ut runs smooth with a soft start,

The concrete wheels that com with it are trash.

Steve

[737mechanic]

Not to bad of a deal for an 8"

[Mr Ron]

It's listed as a 3/4hp, but then it says 1/2hp and 2.1 amps. Very contradictory. What is it?

[SteveM]

It's listed as a 3/4hp, but then it says 1/2hp and 2.1 amps. Very contradictory. What is it?

Not contradictory at all. It's probably 1/4 hp.

If you were to pull it apart, you'll probably find that while the "motor" appears to be about 6" diameter, there's about a 3"-4" diameter motor inside that case.

But hey, if it works and allows you to use easily available 8" wheels, then great.

Steve

[swatson144]

I really don't know what actual HP it has but it spins up the 8x1" wheels that came on it easily. I have ground a couple tools with it and it seems to have no strain in doing so with the 7" and 6 " wheels I have on it. I bought it simply to grind HSS tools so I don't see the power of it as an issue. I ground a 1/2 fine finishing tool and never slowed it down an iota. I don't think I'd recommend it for sharpening breaker hammer chisels though it might do fine. On the box it said 550W so knowing as best I can remember ~875W = 1HP I decided it'd probably be able to over power my pressing a piece of tool steel to it.

It has 5/8" shafts which seem to only like 1" wide wheels because of the way it is threaded, so I had to make thicker washers for the inside of the wheels. It probably would have been better to make 2 thinner washers to center the wheels a little better but I usually don't use the rests anyhow. I also simply turned some plastic arbor adapters to center 1 1/4 wheels on the shafts for now that seems to be working so well I'll likely just continue the practice

Steve.

[swatson144]

BTW this purchase seems to go with my rather odd buying scheme for my hobbies. Either buy excellent quality one time or buy something cheap as chips to get by with until a bargain is found. A professional would just be throwing out 50$ on this rig. A hobbyist like me OTOH can run this and collect up some wheels for when they stumble onto a good grinder at a garage sale or such.

I've had an HF 6" for ~20 yrs. after a lot of usage the shaft started walking from side to side. It seems they loctited the shaft into the bearings. I simply needed to measure the thrust and cut a shim for it and now it is as good as new and I don't have to chase the wheels around. With this one I figured worst case I was buying the guards for 50$

Steve

[SteveM]

BTW this purchase seems to go with my rather odd buying scheme for my hobbies. Either buy excellent quality one time or buy something cheap as chips to get by with until a bargain is found.

I've been searching in vain for a good used 7" or 8" grinder. I'll probably break down and get one from Harbor Freight at some point.

Steve

[warmstrong1955]

I have a lot of 'fixer-uppers'.

My 8" grinder is a cheapy Delta. Friend bought it, and it quit working almost out of the box. They sent him a whole new grinder. He was throwin' it away, so I took it home, and checked it out. One capacitor later, and a wave washer to get rid of the end play, I had a 8" grinder. Been using it for 15 years. Doesn't take a lot of HP to grind a bit....
I put some Norton stones on it, and for sharpening drill bits and HSS tooling, it's fine....and almost free, is a good price.

My Ingersoll Rand T30 was a freebie too....headin' to the scrap heap when I intercepted it. It just needed a few home made parts to get it running again. I switched it from a Kohler gas burner to electric later.

Bill

[Jose Rivera]

As long as it will get the job done !!!
Mine are made in Taiwan and in China.

[swatson144]

Did you guys hear about the fellow who mounted a grinder to his stamped steel segmented garage door?

He liked that it was self cleaning, but the police and fire service complained that they couldn't hear their sirens anymore.

Steve

[dgoddard]

It's listed as a 3/4hp, but then it says 1/2hp and 2.1 amps. Very contradictory. What is it?

2.1 amps at 120 volts = 252 watts, 252 watts / 746 watts per HP = .34 hp.
But that is electrical so it would be less mechanical due to inefficiencies

By comparison my Sears Best Craftsman 8" 1 hp grinder purchased circa 1977 is rated:
6.8 amps at 115 volts = 782 watts, 782 watts/ 746 watts per hp = 1.05 hp.
It turns 2 wheels 8 inch dia x 1 inch thick at 3580 rpm (idle) and it gets the job done !

8 inch is about a practical maximum for running at around 3500 rpm. Larger than that they should probably run at about half the speed with a 4 pole motor so the wheels will stand the stress, But be careful there are a lot of 8 inch wheels rated at only around 1700 to 1800 rpm or there abouts, and you don't want a wheel coming apart on you. (or through you, or in you )

I have found most of these import grinders to be wusses, but if yours does your job, then be happy and forget the power claims.
The 3/4 hp is probably a surge rating that they came up with as a peak value. Its like the ridiculous surge horse powers that compressor manufacturers were claiming until they got sued for false advertising when they were claiming 3 or more horse power for motors that had a surge when trying to start the compressor. Vacuum cleaner companies were claiming even more ludicrous horsepowers.

Frankly I think that all these imports with outrageous claims should be stopped from importing until clean up their act.

[AlphaGeek]

I've been very pleased with my Palmgren 82081 grinder, which I got in late 2009 for under $200 via Amazon Prime. (Checked the price, it's still under $200.)

Compared to the $50 special cited by the OP, this may not count as budget, but I find it to be an excellent compromise between the Baldor standard (at $600+) vs. Home Dipstick/Harbor Fright grade grinders.

Pros:
* 0.75 HP rating is slightly conservative, and in fact it can probably lay down close to 1HP as long as you don't demand it continuously for extended periods
* Excellent bearings & bearing fittings
* Motor shaft is nicely machined, straight and true with good threads on both ends

Cons:
* The included wheels make excellent counterweights or doorstops
* The dust-collection setup is a pain to assemble but works fine

Other:
* The white 8x1 Norton wheel I selected based on Harold's recommendation works a treat on HSS, but man does it make a mess when it sheds grains
* Get yourself a nice screwdriver-handle, rectangular-face diamond dresser

-AG