Glendo Accu-finish tool grinders / hones?

[uncle pete]

PeteM,
Good information, Thanks.

Pete

[lazlo]

In my opinion, they are seriously over priced for what you get. The machine itself is made of light bent up sheet metal and flimsy cut out pieces.

If you can justify that sort of expenditure or find one for cheap on the used market, go for it. For myself, I can find much better use for that amount of money.

That's a pretty concise summary of my opinion as well. But then, Gary and I only used an Accu-Finish I and II side-by-side for 30 hours straight, so what do we know?

The Accu-Finish II has a more substantial incline mechanism than the AF I, but they're both essentially a 1/4 HP belt driven motor in a stamped sheetmetal box. The table is stamped sheetmetal too.

Hopefully Robert will add to this, more of his experience and recommendations as it sounds like he is building his own and maybe his range is better to cover both Carbide and HSS.

It's just a high-tech version of Forrest/Lane's power lap. 1/2 HP, 3-phase 1100 RPM motor on a VFD, so I can turn it down to 275 RPM and it still has immense torque, but I can turn it up and use it for a disc grinder.

This is Lane's. I'm doing the tilt mechanism differently. I'll have it done by Sunday:

[JCHannum]

That is a good illustration of what can be done by the HSM. The 1/4HP motor of the Accu Finish units pretty well precludes any thoughts of rapid metal removal. They are hones, not grinders and, as such, are secondary operation machines.

Over the weekend, I caught up on the latest Home Shop Machinist that had been neglected while on vacation. It has the continuation of Mike Ward's excellent series in scraping with the promise of his power lap coming in the next article. I would suggest anyone considering one of these machines to wait to see what Mike has to offer.

[etpm]

You prompted me to look at these. From what I can tell, there were a few makers until recently: Kool Kut, Cold Grind, KK Calamar (same as Kold Kut??) and Accufinish. All I can find now are Accufinish and two in-stock KK Calamar grinders at MSC. I think all but the Accufinish are now defunct. I see the pictures of the others and think Heavy Duty, Cast-Iron Monstrosity ...as mentioned. I also found this webpage: http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/GrindRLap.html Look here, though: http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/GrindRLapBottom.jpg Sure it is cast (Aluminum), but the impression from the top gives a misleading impression

From what I can tell, these are all essentially the same except for one feature. On all but the Accufinish, the wheel moves side to side. On the Accufinish the table moves side to side. To continue with the Accufinishes, it looks like the major difference other than size between the Model 1 and the Model 2 is how the table moves. The series 1 uses a rod & bore to slide the table. The series 2 uses a ball-bearing slide. For those that have used both, is the movement of the series 2 table noticeably smoother? In other words, is it really an 'upgrade' or is the series 2 just intended to be a more permanent, freestanding machine---what with the optional stand and all.

The GrindRLap pictured is missing a part. There is a protractor table that sits on the tilting table pictured. With the protractor in place you can move the tool from side to side while the wheel is stationary. So the GrindRLap has two modes of operation. By moving the lever on the side of the machine the wheel will either oscillate or sit still. I use mine in both modes, oscillating for roughing and still for finishing. I have used the Glendo machines and prefer the GrindRLap. It's too bad they are no longer made by Leonard. For a while you could buy a Chinese one for about $900.00 but I don't know if they are still sold. Instead of buying a Glendo machine I looked online for a GrindRLap for a couple years. One thing I like about the GringRLap is that I can make my own wheels for it. I use cast iron and diamond paste. This allows me to have roughing and finishing wheels. I can get VERY good finishes on both carbide and HSS. Using coarse diamond paste enables me to rough tools quickly-fast enough in fact that I have not used a high speed diamond wheel for years when grinding carbide form tools for the lathe. Even though I have a T&C grinder and a surface grinder with a full compliment of diamond wheels it's usually faster to just rough on the GrindRLap by the time setup is counted.
Eric

[uncle pete]

You've all posted some interesting thoughts. Thanks again.

Pete

[gwilson]

I have a vertical/horizontal diamond wheel unit made by Sunnen. Uses 5" or 6" wheels. In the vertical position(you just tilt the box with the motor and wheel over to make it vertical),there is a sliding table with miter gauge.

This unit cost $3000.00 new last time I checked,and the wheels are something like $275.00.

However,Rio Grande jewelry making supplies catalog has thin,sheet metal wheels,electroplated with diamonds in a nickel matrix,either 5" or 6" dia(can't remember),for about $70.00. I intend to get one of these and glue it down to a steel disc that I can turn to fit the grinder,which is very simple. No need to pay so much for thick steel wheels,when you can get the same diamonds much cheaper. If this works well,I'll buy some different grits. I believe these are sold for lapidary.

The makers of the unit also sell a white ceramic wheel to be used with diamond compound,but the ceramic disc costs as much as the diamond wheels. I had 1 at work. Glad I found the Sunnen for home shop.

[J Tiers]

It sounds like either Sunnen or Glendo copied the other...... That description of the sunnen would fit the Glendo accufinish nicely.