Harbor Freight tool grinder ??

[Hal]

I did a search and read that some of you have purchased Harbor Freight's tool grinders.

How are they holding up and have you had to replace anything on them or have the grinder replaced?

Would you buy another one?

I am looking for something to sharpen tool bit on and the HF seems to be the best buy.

I was going to buy a 1"x 42" Wilton belt sander as they work great to sharpen HSS on but I guess know one makes a belt to sharpen carbide on.

Hal

[MTNGUN]

I like mine. Worked fine out of the box. Some people have reported poor balance, but mine spins smooth.

Like a lot of other people, I had to reshape the guards a little bit to fit a white wheel.

I'm saving money for a diamond wheel. In the meantime, white on one side for HSS and the original green wheel on the other side for carbide.

The miter gauge is a little wimpy, but the tables are sturdy and large, giving you a lot of options for homemade tool rests.

So yes, get one. You won't regret it.

[interiorpainter]

I do my carbide grinding on a Russian diamand disk. Also the small hss drills.
Yes i know but these disks cost virtually nothing.
As for the machine you ask about, sorry.
Never heard about a belt that is suitable for carbide.

[Hal]

Interiorpainter

Tell me more about the Russian Diamond disk you use. What are they, where do you get them and what grit do you use.

Hal

[Carld]

The HF tool grinder is a good grinder. I would not grind hard on it but then you don't grind hard to sharpen tool bits. I like mine and would buy another or repair this one.

The main thing with tool grinders is to dress the wheel when it is glazed which is often. You can tell it needs dressing because the wheel don't cut well.

It's EXTREMELY important to keep the wheel dressed.

[ahidley]

If I knew then what I know now would have spent the $300 (HF grinder+stand+ 2 diamond wheels) LONG AGO

[Alistair Hosie]

Maybe this sounds a little naive, but the ones I saw on H F looked good value for money. They turn just like a $1000 one maybe they won't last as long and need tweaking here and there to get it the way you want it, but isn't that half the fun of owning a shop.Sometimes we read too much int the very best tools litterature and und up with the emperors new clothes syndrom, my 2 cents worth.In general it might be better with lathes milling machines larger more daily used objects to buy the very best. I did but with grinders drills etc don't be fooled by the expensively biased coloured pamphlets!Alistair

[lazlo]

Maybe this sounds a little naive, but the ones I saw on H F looked good value for money. They turn just like a $1000 one maybe they won't last as long and need tweaking here and there to get it the way you want it, but isn't that half the fun of owning a shop.

They definitely don't turn like a real Baldor 500 (the Baldor carbide grinder that was cloned), but there's nearly a 10x difference in price.

The "green" wheels are sh!t -- throw them away and get diamond wheels or AO wheels if you're doing HSS.

The balance varies a lot out of the box, but turning a new wheel face bushing and turning the back of the cast aluminum wheel mounts makes a big difference.

The table adjust mechanism sucks badly. It's a major hassle to change angles without the holding washer popping out, so I usually leave one table at 15°, which works for most HSS tool sharpening.

All in all, with an hour or two of work, you can get them working pretty well for $99.

Cheers,

Robert

[Tyro 001]

I bought one about 2 years ago. In order to get the tables to adjust easily, I had to flatten and square up the trunnions. Since I don't have a mill, I had to carefully grind them on a strip of emery cloth glued to a piece of float glass. It worked, but it took me five days to get it done. The studs which hold the tables to the trunnions protrude from the surface of the table and are constantly interfering with whatever I'm trying to grind. Consequently, my next fix is going to be pressing out the studs and counter boring their holes so they fit flush. There is some vibration. All in all it is a POS, but it's a functional POS; and you can make it work. It's just fine for us homeshoppers. If I had an ongoing business, the amount of labor that I have, and will, put into it would make a $1000.00 Baldor seem cheap. For me it works and it'll probably work for you as well.

[Jim Hubbell]

I too have a HF tool grinder. As was posted it needed finish machining and trueing but runs smoothly now. I feel it was worth the money.

http://picasaweb.google.com/shopm8

Mine is an ongoing project. With the setup shown a 60 deg. point can be ground quite easily and precisely.